YYoga

From January 4 to March 31, 2012, all money raised from our by donation classes will benefit The Canadian Society for Mucopolysaccharide & Related Diseases Inc. (MPS Society), who are committed to providing support to individuals & families affected with MPS & related diseases, educating medical professionals and the general public about MPS, and raising funds for research.

This holiday season, your YYoga teachers, guest service personnel, wellness practitioners, and base camp administrators have joined together to create a very special YYoga CD: "Listen to Understand, Vol.1". 

All proceeds from this community-wide effort will be donated to the Excellence in Child's Health Fund at BC Children's Hospital.  With …

Let’s be honest folks. With all the joyous aspects of the holiday season, of all times of year, this is the one when we can overindulge like it’s our most excessive Friday night… for weeks on end. Then, January 1^st rolls around – much like we are, at this point – and we start beating ourselves up for letting our health go. What a way to celebrate new beginnings!

Treat yourself or surprise a member! Add 5 classes for $50 to any existing YYoga account and make this year a happy, healthy holiday. See Guest Experience or click here to purchase online!*

From September 15th -  November 31st, all money raised through YYoga's by donation classes will be donated to Make-A-Wish BC & Yukon, who's mission is to grant the wishes of children between 3-17 years with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, & joy.

Give the gift of health this Mother's Day

Moms are so special, and not to mention irreplaceable! Consider a YYoga gift card this Mother's Day - you'll not only be giving the wonderful gift of health - but of quality time as well.

What's a Mala?
Will Blunderfield is almost never seen without them. The “108” from YYoga’s “Journey 108” challenge was inspired by them. Author Elizabeth Gilbert structured her bestselling book, Eat, Pray, Love, around them. What are “they”, you might ask? Why, they’re mala beads.

And now you, the YYoga community, has a chance to set an intention for the New Year and design an exclusive YYoga mala from Tiny Devotions, a Canadian designer of handmade malas! The chosen winner will not only receive a mala ($108 value), but it will become the exclusive YYoga mala offered in Eco-Boutiques!

Have you ever wondered the meaning of gemstones?
Wear with intention. Ware with love.

Rose Quartz inspires love.
Onyx inspires strength & good fortune.
Amethyst inspires spiritual enlightenment & clarity.
Citrine inspires prosperity, joy & abundance.
Jade inspires a connection to divine unconditional love.

Read More About Mala's By Clicking …

You may have noticed 'By Donation' classes on you centers schedule. These classes donate all proceeds to a charity of choice for that particular month.

"Off The Mat and Into The World uses the power of yoga to inspire conscious, sustainable activism and to ignite grass roots social change. We see yogis everywhere taking their yoga off the mat into the world. "

Give the gift of Health ... for your loved ones and the planet

Live simply. Live healthy. Live the good life! This holiday, help your loved ones live the good life by giving gifts that help them consume less, preserve natural resources and simply feel good. When buying gifts this Holiday Season be aware of the meaning behind gift giving rather than focussing on material value. Reflect on where your energy and money is being spent and give with purpose.

If you're looking for a thoughtful gift that will help you or your loved ones relax during this busy season, you won't have to stretch your wallet to help somebody else stretch their body. There are just a few days left to purchase our YYoga holiday memberships (5 classes for $50 in 5 weeks) so head on down to your nearest YYoga Center Guest Services for this gift that keeps on giving: the gift of health.

And while you’re there, be sure to stop by the eco-boutique for those last minute gifts (new shipments arriving as we speak). Undecided? How about a YYoga Gift Card! Available in any amount, this card can be used at any center for products in the eco-boutique, yoga or wellness services. Give the gift of health and help your loved ones manage holiday stress off the mat as well as on.

Don’t forget it's that time of year when we glance over our shoulders to reflect on the year past and, more importantly, look forward to the ambitions of the coming year. It's a time to reflect on the changes we want (or need) and resolve to follow through on those passionate, optimistic, and sometimes desperate pledges we make to change ourselves for the better - and healthier. Here are our Top Five Practices for (Positive) Change as we journey into the New Year:

The Holiday Season is a time for celebrating the gifts of life and simply being with loved ones. However, as we scramble to wrap up 2010 and prepare for the onset of a new decade, the holidays can also be a time of year where stress and anxiety are heightened. Whether shopping for gifts, travelling, financial stresses, Winter Blues or even dealing with uncomfortable family situations, it can be easy to lose sight of the magic of the Season. In the current swirl of commercial and social pressures, it's easy to forget the meaningfulness of this time of year when holiday stress leads to impatience, feeling tired and being overwhelmed.

It's also the time of year where there's a tendency to put our own health and wellness on the back burner until the Holiday Season is through. We tend to shove our yoga mats into a corner and instead parade from one holiday party to the next succumbing to the temptation to (over?) indulge in holiday sweets and treats along the way. By the time New Year’s Eve rolls around, we're well ready for those New Year's resolutions and reversing the tide of over-consumption. 

In the hopes of a healthy and happy Holiday Season, consider taking time out for yourself. One of the easiest ways to reduce this stress is to simply relax and, fortunately, yoga offers the perfect remedy with techniques to ease your holiday worries and energize the body. Yoga offers ancient wisdom on staying calm in challenging situations, while also fostering a sense of happiness and harmony.

While yoga has a strong effect on the physical body, it has an even stronger effect at regulating the emotions and subtle energies of the body. The meditative and mindfulness practices of any type of yoga are excellent tools to bring awareness to our emotional states to help conquer holiday stress. Yoga also teaches us to look inside and to focus less on the material things and more on what truly makes us happy.

108 Little Reminders of Love, Luck and Strength

According to Tiny Devotions, a Canadian designer of handmade malas, each necklace is made with a different intention and each bead represents something special and unique to its wearer. In their wonderful informational video, Tiny Devotions explains that the distinctive beads (heavily grooved and reminiscent of a walnut shell) are Rudraksha seeds which come from trees grown in only a few remote areas of the world including India and Bali. Known for spiritual healing, Rudraksha help their wearers to set intentions, and can be used together with the practices of meditation and mantra to achieve grounding and inner peace. Tiny Devotions also intersperses their strings of Rudraksha beads with pearls and semi-precious gemstones, which allows you to further personalize your intention and makes your mala truly unique. Different crystals have different energetic qualities, and malas allow you to wear these special stones right next to your heart.

Will Blunderfield is almost never seen without them. The “108” from YYoga’s “Journey 108” challenge was inspired by them. Author Elizabeth Gilbert structured her bestselling book, Eat, Pray, Love, around them. What are “they”, you might ask? Why, they’re mala beads. Seasoned yogis will be quite familiar with this spiritual adornment. But if you’re a newcomer like me, it’s likely that you’ve come across strings of these beautiful beads before and been too shy to ask: what are these necklaces and why do people wear them?

Malas are sacred necklaces that have been worn for thousands of years in traditions of yoga, Buddhism, and Hinduism. They’re traditionally made with 108 beads – 108 being a very significant and auspicious number – plus one extra guru stone intended to thank teachers, parents, friends, and any other extraordinary mentors you’ve had along the way. Malas are known to bring a variety of positive benefits to their wearers, including luck, good energy, healing, health, strength, and love.

Read more

Spread the Love with 5 Days of Yogi Stocking Stuffers

I don’t know about you, but it gets to be a certain time of December and I find myself swept up in a tidal wave of mirth, good spirits, LOVE, twinkle lights, and traditional holiday music.

Especially the music. No matter where I go, my head is full of it, and sometimes when I’m feeling especially playful (the happy result of accumulated Flow, Anusara, and Pilates classes), I find myself mentally re-writing lyrics to the tune of anything and everything. Why not?

Break down just about any holiday-themed song and you’ll find that the underlying message is one of love, or if not love directly, then some expression of it. Let us not forget that this is theperfect time of year to show that special someone how much you appreciate them in the form of a gift, or a series of small gifts. (I.e. spreading the love!) 

So without further ado, allow me to share with you my most recent rendition of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” entitled, “The Five Days of Yogi Stocking Stuffers”, as inspired by what’s in YYoga Eco-Boutique!

"Last night the moon came dropping its clothes in the street. 
I took it as a sign to start singing, falling up into the bowl of sky." 
Rumi

I often think of Terry McBride, co-founder of YYoga, the way he described himself to me when he was a child, living in Richmond.

He'd lie on his bed at night, transister radio on the window sill, antenna picking up the invisible soundwaves, music pouring in to his room as he stared, the way all children do, at the silver, unreachable moon.

Some people are just plain hard to buy for! The gift of yoga will be a hit with anyone, especially if you purchase a YYoga gift card that is valid for all wellness services as well. Suddenly, you've gifted the gift of choice – your receiver has yoga, pilates, core, infrared sauna, registered massage therapists, acupuncturists, chiropractics, naturpaths, facial rejuvenation, shiatsu, reflexology, and more right at their fingertips.

top 5 reasons why you should give the gift of yoga

Each year many of us struggle to come up with the right gift, a thoughtful gift, often for a person that seems to have everything! When you find joy in giving something meaningful, it can be incredibly rewarding. By giving the gift of yoga, you could not only introduce someone to a healthy lifestyle, a new way of being, and a community – you could spark a passion within someone and ultimately change a life. Here are our top five reasons for giving the gift of yoga this holiday season.

1. Give the gift of quality time. Yoga is a fun and unique activity to do together. Spend time with your loved one on a yoga date: go to classes together, relax in our tea lounge, and enjoy the infrared sauna to detoxify and cleanse.

Black pepper, cinnamon, ginger, lotus flower, mandarin, nutmeg, rose, and sandalwood: these are just a few of the spices which envelop your senses upon your first encounter with Mystic Masala pure soy candles and therapeutic body bars. With the chill of autumn and winter upon us, there is no better time to treat yourself to the art of ayurvedic healing and carry the warmth and balance you’re finding in your yoga classes right home with you! 

Newcomers to ayurveda and aromatherapy need not fear – beside the Mystic Masala products in our eco-boutique, you’ll find a small booklet which will help you find your dosha (in other words, your unique combination of three “energies” or “humors” identified in the ancient wisdom of ayurveda) and guide you towards the ideal combination of spices and aromas for your own balance and healing. Mystic Masala offers four possible combinations of spice aromatherapy in the form of candles and body bars: Vata, Pitta, Kapha, and Tridoshic. For many, this could be a great first opportunity to learn about ayurveda and its personalized restorative potential.