He's been one of our ambassadors since the dawn of the Groove Pant. It's impossible to be in a bad mood around him. If you haven't experienced Eoin Finn, either in person or on DVD, you have a good thing coming. Read on.
Eoin (pronounced "Ian") Finn is not a yoga instructor - not entirely, at least. He's a self-proclaimed Blissologist, yogi and surfer. He recently toured North America in support of his latest endeavor: the Blissology Project, a DVD series challenging folks to cultivate bliss for four weeks through daily yoga, meditation, nature appreciation, food awareness and gratitude. He's home now, so we decided to celebrate in true lululemon style: midday yoga at the office and good food. We caught up after class to talk bliss.
Define Blissology.
It's the art of slowing down, getting off of auto-pilot and observing the path you're on in life.
The Blissology Project in five words. Go.
Creating an Upward Spiral by making Bliss a Habit! (Editor's note: Yes, he gave us eight, but who's counting, right? What's an Upward Spiral? Eoin explains below.)
What's involved in committing to the Project?
Very little, really. My focus in creating the Blissology Project this way was to demonstrate how we don't have to take a lot of time to create change and transformation in our busy lives.
It's meant to be under an hour a day. The goal is to engage in all five of the Blissology Commitments each day. The DVDs and supplementary booklet make it easy. Spend 30 minutes doing yoga (or the 50-minute routine if you can). Next, spend ten minutes meditating, one minute on nature appreciation and gratitude each and one minute of food awareness at each meal. It's surprisingly simple to do.
How did you come up with the idea for the project?
I analyzed the lives of happy people around the world and realized most of them had small but powerful daily habits. I figured if people could commit to these habits for four weeks, the level of bliss we could tune into would be profound. The real trick with designing the four-week challenge was to encourage these habits by keeping it simple.
You obviously had amazing experiences on tour. What was one outstanding highlight?
In general the highlight was sharing all the Blissology Commitments in each yoga space with people every morning across North America. It was amazing to see how people really lit up.
One comment in particular that stands out was in Toronto when we were talking about gratitude. One woman said, "I am grateful for a second chance at life." It made us all consider how precious life is and the importance of committing to health and a positive attitude.
We're all about being teachers and students. Through teaching, did you learn something unexpected that really moved you?
I learned the power of daily commitments to change behaviour. I often found myself looking around at small miracles in the world and feeling so blessed, when typically before I would have been irritable in the same situations.
For example, I had to teach a class way out in East L.A. and got slammed in bumper to bumper traffic. In the midst of the gridlock, I saw the full moon coming out above the pink snowcapped mountains at sunset. I caught myself thinking, "Now that is a nature appreciation moment! Thank God I am going so slowly so I can take in this beauty." This is what I call the Upward Spiral!
Admittedly, four weeks is a bit daunting at first. If we can't commit to the Commitments, what is the one thing we can focus on to become blissful in baby steps?
Gratitude. It is so easy and it has such far reaching effects. Simply stopping and acknowledging three things you feel grateful for almost instantly brings you that inner sense of vibrancy we need to create an upward spiral.
want more?
- Learn more about Eoin on his ambassador page.
- Challenge yourself. Pick up the Blissology Project DVD series or download individual videos through Eoin's website or at your local lululemon store.
- Stay inspired. Follow the Bliss Blog.
Thank you to Eoin for bringing his bliss to the office! How are you bringing the bliss to your world?
