More News on the Holiday Card Promo

Good news folks. I figured out how to fix the sales price function on the YogaDudes shopping cart, and just in time for Black Friday. Instead of having to purchase 3 packs of cards to get one free, now all the cards have been marked down to just $5.50 per pack. Now is the time to stock up. Buy one design for this year and perhaps another design for next year.

Yoga Christmas Ornaments On Sale

Our most popular holiday gift is now priced to sell. We just got a fresh new supply for the season and have therefore reduced the price. These adorable porcelain ornaments are regularly priced at $14.99, but from now until December 1st, they are on sale for just $10.99. No yogi Christmas stocking would be complete without one! Grab one for yourself and another for a friend in the YogaDudes shop here.

Conflict Between Yoga and Religion

I just don’t get it. Not one piece of my brain can understand how some Christians are against yoga because of the conflict with their Christianity. Do they think yoga itself is a religion . . . that possibly goes against Christianity? Is that what the problem is? Do they think yogis are praying to a false god by doing sun salutations?

After working so hard to get my yoga teaching certification I landed my first teaching gig. Several people in my town have expressed interest in yoga classes led by our parks and recreation department. The rec commission asked me to teach and I, of course, was thrilled. But now we are looking for space to hold the class and so far both churches in town have blatantly turned us down due to the “conflict with Christianity.”

I understand that the practice of yoga originally came from India and was originated by Buddhists, but people . . . let’s MOVE ON. Perhaps the people that are so against this evil thing called yoga should open their minds and maybe learn a little bit more about what goes on behind the closed doors of a yoga studio before they judge. And how Christian is it anyway to judge people and cast them aside if they don’t conform perfectly to their ideals? I wish they would understand that practicing yoga makes people more patient and better balanced. Wouldn’t the whole world be a better place if more people practiced yoga regularly?

Yoga Holiday Cards Special Promo

We just added these holiday cards to the YogaDudes shop. Like the original holiday cards, these are actually postcards that have a simple “Happy Holidays” greeting on the back and come packaged in groups of 10 with envelopes. What a great way to extend your holiday wishes to your yoga students, teachers, and yogi friends.

And the best news is that we are running a special from now until Christmas. These cards have been marked down to just $5.50 per pack. Now is the time to stock up. Buy one design for this year and the other design for next year. Ho ho ho.

Shop for both card designs here.

Adorable Yoga Holiday Cards

Do you have any yogis on your holiday card mailing list? Are you an instructor that would like to wish your students Happy Holidays? What could be better than giving each of them one of these adorable cards by YogaDudes?

These cards are available in packs of 10 with envelopes. You can find them in the YogaDudes shop here.

Excellent Resource for Yoga MP3 Downloads

In preparation for my last trip I went searching for some free yoga mp3s that I could download to my phone or iPod. I find that even when I use yoga DVDs I often don’t need to look at the screen. It is sometimes awkward and difficult to do so. So finding audio only yoga routines seems like the a terrific idea.

I was delighted to find a very useful website called YogaDownload.com. Not only do they offer free 20 minute yoga routines for download, but they have boatloads of options if you are willing to pay a few bucks. Each class can be downloaded in a 20 minute, 30 minute, 60 minute, or sometimes even longer versions. And each class, despite its duration, also comes with a pose guide sheet in PDF format. This is just sheer brilliance.

And speaking of brilliance, I noticed one option was to build your own custom routine. All the different segments of a good yoga routine are broken into approximately 5 -10 minute sections. You can mix and match, pick and choose, and build your own custom routine. Each segment only costs $.50. That wasn’t a typo . . . 50 cents! And you also get the pose guides for each segment. Click here to view their customization page.

Not only will I use this site for my own personal practice, but it will become an excellent resource for building my first yoga classes. As a brand new instructor, I feel as though I struck gold! Up until finding this website, I was apprehensive and scared to teach my first class, but now I feel like I have years of yoga knowledge and guidance right at my fingertips. Thank you YogaDownload.

Free November Desktop Calendar

Since I recently wrote on the topic of gratitude, I decided to make the YogaDudes November desktop calendar a reminder to be grateful for all your blessings. Just click on the image above to bring up the full-size version. Then right-click on it and "Save as Desktop."

The Importance of Gratitude

Today is the start of November, the one month out of the long year that many of us actually stop our lives and think about what we have to be thankful for. Why is it that we only do this around Thanksgiving? Why is it so hard for us to be conscious of our blessings every day? I try so very hard to take the time out for gratitude, but yet it’s so easy to let it slip.

Last month I experienced an excellent lesson on gratitude. My husband and I were on vacation for a couple of weeks in Europe. That alone should be grounds for plenty of gratitude, especially during these times of a suffering economy. But still, we managed to slip into the greedy mindset that so easily can take over. You see, we were driving in Northern Italy (outside of Milan, which is a very overcrowded and stressful big city). It was a Saturday evening and we were about 50 miles from our hotel when the traffic on the highway came to a near stand still. With each passing minute the tension level in the car got greater and my husband’s patience for Italian traffic dwindled rapidly. Because his mood (and stress level) directly impacts my mood (and stress level) I knew I needed to calm him down. I tried to come up with rationalization for why the traffic was so heavy and made guesses that perhaps it wouldn’t be this bad all the way back. My husband didn’t seem to fall for that wishful thinking. That was when I told him that the traffic couldn’t possibly be this heavy, this far from Milan city center and that there was likely an accident not too far in front of us. That is when I told him that our situation could have been much worse. After all, we could have been the unfortunate souls in the accident, rather than the ones being slightly inconvenienced by it. The more we thought about the consequences of getting into an accident, the potential to be seriously hurt (or worse), never mind the complications with insurance and health care in a foreign country. We both sat in silence for a few moments and realized how stupid and selfish we were being with our impatience. My husband reached over and grabbed my hand and said, “You’re completely right. We are so fortunate.”

Now this may sound like a good fiction story, but within minutes the traffic started to flow smoothly again. We never did see an accident, but for some unknown reason the traffic jam subsided and we effortlessly breezed right back to our hotel outside of Milan. The rest of the drive was incredible. We held hands and remembered the times, many years ago, when we would have done anything to just be together for a few hours. How easy it is to completely take each other, and our time together, for granted. It was such an awesome reminder about how important it is to be grateful for your blessings every day—not just on Thanksgiving.