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Welcome to Just Curious Media.
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This is Good Thinking, and I'm Jason Connell.
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So I'm back with a midweek reset.
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And yeah, I'm going to jump right back into my exploration and learning my new home, which is in Vietnam, Hanoi.
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And I'm adjusting quickly because I came here with a lot of work and a lot of deadlines.
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So I haven't missed a beat there.
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But there's been some uh interesting things, funny things, if you will.
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You know, I practice yoga and I've been going to kinship yoga back in Los Angeles.
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Shout out kinship for almost two years until I moved.
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And that really had a huge impact on my life.
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I went pretty much every single day, and it was very intense, and my practice grew from a newbie to much more advanced, to doing inversions all the time, headstands, handstands, chin stands, and some of the handstands I can hold for over a minute now just with daily dedication.
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So I'm lucky that my apartment has a gym, very small, but great.
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I've only seen one other person in there besides me, and I'm able to lift weights and also do yoga in there because I hit the ground running and I don't really have a studio yet.
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So my first adventure into finding a studio was last Friday, and I went on this 25-minute walk, thanks to Apple maps guiding me there, you know, learning to uh brave the fear of crossing the street in Hanoi with countless scooters coming.
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But now it's a week into that, I feel very confident.
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But that was only a few days, and I was a bit overwhelmed.
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So I finally make it to the studio.
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I'm gonna get there 30 minutes before class, and I can't find it.
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Like it is hidden behind an alley between things, and I'm talking to some locals who, you know, I guess I was led to believe that most people speak English until you really need them to, and then of course, no one does, and I don't speak any Vietnamese yet.
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So they helped me pinpoint the building and it was completely dormant.
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Maybe they used to be a yoga studio, or maybe they were just closed.
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So I was like, okay, because I tried calling countless times, and I'm realizing that not everyone answers the phone, you just gotta go.
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So I came back home, but at least I got to learn some new terrain.
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So this week I try a different place, and I had success.
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I went earlier, it's a gym slash yoga studio.
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I walk in and they're like, oh, hey, and not much English, but we managed because of Google Translate, and they let me work out for free that day.
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So I got to lift weights and wait for the yoga class to start.
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Okay, so I'm waiting.
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I lift weights for a while, then the room opens up and they clean it.
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So then I go in because there's a few people in there, but it's still 10 minutes before class.
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And one woman was kind of managing things, she was like laying the mats out, cleaning the floor.
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So I go in to join.
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She thinks I just want a mat.
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So she guides me back out in the gym and gives me a mat.
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And I think, well, maybe it's a longer mat since I'm taller.
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So I go back into the room and she's like, oh no, no, you want to use the mat.
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And then she understood that I wanted to take yoga.
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So she discarded that mat because that was a gym mat, not a yoga mat, and allowed me to come in and I was in the middle.
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And I quickly realized it was the only male, and it started to fill up, and there's like 30 women, and the ratio is not what I'm used to, like a kinship, where it's 50-50, 60-40 split, and who cares?
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But whatever, it is what it is.
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So I start stretching and I go into a headstand, and this is before class, and everybody applauds.
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So I was instantly, instantly welcomed and honored because I could do a headstand.
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And then I went into a handstand just for good measure.
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And then class began, and it was really good.
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It's very different style.
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The room is not hot.
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I'm used to hot yoga, very intense.
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So I upped it where I could, did some more challenging moves where I could, but it was a great stretch, great class, but I don't know any of the language.
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So I had to literally just stare at people and do the move and find the instructor who was very talented and just follow along.
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It was really good.
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And I'm glad I did it.
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It was nice to be welcomed, even without speaking the same language.
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There's a comfort, there's a welcoming.
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We can always smile and we can always like thumbs up.
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And I'm realizing just having warm energy and being kind and open to things can get you through it.
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And obviously, I'm having less conversations just with everyday folk, but it's still nice.
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It's nice to know that we can rely on our mannerisms and our actions.
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I've also frequented a few of these little restaurants.
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And I say restaurants, they're little bitty things, which I appreciate.
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You kind of sit down, they serve you, and bam, the food's out so quickly, and it's incredible and not very expensive.
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And I've gone back and they're like appreciative.
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They know that I like the food.
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So we have that going for it.
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So I kind of frequent the same few places, the same coffee shops, the same restaurants thus far.
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And yeah, I'll be branching out more, but it's just nice to not be completely isolated if you don't speak a language.
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You still have your body, yourself, and your presence.
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It can really help.
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And speaking to the theme of this week, being open-minded.
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I walked into that gym, and there was like six people, and they're like, oh, hello.
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I'm not intimidated at all because we're all seeking the same things, those who go to that gym.
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I just happen to be a foreigner.
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And so I'm there and I can use Google Translate or Apple Translate, and we can convey some things, but it's always really friendly.
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It's always handshakes and smiles, and it's a really beautiful thing.
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So that is it.
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The adventures continue.
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I'll do more of these episodes on the midweek reset.
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I hope you're enjoying the themes of the week.
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And do not forget, we have our first positive conversation episode coming out this week.
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So stay tuned.
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So thank you all so very much for listening.
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Be sure to subscribe to the show.
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Give us a five star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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Maybe share it with a friend who you think would love the show.
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And above all, thank you, and we'll see you next time.