There is deep medicine in the ending of an era.

In agricultural practices, fallowing honours the land at the end of a crop cycle with rest. During which, the land recovers, stores organic matter while retaining moisture and the life cycles of pests and soil-borne pathogens are disrupted temporarily by removing their hosts.

It is akin to a time of healing and restoration, some may say. After all, the quality of the crop inevitably fades when we don’t honour the restoration of the field.

“What started as an experiment has become an absolute necessity in the form of an amazing recovery and recharge tool. I joined Song of Silence 3 in Oct ‘23 as a personal bet on keeping silent. I went in green, curious, and simply trusting Gabrielle’s motivation. I came out a transformed person finding self discovery and mind blowing epiphanies in the silence and peaceful Bali setting which helped me to reclaim feelings I only had in my “happy place’ back home in Greece.

At age 19 I was unofficially adopted by a Sri Lankan family in Australia. There was something about their culture that made me feel right at home with them - I thought it might have been the not-so-spicy white curries and coconut rotis that I would secretly and impolitely wipe out, or the love language of physical touch that was more predominant than what I was used to - and after finally making my way to Sri Lanka to experience it first hand in January this year, I can finally put a finger to it.

“Life happens by design”, she so often says, often enough that it is seared in my mind. She has inevitably inspired me to streamline what matters, so that I have the bandwidth to deliberately distinguish the vital few from the trivial many, eliminate the nonessentials, and then remove obstacles so the essential things have clear, smooth passage.

The OASIS Restorative Yoga Continued Education Training was in full swing in September. Teaching a meaningful yoga practice has always been top of the list of things I love about life. Second to none, however, is the joy of teaching emerging restorative yoga teachers how to share the magic of helping themselves and others uncover the oasis within.

It is often said that experiences are more meaningful than material gifts, and my hope is that you will consider gifting a restorative practice to a cherished friend or loved one who might be in need of some head space, an outlet to release tension, or a life-changing practice.

Local researchers said in a medical journal in April 2023 that the estimated total economic cost of productivity lost due to anxiety and depression in Singapore was $15.7 billion a year.

A three-hour long practice is medicine for my body, heart, mind and soul. That's exactly how I feel in extended asana practices with my teacher.

Jack Kornfield is an American writer and teacher in the Vipassana movement in American Theravada Buddhism. He trained as a Buddhist monk and has taught mindfulness meditation worldwide since 1974.

The past month in Shanghai has brought more lessons about life than the past year combined. I had spent my whole life avoiding Mandarin - I struggled so badly in school because my parents speak only English and Malay, and as a result of that my brothers and I did not get the chance to practice it at home.

As I stand at the precipice of a new chapter of OASIS's journey; I can't help but look back at all the challenges that presented themselves over the past 8 months.

“Listen, are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?” - Mary Oliver. As life would have it, I saw and heard the Mary Oliver quote above from my restorative yoga teacher, and also, my restorative yoga student. Life speaks, and I have availed myself to listen.

5.5 years ago I manifested a vision. It was so grand I quivered on the inside as I spoke it out loud in front of an interviewer who had asked me where I saw myself in 5 years' time.