Tag-Archive for » yoga practice «

Corporate Yogic Giving…

… that, no doubt, will totally lead to our spending more money on their stuff!  But everybody will feel better about it.

You have to hand it to yoga apparel juggernaut, Lululemon.  Even during tough economic times, they’ve totally found the golden ticket into our wallets-  hmmm… feed the kids? New yoga pants? That’ll be a new pair of Lululemon Groove Pant Organic, if you please.

Seems that despite the tightening in our wallets, we’ve still found that little extra to drop on the clothes we feel assist in tightening our behinds…. or is it in expanding our consciousness?

Whatever drives people into the stores, and now it’s online presence, Lululemon has found what so many other businesses wish they could, a way to double it’s stock over the course of less than a year… in what continues to be economic strife for many!

But, I digress… and while Lululemon certainly doesn’t need the endorsement of a backwoods mommy blogger… I just wanted to mention, that as they continue to grow, making money hand over fist, they do know the value of building community and promoting health.

In that spirit, once a week, Lululemon shops across the continent, push aside their racks of clothing and other products to provide a make-shift studio, and with instructors provided by local studios, offer free yoga, or “the gift of yoga” to the masses.

While the gesture may be extended from an ever-growing corporate entity, it’s a wonderful one, in keeping with the underlying philosophies that are the foundation of yoga.

In particular, it offers those people who can’t afford a yoga class an opportunity to benefit from great instruction at no cost… or those folks who prefer their yoga for free so they can spend their money on yoga wear!

Regardless the motivation on either part, it’s good for yoga and if you’d like to find a class at your nearest Lululemon, visit www.lululemon.com or click HERE for more information.

30 Days of Yoga… Take Up the Challenge?

With New Years resolutions already falling by the wayside, yoga studios all over are capitalizing on the lack of resolve by offering another chance for instituting change.

To get your sorry butt off the sofa stir the embers of motivation, perhaps a little challenge might be in order.  The 30 Day Yoga Challenge might be what you- and I, Buddha knows!- need to be finding our way to the mat more regularly.

Beginning February 1st, we shall all commit to practicing every day. Every day.  If you miss a day, it’s to be made up on the following.

Remember, it’s a Challenge.

Perhaps you find it easier participating with a class, such as that at Vancouver’s Yogapod, as many studios are offering such programs.  The beauty of this is, of course, you can always do it on your own.

Choose your venue.  Choose your style… and for heaven’s sake, feel free to choose the time of day and the length of practice that works best for your schedule.  Keep in mind that this has less to do with the 30 days you’ve committed than to instituting real change in your life and health.

As I consider my own commitment, I know that here in the sticks I don’t have the benefit of a studio that can provide me with such a program. I’m on my own.  With no one but my lone reader many readers to keep me honest.

30 days?  Dare I say… I’m in?!

Little Yogis… by Wai Lana

Wanting to introduce your tiny tots to yoga? Wai Lana, one of the originals in bringing yoga to the mainstream… you’ve seen her, I know.

The beautiful woman, often balancing precariously on a rock overlooking the sea. Known as much for her long, black hair and flowers strewn about her head, as for her peaceful, picturesque locales.

Who better to inspire our little ones?

In Wai Lana’s Little Yogis™
Fun Exercise Book
how far can a grasshopper jump?  Where does oxygen come from?

With the Fun Exercise book, your kids will learn, laugh, and experience the wonderful benefits of yoga’s most playful poses. The whole family will love the hilarious characters, charming illustrations, and fun-filled activities.

Filled with secret waterfalls, pink elephants, silly monkeys, and rainbow butterflies, Wai Lana’s Fun Exercise captures the imagination while helping your kids grow strong, flexible, and focused.

It’s the perfect companion to her Little Yogis™ DVDs and CDs.

If you’d like it all-in-one, check out the full Fun Exercise Kit: Wai Lana’s Little Yogis.

• All kinds of fun exercises for strong bodies and sound minds
• Educational and entertaining
• Stimulates physical, mental, and emotional development
• 64 colorful pages, 11”x8”, hardbound


Practice Yoga… From the Right Brain

According to scientists, if you see the dancer turning clockwise, you’re operating more dominantly from the right-brain… left-brain if she’s turning counter-clockwise.  Supposedly, if you stare at her foot and its shadow, you can actually turn her in the other direction.  Ummmm… OK… yes, but now I have a headache….

To summarize the characteristics of each…

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS:  uses logic, detail oriented, facts rule, words and language, present and past, math and science, comprehension and knowing, order/pattern perception, reality based, forms strategies, practical, safe;

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS: uses feeling, “big picture” oriented, imagination rules, symbols and images, present and future, philosophy & religion, can “get it” (i.e. meaning), believes, appreciates, spatial perception, knows object function, fantasy based, presents possibilities, impetuous and risk taking.

The bottom line is we need both to function.  But sometimes… say, when you’re trying something new, or wanting to accomplish a work of some creativity… or perhaps just needing to get through a yoga practice with a shred of self-esteem (ahem!), it’s nice to just turn off that left side… that pesky and insistent part of your head that continuously reminds you how ridiculously bad you are at whatever you are doing.  Sometimes it’s important- no, essential-  to just go with the flow and allow the freedom of imagination, fantasy and creativity, the right- brain, to take hold.

Not an easy task.  However, as I found during my last practice, it’s possible…

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