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.

YogaDudes October Desktop Calendar

A recent trip up to the White Mountains of New Hampshire inspried this month's calendar. It sure was pretty up there and I thought it would be nice to share some of it with you. Just click on the image above to bring up the full-size version. Then right-click on it and "Save as Desktop."

What Not To Do

I'm ashamed of myself for this and I can't believe I didn't know better. You see, I've been struggling with severe pain in my neck, shoulder, and upper back. This terrible condition is caused by stress and pops up in my life every once in a while. In the past I've been to see different doctors and got nothing but frustrated by their lack of knowledge and ability to help me. It was me that finally figured out that stress was causing all the pain. Now that I know the cause I'm still searching for the solution.

For the past month I've been laying low and not exercising much. I'm almost in constant pain and sitting still doesn't seem to help. I stayed away from biking for weeks because I couldn't raise my neck to see the road (this is on a road bike, of course). The only exercise that I could manage was, strangely enough, kayaking. One would think this would be the hardest with a sore shoulder, but the constant movement seemed to be the only thing that helped. I felt great paddling. It was stopping that was the problem. Too bad I can't just kayak all day long.

I attempted yoga two weeks ago and it was dreadful. I could do some of the moves (like down dog) but others (like corbra and updog) sent lighten bolts of pain searing through my neck, shoulder and back. I got so frustrated and so depressed that it stressed me even more and, if anything, made me worse. All the heating pads and Ben Gay in the world didn't seem to be helping.

But today I decided that I couldn't take another day of not working out. No matter how much it hurt I was going to get some exercise in. I started the day with Tony Horton's 10 Minute Trainer. I did the Cardio one, followed by the Yoga one. It's funny how I HATED the P90X Yoga because I thought it was too long and hard, and yet I also didn't like the 10 Minute Trainer Yoga because I thought it was too short and easy. I guess I'm hard to please. Anyway, after 10 minutes of jumping around doing the Cardio I could already feel the pain subsiding in my shoulder. The natural heat of my muscles warming up immediately gave me relief. By the time I got to the yoga portion I already felt better. And this yoga session is so much easier and more gentle than my normal vinyasa routine. What a concept. I did yoga for the stretching and stress relief instead of for the pure sport and challenge of it. Today was the best I've felt in over a month. And all I can say to myself is 'DUH' . . . some yoga instructor I am. You are never too old to learn. The worst thing you can do for some injuries is NOT moving. I have to make a point to keep on keeping on, despite the pain. In the long run working through the pain (in this case) is just what I need.

Yoga Journal + Body & Soul Magazine Offer

My two favorite magazines are being offered together at a special subscription rate of $20/year. Too good not to share. Click here to go to the special offer.

Struggling to Stay Motivated

I've come to the realization that staying motivated to work out at this time of the year is really hard. The days are getting shorter and playing outdoors is becoming increasingly difficult, and sometimes dangerous. There is nothing on the calendar to motivate me . . . no race, no long distance bike ride, no final yoga exam. The only thing coming is the busy and stressful holidays and the mountains of Things To Do. I know that I'm going to get tired, lazy, and out of shape. It's inevitable. And then January will roll around and that means it's P90X time all over again. No matter how out of shape I manage to get, P90X does the trick of whipping me back into action. So why bother exercising now? Why not just wait until January? Uuugh, I need something to motivate me and get my mind off the searing pain in my neck, shoulder, and back.

September is Free Shipping Month

For the entire month of September YogaDudes is offering free shipping on orders of $25 and more. Just use the coupon code FREESHIPSEPT at checkout.

Go shopping now.

Love at First Sip

The ads for the new POMx teas promise 'love at first sip' and they are not kidding. How refreshing is it that an advertisement actually comes through with its promises. I've blogged about POM juices before and when I first discovered this pomegranate juice I knew that it was really good for you and that is why I adopted it as my P90X 'recovery drink.' But I also explained that I had to mix it with seltzer because, like most things that are good for you, it wasn't the most delicious thing right out of the bottle. But this new POMx tea . . . holy cow is it every yummy. Why can't tap water taste this good? I sure wouldn't struggle so hard to get my daily dose of water. As it is I have to force down the 3 - 4 glasses per day. But I swear I could drink gallons of this POMx tea. It comes in 7 different flavors and I look forward to sampling each one. You can check out their web site here: http://www.pomwonderful.com/pomX.html

September Desktop Wallpaper

We have another yoga-inspired desktop calendar this month. The September graphic is now ready for download. Just click on the image above to bring up the full-size version. Then right-click on it and "Save as Desktop."

Win a Free Online Yoga Class

HypnoYogaOnline.com offers interactive group yoga classes via multi-cam video conferencing. Thanks to web technology that allows multiple people to enter and participate in a live video studio, participants from around the world can watch as founder Page Turner (a certified Yoga instructor and Hypnotherapist) demonstrates poses, as well as receive personalized directives in real time. The hour-long classes are more affordable than most studios, and more sustainable too.

Interactive group classes are held every weekday at 6pm Pacific (GMT -8). All levels from beginner to master can join in, as her sessions range from relaxing meditations to kick butt workouts. Clients can reserve a spot in the virtual studio by logging on to www.HypnoYogaOnline.com, as well as receive privileges to the free video library, which includes tutorials, meditations and yoga workouts.

Page has generously offered a free class to one interested YogaDudes blog reader. Just leave a comment on this posting and one name will be randomly drawn for the free class. Be sure to include your email address so we can notify you if you won. The winner will be selected on Monday, August 24th.

What Yoga Pose Are You?

I just took this quiz and here is my result . . . (You can take the quiz yourself by clicking on the link at the bottom of this post.)

You Are the Tree Pose

You are a well grounded, down to earth person. Not much shakes you. You can remain steady through a crisis - and other people lean on you. You have high standards and morals. You easily rise above pettiness. While people sometimes accuse you of being stubborn, you are able to shift focus when you need to.

What Yoga Pose Are You?

Custom YogaDudes Decals

We recently received a request for custom YogaDudes decals. The studio was looking for an inexpensive gift to give to students that included their studio name. What a great idea. We found a source to print these custom decals and decided to offer this service to all yoga studios. The image above is an example of what a custom decal might look like. If you own a yoga studio, work at one, or would like to recommend this to your favorite studio, please email us about our custom decals for pricing and details.

Yoga is Helping My Biking

There seems to be so many different ways that a yoga practice can enrich other parts of your life. Practicing yoga extends so far off the mat and into so many different aspects of life. I often find myself trying to use yoga to improve my breathing, or my patience, or my general outlook on life. Today I used it to help my biking.

I might have overdone it a bit in the gym on Friday and as a result I woke up this morning with sore triceps, shoulders, and sore neck. These things do not make for a good bike ride (on a road bike), but I didn't want to miss out on our weekend 40-mile loop so I sucked it up. While pedalling along I decided to try to make some slight alterations by shifting my weight around. I was thinking about yoga and how I marvel at how sometimes what seems like the slightest adjustment of weight can completely change the way a pose feels. It seems like magic when the instructor comes over and barely moves you, yet everything just feels better. I tried to imagine a floating yoga instructor observing me as I rode and how this imaginary instructor might adjust my riding position. Since I was feeling pain in my neck, shoulders and triceps I tried shifting my weight back more into my saddle and legs, and less on my arms. I'll be darned. I worked! I felt instant relief. What a concept. Maybe I am ready to teach yoga after all.

Tree Pose August Desktop Calendar

Our August yoga-inspired desktop calendar is now ready for download. A day early I might add. So proud of myself! Just click on the image above to bring up the full-size version. Then right-click on it and "Save as Desktop."