365 Inspirations—157: My Husband, Seong Yoon Lee

"Don't be afraid of the different winds that come to your life—even the unpleasant winds. If things aren't working the way you want them to work, maybe the universe wants to offer you something better, but you can't see that right now."—Seong Yoon Lee

This post was written by my husband and edited by me. It was part of my 31 Writers, 31 Lessons series in 2012. Yoon has a way of inspiring people, including me, to do the things they've always wanted to do in life and not be afraid of the challenges. Here's his story:

I clearly remember the day when I heard the sound of a gong while I was in an evening chanting ceremony in a remote temple in Korea. It was not just the sound of a bell, it was the sound of awakening for me.

I thought that if I became a monk someday, I'd come back to this temple. Two years later, I came back and became a monk. Through many years of sincere practice and everyday life in the monastery, I have learned so much. Of course, it had its own challenges, joys, frustrations—the same as mundane life. I know things are always changing, but I never thought I'd come back to mundane life.

But the winds carried me in a different direction. Sometimes we need a different direction for our growth. I faced many struggles, emotions and fear about this change, but I learned something that I want to share with you here.

My master in the temple told me that I had to finish my degree in Buddhism, so I decided to come back to my college and study there. In my free time, I also studied English and Japanese at a foreign language institute nearby.

That's where I met my wife.

I never expected this would happen, but as we got to know each other, I found that we had a deep connection to one another. It was not easy for me and it was also not easy for her to come all the way here—to this point where we are now. I was a Buddhist monk and she was an English teacher. But also, I am just a human who feels different emotions in me. I don't want to tell all the stories here. You can read all about those in her wonderful book, coming soon, called Lessons from the Monk I Married.

Ultimately, I decided I wanted to be with my wife because of the deep connection and love I felt for her. I had to leave the monastery and start all over again. I also had to face my fears in that process:

How can I make money?

How can I pay bills?

What will other people think of me?

I struggled with all of these questions and had to face each one of them.

Shortly after I decided to leave the monastery, I moved in to Kathy's apartment. However, she had plans to meet her family in New York. These plans had been set months before. After she was gone, I was all alone in her apartment. There was nothing but miso and cabbage in the refrigerator, so that's what I ate. Perhaps this was her test for me. Could I survive on my own without the temple and without her help?

Somehow I needed to make money. But what kind of work can an ex-monk do? I didn't know what I had to do. I looked in the local newspaper and found a position posted for a sushi waiter. I had an interview and got the job. They needed people, also I needed money. But I didn't survive very long there. I moved too slowly and messed up on many orders which resulted in yelling sessions from the manager. I had become his servant. In his eyes, I was just a stupid server who was good for nothing but fetching cigarettes for him.

So I quit. I was back to nothing again. But I started to think about my training and all that I had learned. I had been trained in yoga and meditation in the monastery. I knew I had so much to share about this. So I put up some posters around the apartment building, and before long people were coming to practice—both Korean and foreigners alike were coming. By the time Kathy returned from New York, her apartment was full of people practicing yoga.

So it became my career. I became a yoga teacher. I operated two yoga schools in Korea and am now the owner of Yoon's Yoga Bliss near Seattle. I have met so many wonderful people through this yoga adventure. I found a life where I am able to share all that I am. I learned how we become authentic and at the same time universal. Through creative energy and love, we become the embodiment of who we are, and that authenticity also continues to evolve through our own searching.

So don't be afraid of the different winds that come to your life—even the unpleasant winds. Life is an adventure. Sometimes we find treasures and sometimes things fall completely apart. If things aren't working the way you want them to work, maybe the universe wants to offer you something better, but you can't see that right now.

Be strong. Don't give up searching and you will find those treasures that are beautiful and priceless.

Seong Yoon Lee studied Buddhism at Donguk University in Korea. He was trained as a monk in the Chogye order at Songgwang Temple. He met his wife in 1996 and later they married in 2003. He owned and operated two yoga schools in South Korea, one in Seoul and one in a nearby suburb. He has taught yoga to hundreds of students and his yoga school and unique approach to yoga were featured on a major television network in Korea in a documentary about stress. He currently lives in Seattle with his wife and is the owner of Yoon's Yoga Bliss near Seattle.

365 Inspirations—30: Hot Baths

Natural Japanese Hot Spring

"There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them."—Sylvia Plath

Yesterday I taught 6 hours at the college and had a split shift, so all I could think about when I came home was sinking into a hot, steamy bubble bath—Calgon take me away!

And that's exactly what I did! I prep my blog posts the night before, so it was a late night for me last night. 

I take baths almost every night in the winter. It's my way of unwinding and relaxing. There's something about the warm water in winter that soothes my soul. I picked up the habit of taking baths when I lived in Japan. 

Most of the Japanese people I knew when I lived there couldn't dream of going to bed without a bath. It's a big part of the Japanese culture. Whenever I'd visit a Japanese friend's house to stay the night, they'd always prepare a bath for me. It was a real ritual. They'd give me a robe and some fruit and tea and then they'd disappear while they prepared my bath. They'd often add bubbles or powder or natural minerals.

Japan is full of onsens (hot springs) and I visited over a dozen of them. At the hot springs, you are given a bathing robe (yukata) and people actually walk around the onsen grounds in a yukata and slippers. When you get to the hot springs area, most people bathe nude and the men's and women's sections are separated. It's quite the experience to go to a hot spring in Japan. 

In Korea, people in the old days used to not have bathing facilities, so many would bathe in a public bath house or "mogyogtang". The Korean style bath house is different from the Japanese experience. The Koreans have what is called a Jimjilbang (sauna). Each sauna room has different healing properties. There's usually a salt room, clay room, charcoal room, jade room, medicinal herb room and even an ice room for cooling off afterwards! There are a couple of Korean Jimjilbangs near Seattle and they are very popular. After going in several sauna rooms, you can also relax in the hot and cold pools which are segregated. My husband and I go a couple times a year and it's FREE on your birthday!

 After living in Asia for so long, baths have become a big part of my life. They go well with all the rain we have this time of year. I like to open my bathroom window a crack and listen to the rain drops while I sit in my steamy bath and drink a nice cup of herbal tea and read a book! It's heaven.

Do you like to take baths? Have you ever been to a natural hot spring or Korean spa?

365 Inspirations—Two: PSY "Gangnam Style"

"I wanted to make them forget, just for a moment even, about their immediate troubles, and to entertain them the way entertainment should be all about..."—PSY

This Korean guy is getting the entire world to dance like a horse setting off flashmobs worldwide. He broke a Guinness Book World Record for over a billion hits on You Tube. He's making people dance and laugh....how can you NOT like someone who is doing this on a massive scale?

I'm not jumping on the  "PSY band wagon." I have a reason for liking this Korean one-hit wonder. First, I used to live in "Gangnam" (By the way, the "a" sounds in this word are open like opening your mouth and saying "ahhh" when you go to the doctor). Gangnam is a trendy, upscale district in Seoul and my husband and I used to have a yoga studio there as well as one in Seongnam, in the suburbs of Seoul.

The second reason I like PSY is that he is doing something completely different than what I have seen coming out of Korea and in the K-pop scene. I don't follow it too much because I feel much of it is the same.

To find someone who has done something unique and different in the music scene in Korea is really quite amazing and to become a phenomenon worldwide in a completely different language is unheard of, really. Even if I didn't like the song, I have to give this guy credit for becoming the phenomenon that he is.

The thing is, the video and song are kind of catchy and before long I find myself actually trying to do this crazy horse dance. Here's our attempt in Las Vegas to start a flashmob.

The other thing I like about PSY is that he's smart and he's following his own path. He went to Berkeley School of Music and then dropped out because he felt like he could accomplish more on his own (this is sort of reminiscent of all the great people I know: i.e. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, etc.) I'm not advocating dropping out of school, but there are some people who are meant to follow their own paths and ideas. They are the "leaders" and often the "changers" of a society.

PSY locked himself away for an entire year to compose music and only came out to get gas and food on occasion. I heard him speak of his success to a group of Oxford University students and was quite impressed not only with his ability to speak English, but also his willingness to share and inspire others with his journey.

I'm sure the craze will die down and who knows if this Korean will ever have another hit, but he had ONE HIT and that's all it took get the entire world to dance like a horse. Now that's something!

New Contributor on Woman's World Magazine and a recent guest post on The Lotus Sutra Chronicles

Hello All!...just wanted to let you all know that I'm a new Woman's World Magazine contributor. You can find the link to this site on the side bar. I was also asked to be a guest blogger on The Lotus Sutra Chronicles (link also on side bar) by a blogger who lives in Korea and writes about her observations living there. Having lived in Korea, it's been such a pleasure reading her blog. The piece I wrote is entitled Thank You Korea. I also posted this piece on Woman's World Magazine. You can check it out on the Lotus Sutra Chronicles here:

http://thelotussutrachronicles.blogspot.com/2009/11/thank-you-korea-guest-blogger-
kathy.html

I believe this blogger is doing a series of guest bloggers on the topic of gratitude. Great idea, isn't it? Thanks everyone for reading and for all your wonderful comments...I am very grateful for that! And thanks Marilyn for asking me to be a guest blogger!!!!