YYOGA Experience

Summer is a fabulous time to get out and be active, try new things or take up a new sport. Some of the fun summer activities can also be accompanied by sports injuries, aches and pains.

Pain can be an incredible deterrent to one’s health and wellness-causing physical discomfort, decreasing quality of life, energy levels, mood, and ability to have pain-free range of motion.

Congratulations and thank you to our Richmond community for voting YYoga as Richmond's Best Yoga Studio! It is through the dedication of our guests, teachers and friendly guest service team that has created this vibrant and welcoming yoga environment which allows us to experience exactly "why yoga."

We are very happy to announce that Andrea Spiegel will be moving from her position as Studio Director of Highgate to open South Granville. Filling her position at Highgate is Catherine LaVallee!

We are also excited to announce that Rachel Scott will be taking over for Christine Price Clark as the Studio Director of Yaletown. We want to thank Christine for being an amazing leader in the Yaletown community and will continue seeing her on the teaching schedule.

Congratulations to Andrea, Catherine and Rachel!

At YYoga, a girl timidly told me I had my yoga pants on inside-out - she’d seen me arrive from the street like that! I burst out laughing and then she laughed, too. Three years ago I’d have shrunk in embarrassment but that was pre-yoga.

I first tried yoga to rejuvenate from physical exhaustion, caused by grief after a death. The grief was heart-based –it couldn’t be spoken to -but yoga wordlessly relieved it. I moved on to use yoga to calm mind-based anxieties. Now I do it to express what Sjanie at YYoga calls brightness: “Reach for the sun like kids do.”

We are excited to announce that construction is well under way on a second yoga room for Northshore Elements which will be opening this summer. The second room, called the East room, will feature a Yoga Wall which provides props and assistance to your yoga practice. The East room is located in unit 281, just down the outdoor walkway from the center. The current room at Northshore Elements will now be referred to as the West room. More information

"You cannot do yoga. Yoga is your natural state. What you can do are yoga exercises, which may reveal to you where you are resisting your natural state." ~Sharon Gannon

Between May 1-30, take part in the Canadian National Institute for the Blind's national yoga campaign in support of blind and partially sighted Canadians.

Challenge yourself with your own personal yoga stretch goal. It can include doing your own 30 day challenge, mastering a headstand or completing 10 sun salutations per day. Whatever it may be, set your goal and help fundraise for this cause.

Click here for more information about the Great Canadian Stretch and watch Will Blunderfield's PSA below:

You're a fan of YYoga on Facebook and now you can become a fan of your favourite YYoga centers as well! This is a great chance to get specific information about your center as well as interact with your community online. You can post questions and discussions, photos and Foursquare challenges!

I do yoga because it is empowering!

"Do you need that plastic lid for your coffee cup?" With support from YYoga and Lululemon Athletica and for the purpose of celebrating Earth Day, dedicated Vancouver yogis practiced yoga on a cold early morning in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery. It was beautiful to see all these yogis ready to spread the Earth Day message by gracefully moving through their asana practice with smiles on their faces. As I reflected upon this Earth Day yoga event and the importance of this special day, I asked myself, "Am I doing enough?"

I practice yoga because I am passionate about the truth. There is so much going on beyond what we experience through our senses. There is so much to tap into beyond physical appearance. Through yoga, we cultivate the ability to distinguish between reality and illusions. We tap into the unseen, invisible world through which we can expand our capacity to create and give, serve and love without limit. Yoga trims the mind and body so much so that we become worthy vessels of wisdom.

Bullfrog Power has recently launched a new public awareness campaign - PAY MORE FOR ENERGY. This campaign discusses why it makes sense to pay more for renewable energy and aims to stimulate dialogue across Canada on the real cost of conventional energy. While climate change and air pollution are very difficult challenges, the most powerful solution is relatively straightforward: we all pay a little more for energy, including the health and environmental costs that are currently hidden.

By: Dr. Jason Marr, BScH, ND

Spring is here and flowers and plants are in full bloom! Unfortunately for many people, this means a start to the allergy season. While common, seasonal allergy symptoms are not a healthy body process and are often a reflection of your body’s decreased ability to eliminate environmental and dietary toxins. These symptoms represent an abnormal immune reaction to normally harmless substances present in our foods and the environment.

I have been 'talking about" doing yoga for... well way too long! I got yoga for Christmas and tried two weeks which led me to sign up for the year!

We are working on building interactive blog forum, so if you have any suggestions please email us. In the meantime, follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest and greatest going on in this community.

Happy New Year YYOGI's.  We are excited to start 2009 off with lots of activity, starting with the 30 Day Challenge at all of our studios.

We are excited to be opening our Richmond Center in early February and hope to see you all there!  Stay tuned.