In between classes today at the New York Yoga Journal Conference, I took a few minutes to challenge friends both old and new to a game of Truth or Dare. The game turned primarily into “Truth”, with only one dare issued (pending photo evidence), and things quickly got real.

have you ever faked an om?

“How do you fake an Om?” – Heather, lululemon Lincoln Square

“I’ve quietly Ommed, in my first few classes ever.” – Dana, lululemon Madison Ave.

have you ever passed gas in class?

“I can’t think of anything I’ve ever done that doesn’t involve me farting.” – Matt from the Himalayan Institute

“My bandhas keep it in.” – KB, lululemon Madison Ave.

have you ever faked an om?

“Heck yes. Made the ‘Om face’ and all!” – Bev, lululemon graphic designer (on the right), with graphic designer Steph who has been dared to do some public yoga (please check back).
Update! Here is Steph doing Child’s pose at MoMA:

have you ever passed gas in class?

“No. I don’t demo so that helps control the bodily functions.” – Andrew, photographer and lululemon Garden State

has a student ever passed gas while you were adjusting them?

“Yes.” – Matt Giardano, lululemon Soho ambassador & acroyogi

Moments after answering this question, Matt was inverted on a chair:

Tomorrow we’re hosting a vision and goals workshop at 1:45-2:45pm lead by Tricia, who will definitely not ask you embarassing questions and post them on the internet. See you there or on the mat!

We’re keeping our feet firmly in the sand and hanging on to the summer sun for as long as possible. Catch us in downward dog at complimentary outdoor events like Parliament Hill Yoga or join us in your local community for Salutation Nation coming up this September!

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On my journey back to Vancouver I thought about what to put in this wrap up post and found myself coming back to the idea of how yoga can change the world. I wanted to put some really deep stuff in here, but it’s difficult because my learnings from Wanderlust 2011 are bigger than the space of this blog post and I don’t think are fully revealed just yet.

Without further ado, my summary of the weekend, in list form.

top things to expect

1. You will laugh, cry, or both of the above at some point during the weekend.

2. You will find yourself doing something you never thought you would do, whether it’s tipping over in Bakasana for the first time or dancing in Navasana in Jonny Kest‘s Detox Flow on Sunday morning, even though you purposefully did not schedule yourself for any classes that had “spontaneous dancing” in the description.

3. You will LOVE the thing in #2 that you never thought you would do. (Thank you, Jonny Kest!)

4. You will realize that your life is pretty darn great.

5. You will change your body. It may come in the form of pain (i.e., deep hip openers) or in the form of freedom, or maybe it’s the thoughts about your body that will change (e.g. “I have new respect for my feet” after you watch your toes hold your weight after your hundredth chatturanga), but it will happen.

6. You will find yourself in conversation with someone you just met, and it will feel like you’ve known them for years.

7. You will realize, multiple times, how grateful you are to be exactly where you
are, in the body that you have now.

New friends from New Jersey (p.s. she’s an educator and he photographs ambassadors!), plus Molly and Brenna, fellow lululemon Wanderlusters

unscientific stats

The number of times I…

had my head between my legs in some capacity = 314
thought “thank God for gussets” = 314
had my head between someone else’s legs = 6
fell over = 3
held hands with the person next to me = 3
held feet with the person next to me = 1
got covered in glitter from my neighbour’s pimped out yoga mat = 1

lululemon Wanderlusters after rock ‘n rolling with Vinnie Marino: me, Janine and Molly

top trends at wanderlust

1. Feathers.

2. Reconstructed t-shirts (mostly the Wanderlust volunteer shirts) courtesy a skilled woman and her pair of scissors (also spotted: this pair of DIY Wunder Unders):

3. Body paint as seen on Tai, who takes many of our ambassador photos in California!

4. Tails.

thoughts on what i packed

1. I didn’t need the sweater I brought with me. A tank top and Vinyasa scarf were fine at night. Plus, there were lots of local vendors set up if you were missing anything, like this one from Tahoe.

2. Next time I’d bring a block or cushion to sit on.

3. Fresh luon saved my life. I busted out my new Peacock Wunder Unders after almost leaving my morning class on Day 3 and highly recommend saving something clean and/or new for when you hit an energy low on the third or fourth day.

4. My hotel room card was the same size as the front inner pocket of my Wunder Unders. Perfect for the yogi on the go!

5. The Travel Mat fit neatly into my luggage, was easy to carry, and kept my asanas in place, but after 6 hours of yoga, four days in a row, my joints would have appreciated a little more padding. Next time I will pack a slightly thicker mat.

6. The Wanderlust backpack was perfect for the daytime, especially because I was toting my computer around as well and it has a separated laptop sleeve inside.

thank you

Thank you to every single person I met, to every instructor for opening our minds and bodies, to the Wanderlust folks who hosted such an unforgettable experience. I am so grateful to have been a part of this experience and know that each person will be taking what they learned on their mat back with them and out into the world.

The sun setting over the last night in Tahoe

See you next year, Wanderlust.

Love from Vancouver,
Alana

Urdhva Dhanurasana at Kathryn Budig’s class: commitment in action

should i stay or should i go?

I wouldn’t be doing my job here at Wanderlust if I didn’t tell you honestly about my first class of Day 3. Right from the get-go, everything felt wrong: the teacher’s voice, the music, the sequencing, even what I was wearing. I took a child’s pose and thought about what to do: peace out or stick it through? After three days of yoga, my hips, wrists, and ankles are starting to let me know they need to rest, and the thought of leaving to find a spot in the shade under a tree was sounding seriously appealing.

My second class of the day was with Kathryn Budig who opened our hearts with deep and multiple Urdhva Dhandurasanas and creative, new-to-me boat pose variations that had our arms and feet in places that my brain had trouble mapping out with my eyes closed. Just when I thought about chilling in child’s pose, she said, “Yoga is all about how you deal with the pose, not the pose itself.”

Are you sensing a theme here?

Spontaneous acts of yoga are popping up all over Squaw Valley

Third class: Rock ‘n Roll Vinyasa with Vinnie Marino and it was just what the doctor ordered. From the very first downdog of the day when Come Together started to play, yogis were joining in, and I found myself humming several times in the sweet moments between fast-paced vinyasa. We ended with a deep hip opener of our choice to the Rolling Stones’ Wild Horses. Order had been restored in my universe.

the people i met today

Daniel, acroyogi and raw chocolate advocate at Fearless Chocolate.

Amy, a lululemon ambassador from Ann Arbor who is studying how yoga can change your brain and possibly replace medication for things like anxiety and depression.

Juliette, an east coast yoga teacher from NYC.

Chris, a writer and yoga teacher from Portland.

Tracy, lululemon community manager, with Ananda Lion, our ambassador Eoin Finn‘s brand new baby.

in conclusion

So what did I do in my first class? I stayed. Leaving would have been too easy. I’m curious: what do you do when you’re not enjoying something: stay or go?

♥ Alana

p.s. only one more day left here in paradise. I’m packing in as much learning and yoga as I can! If you’re here I’d love to meet you — get a hold of me here or through the @lululemon twitter account!

The population seems to have doubled overnight here in Lake Tahoe and the Wanderlust grounds are buzzing with happy, sweaty, yoga-fied people. The energy here is incredible and the conversations are flowing – from the yoga mat to the elevator.

600 yogis line up for Seane Corn’s class

creating space

About 600 people were in my first class of the day, lead by Seane Corn. I knew it was going to be powerful a few minutes in when I noticed the two people in front of me had tears streaming down their cheeks. We honoured the amazing and powerful women in our life by dedicating our thoughts to them (I sent mine to my mom – hi mom! Did you get them?), and went deep into our hips where Seane says we “store every relationship we’ve ever had” to release the past and let go. One word: wow.

creating art

I had been looking forward to practicing with John Friend, the founder of Anusara yoga, for a long time. His class was just as I had imagined it would be — 1.5 hours of play, accompanied by live musicians who were perfectly in sync with our movements: holding the song as we held poses, crescendoing as we expanded towards the sky. I think I detected a Simon + Garfunkel song at one point [side note - can anyone verify this? I really want to know!].

John Friend and the merry band

science-asana

About to get my neuroscience on

Next up: “The Secret” meets neuroscience. At least, this is what I thought when Dr. Van Houten began his lecture about happiness and meditation and asked us to create a vision of our future self. My nutshell edition of his wonderful 1.5 hour lecture: We can change the chemistry in our brains permanently, through 10-15 minutes of meditation a day. So if there’s something in your life that you want, focus on it and your brain will figure it out. I’m now inspired to give my neurons a workout — six-month meditation experiment, anyone?

hammock dreams

I had a short break between activities and checked my Twitter stream. Someone named @hammocker had said hi to me, and I decided to meet them in real life. I am so glad I did.

Rachel was at the Yellow Leaf Hammock booth and told me how her boyfriend Joe had gone to Thailand on vacation, discovered these handmade hammocks, and quit his corporate day job when he returned to found Yellow Leaf, which is committed to creating a sustainable social enterprise. They’ve only officially been open for a week. The hairs on my arm stood up when she told me their story.

visions and goals

I ended my day with a goal-setting workshop lead by Andrea from lululemon. Andrea brought tears to a few eyes with her personal story of goal-setting including the fact that she was achieving a goal by being here at Wanderlust leading the workshop. When I got home and checked the lululemon blog, I saw Allessia’s post on visions and goals and it connected all the individual pieces of my day together.

If there’s something in your life that you don’t have, you can create it. Let go of situations / things that aren’t serving you and create a life you love. If you’re at Wanderlust, Andrea’s holding another workshop Saturday at 5 pm. Be there or be square.

Until tomorrow,
Alana

My first class of Wanderlust was lead by the wonderful Amy Ippoliti. The Tahoe air was still Vinyasa-scarf chilly when we started class at 8 a.m., but by 8:30 the heat was building both on and off the mat, and by 10 I realized a) I did not pack enough sunscreen and b) I need to up my water intake.

Amy lead us through a light-hearted Anusara class that had us laughing with her instruction to “pretend you’re laying an egg” and that slowly and steadily opened different sections of our body towards Sun Dial, the peak pose. She did it so skillfully that before I knew it, my right foot was in my left hand over my head and I was doing it for the first time ever! #yogabreakthrough

Amy and a row of Sun Dial demos

then things got deep

In the afternoon I took Deep Hip Openers with Stephanie Snyder. The first thing she did was explain that our hips are like junk drawers — where people store experiences they’re not sure what to do with. We worked our hips in all directions, starting with gentle hip circles (where we channeled our inner pole dancer) to Double Pigeon and Hanumanasna (aka the splits). I left this class feeling new space in my hip joints and also completely zen.

the people i met today

Natasha works in the design department at lululemon. She’s been doing yoga (mostly Vinyasa Flow) for about 3 years and recently became a certified teacher.

mat neighbours

One thing that I think doesn’t happen often enough is getting to know your mat neighbour. After all — these people are right next to you during the intense and vulnerable moments that inevitably happen in a yoga class, and sometimes they even support you during poses like handstand. You might as well introduce yourself, right?

The lovely woman beside me in the first class is named Michael, and it turns out she’s an ambassador at our Carmel Showroom and her daughter also works for lululemon. Michael teaches Vinyasa Flow and is currently taking Anusara teacher training.

Nestor is originally from Costa Rica, but now lives in Folsom. He’s an electrical engineer at Intel, has been doing yoga for two years, and came to Wanderlust to share with like-minded people and get back into yoga.

in a line-up together

This is Mike. He was next to me in the line up for the 1 pm class. The only thing I know about him is that he runs an online yoga publication called Flow Yoga Magazine and he’s from California.

vancouverites

Amanda‘s from Vancouver! She works at a local company called Mara Gottler Designs, is in her last semester at SFU, and is a new Power Vinyasa yoga teacher.

I also ran into our ambassador Carolyn Ann, who gave me some pre-Wanderlust tips.

.

wanderlust quick facts*

Ratio of women to men = 7:3
Current % population with feathers in hair = 18
Projected feather density % by Sunday night = 62
Number of people with tails = at least 2

*totally unscientific

Tomorrow’s yoga menu includes Seane Corn, John Friend, and a meditation class. See you in the morning!

♥ Alana

I have arrived in Tahoe! There’s a buzz in the air here and the population of Wanderlusters is growing by the hour as more and more people roll into town, yoga mats in tow.

Here’s a quick summary of my day:

what i packed

Cool Racerbacks, Wunder Unders, Vinyasa Scarf, airplane reading, technology.

is a yoga mat luggage?

Momentary confusion re: whether or not my travel mat was considered carry-on (do I check it in? Can I carry it on?) until I discovered it folds up and slides neatly into my actual luggage. Props, lululemon designers!

trivia: where in the world is this?

Hint: it’s between Vancouver BC and Lake Tahoe.

the reno airport!

“Nobody puts Baby in the corner.”

new airport friends

I shared a taxi from the Reno airport to Tahoe with three other Wanderlusters.

Nate is from Greenville, South Carolina, has been practicing yoga for a year, and quit his full-time job (where he wore a suit and worked 60 hours a week) 2 Fridays ago. He came to Wanderlust to deepen and explore his relationship with yoga.

lance and amy

Lance is from Denver and is a “jack-of-all-trades” in the telecommunications field. He’s been practicing yoga for 3 years and his intention for Wanderlust is to “be happy. Experience it.”

Amy‘s from New York City, has been practicing yoga for 2.5 years, and “lives to inspire”. Her intention for her time at Wanderlust is to connect with as many amazing people as possible.

I can tell that it’s going to be an intense (in the best way possible) few days of making connections, learning, sharing, and of course getting our yoga on. My first class starts bright and early tomorrow morning, and I can’t wait to hit the mat!

Meet you tomorrow, Wanderlust!

♥ Alana

Wanderlust Tahoe 2010 – photo via the Wanderlust Facebook

yoga teachers not to miss

Chloe: John Friend, Sianna Sherman, Amy Ippoliti. I’m curious and excited to try Rod Stryker and Jonny Kest for the first time. And for music, don’t miss Michael Franti!

Carolyn: I’m excited to hear John Friend speak, and to learn from powerful women who have kept the movement in Vinyasa yoga alive from east coast to west – such as Janet Stone, Nikki Vilella, Schuyler Grant and Shiva Rea.

Clara: I’m always thrilled to practice with my teacher Shiva Rea. I’m also stoked to be assisting my friend Twee Merrigan both Friday and Saturday mornings. I’ve heard great things about Rod Stryker, so I’m checking out his Shakti Vinyasa. I love Schuyler’s class so I’m taking her Kula Flow.

what they’re packing

Eoin: Hammocks!

Chloe: My Joy-a-Toes, toe spreaders to wake up and activate your feet. Protein powder and my Magic Bullet to make shakes after practice. Two yoga outfits for each day (prepare to sweat with daytime highs of 25-30 degrees).

Clara: Sunscreen, mini meditation cushion, yoga towel (outdoor yoga + sun = more sweat than usual), lots of spare clothing (same sweaty theory).

Carolyn: The key item in my bag will be my bikini after Vancouver’s non-summer thus far. The lululemon Travel Mat will be by my side – the lightest, stickiest mat in my short history with yoga. Traumeel and my favourite Chinese herbal ointment for sore muscles.

advice for a first-timer

Clara: A friend who went before recommended taking a light coloured mat. She took a black mat last year and said at times she had to practice in flip flops because the mat was too hot! Also, conserve your energy. Be moderate in your practice or by Saturday your energy will be nil.

weekend intentions

Chloe: To soak it all up and savour every moment. To come home relaxed and refreshed for my children. To bring home inspiration and insight for my students.

Clara: To be a student. To take in all that is being offered.

Carolyn: To indulge in my personal practice and be surrounded by inspiring women. I plan to spend equal parts sweating through asana and slowing down alongside lakes and big trees.

As for my intentions for Wanderlust: to be present, have an open mind, and share what I learn on and off the mat. I’ll be posting daily Wanderlust recaps here on the lululemon blog, so if you have a tip, question or want to say hi in person, leave a comment here or reach me through the lululemon Twitter account: @lululemon.

If you’re at Tahoe for Wanderlust, the lululemon team will be out attending classes every day and we’d love to meet you – come say hi! We’re also holding a goal-setting workshop on Friday and Saturday at 5 pm called Creating a Future You Love.

See you soon, Tahoe!

♥ Alana

wanderlust teachers mentioned above

John Friend
Sianna Sherman
Amy Ippoliti
Rod Stryker
Jonny Kest
Janet Stone
Nikki Vilella
Schuyler Grant
Shiva Rea
Twee Merrigan
Eoin Finn

Are you in the first few years of a yoga practice like I am? Do you live your life in a whirlwind of work, friendships, family and everything else in between…and sometimes feel tired and overextended when your head hits the pillow? If this sounds like you, I highly recommend heading with a few close friends to a weekend festival like Wanderlust.

Primarily focused on yoga + music, Wanderlust Festival (held in a locations across the U.S. each year) is a wonderful blend of all things designed to nourish to your body, mind and spirit. I was lucky enough to attend this year’s Wanderlust in Stratton, Vermont, and I have a couple of key learnings I’d love to share with you.

1. variety of classes & quality of instructors

Can you say Rodney Yee-Colleen Saidman-John Friend-Seane Corn-Elena Brower ten times fast?! If you are a beginner yogi trying to take your practice to the next level, this is the PERECT forum. Not only are you practicing with some of the top instructors in the world, the variety of classes is staggering. In our all too fast-paced daily routines, sometimes we count on what is tried & true instead of venturing into, for example, a deep-breathing Kundalini class. At a weekend like this, you have so many opportunities to try new styles of yoga and you might surprise yourself with what you like. Anusara and I are now BFF forever!

2. go with friends

After opening your heart, hips, and well, everything over the course of four days, I guarantee you will have some of the most authentic, powerful conversations of your life. The girls and I talked about goals, health, relationships and more – and they were some of the most honest, warm and impactful conversations I’ve had in years. We also laughed & danced our butts off – my face was as sore as my hamstrings when I got home!

3. trust your body

As always, who we are on the mat is usually who we are off it, too. I came into my weekend in Vermont thinking I couldn’t do certain poses. A few classes in, I discovered that if I just tried to perform them, I could do them. Were my poses textbook? Or the deepest stretch in the room? No – but they were still the poses, and it was me doing them. I took this realization back to my home studio in Vancouver and my shifted perspective has me doing things now I wouldn’t have dreamed of three months ago – both in & outside of class.

4. go with an open mind & heart

There is literally something for everyone at a festival like this. From getting feathers woven into your hair to palm-reading to music of all kinds, there is a lot to do if you need to take a break from asanas. I had never heard Krishna Das sing and, to be honest, I probably would have said “he’s very talented but it isn’t my cup of tea” had I heard him before. However, after seeing him perform live at Wanderlust, I listen to him at home all the time when I’m relaxing & making dinner. An added bonus: when you come home and find a red feather tickling your shoulder during a day at work two weeks later, it’ll stop you dead in your tracks and make you giggle!

If you are looking for a retreat from your daily routine, want to deepen your daily practice and love exploring, check out a weekend yoga festival. You’ll leave lighter, more centered and ready to return to your life with a spring in your step and a renewed intention.

want more?

• top 10 wanderlust must-haves
• be sure to check back for Alana’s daily recaps from Wanderlust Tahoe.

upcoming wanderlust yoga festivals

• Wanderlust Tahoe – Inspired Gathering
• Wanderlust Santa Monica – Yoga In The City
• Wanderlust Tahoe – Wanderlust CA
• Wanderlust Seattle – Yoga In The City

Practice, practice, and all is coming – Sri K. Pattabhi Jois

Even though I had been practicing yoga on and off since I took my first class in 1998, I used to think that I would not be a legit yogi until I had mastered Adho Mukha Vrksasana, aka handstand.

Two things happened that changed my mind.

do it now. do it now. do it now

First: a friend at work signed up for the first part of Anusara teacher training, which I had been quietly planning to do within the next five years – after I had perfected handstand, of course. “Why not do it now?”, she asked me. And she was right. I couldn’t do handstand, but I had the support and blessing of my coworkers to pursue this goal, I was in an okay-enough financial position to take this on, and lastly – I was passionate about learning how to share the gift of yoga with others. I registered for teacher training a few days after this conversation, in January 2010.

handstand attempt at Carcross Desert, the Yukon

set your intention

The second thing that happened was during teacher training itself, which was full of all sorts of partner-assisted handstands, including forearm balances, dropbacks, supported one-arm handstands, and a variety of ways to kick up. Someone asked if you could still be a good instructor without being able to demonstrate all advanced poses. “I don’t give a shit if you can do handstand or not,” our teacher said. With that one sentence, my perspective shifted. He continued: “What’s important is your intention. The way you open yourself to grace every time you practice. The way you encourage others and teach what you know from a place of authenticity.”

I realized then that my handstand goal had to change in order for me to achieve it.

always learning

I was reminded of my teacher’s words about handstand during a hot yoga class this past Friday morning. As we reached back to grab our ankles and extend out into Dancer Pose, the teacher said: “There are no final yoga poses. There is always something to learn, something new to explore, something we haven’t yet experienced.”

handstand attempt in Campbell River BC

the pursuit of handstands

Today is July 10, 2011. I’m a certified yoga teacher. I still can’t do handstand, without the wall, in the middle of a room with no one to catch me if I fall. But I’ve realized that the discipline of a regular and consistent yoga practice is much more important and difficult than mastering one advanced pose.

To others in pursuit of handstand, this is what matters: you got out of bed. You unrolled your mat. You moved, you breathed, you were kind to yourself and others. Your handstand, the master pose that you think signals you are finally a yogi, does not exist. You are a yogi now. What matters is your two hands, pressed into the top of your mat, and your open heart. What matters is that you kicked up, that you keep kicking, that you kick over and over and over.

Practice, practice, and all is coming.

wan·der·lust: [n.] a strong desire to travel. This pretty much sums up my state of mind about 99% of the time, so when the opportunity to combine, yoga, travel and social media at Wanderlust Festival arose, I was first to volunteer.

I’m a little ashamed to say that in the month leading up to the festival, yoga was lacking in my life.  Work was busy, the weather was wet and excuses were plentiful.  I was literally counting down the days until I could escape to my mat and find some sunshine and peace.

Getting to my first class at Wanderlust was hectic to say the least.  I was running on 2 hours of sleep, there was torrential rain, thunder, lightning and crowds of people everywhere.  Despite the less than ideal conditions, I was determined to unroll my mat, begin my practice and be present in the moment.

As I walked out of the tent after a powerful class with the legendary Sean Corne, I couldn’t help but laugh at my boost of motivation.  Where had this drive been for the last month or so?  Why was this class any different than my ones at home? Four days of handstands, backbends, vinyasa flows and meaningful insights reminded me why I fell in love with yoga and how integral it is in my life.  It’s my time for expression and reflection. It’s my place to feel strong and to relax.

Though at times getting to class can seem like a hassle or even a stressor in itself, we need to remind ourselves that it’s always worth the effort.   My biggest takeaway from Wanderlust was that I don’t need to wander to find time for my practice.  I just need to roll out my mat.

the gratitude tree at wanderlust Vermont

Something you should know about Thea, one of our Vancouver educators, is that she loves to dance for fun. For her, a successful party is simply not complete without a sweet, sweet dance floor. She tells us how her passion for dance (and a belief that it can bring communities together) led her to a series of Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals and a future date with Ellen.

I lost touch with dance in any sort of formal way after I finished school. It wasn’t until my sister’s wedding, 3 years later, that my passion was reignited with the brilliant plan of creating a flash mob as a gift! I choreographed a ridiculous routine to Beyonce’s ‘Put a Ring On It’ and made a step-by-step instructional video. The guests learned the steps prior to the wedding and busted it out an hour into the reception. It was awesome! The next winter, during Vancouver’s Olympics, 5000 spectators watched as a 3000 strong flash mob danced my choreographed routine up and down Robson St. This second success gave me a new sense of energy, momentum and purpose (and an opportunity to set some goals.).

 

setting big hairy audacious goals

Focusing on my strengths and my passion for dance, I set my first BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal): I create an online instructional dance choreography business by January 2011.

It felt scary, foreign and ridiculous to create a business out of thin air. That, by the way, is how you know a goal is a BHAG. If it scares the crap out of you or seems impossible, it is a BHAG. It’s been a year of huge learning, perseverance and patience but I have successfully created my business, Just For Fun Dance Party, and can check that BHAG off the list.

Of course there is always another juicy one waiting around the corner. My current BHAG gets me excited every time I think about it: the Vancouver Bust Out! It’s an opportunity for Vancouverites to get together and create a unique and hilarious experience. A Bust Out is like a flash mob but it’s NOT a secret. The goal is to engage with our greater community and do something just for the sake of fun!

the bold declaration

• 500+ Vancouverites participate in the Vancouver Bust Out on July 23rd during the Khatsahlano Music Fest.
• Ellen DeGeneres sees the video of the Bust out on youtube and invites me to teach her and her audience the dance. (I’ve assigned you a special ring tone, Ellen).

join in

Come join in the fun and bring all of your friends and family. We dare you all to try learning the first few moves and NOT giggle. Check out  justforfundanceparty.com or find the Just For Fun Dance Party Facebook page so you can learn the moves at home.

Or come practice in person with Thea. Here is the schedule of rehearsals for the Bust Out! happening on July 23rd:

• Wed July 13 from 8- 9pm @ lululemon West 4th (2113 W 4th Ave)
• Wed July 20 from 8- 9pm @ lululemon West 4th (2113 W 4th Ave)
• Fri July 22 from 7:15- 9:15 @ Semperviva Kits Beach (2201 W 4th Ave).

want more

• learn how to create powerful goals
• dance. sing. floss. travel. it’s right there on the manifesto

You’d be unlikely to find athletic gear, like lululemon, in a fashion magazine but some of the women here insist that the Cool Racerback deserves to be. The tank is a fundamental part of their daily outfits.

melorin

why I love cool racerbacks
“They’re so versatile. I wear them everywhere: circuit classes; running; to and from yoga and on the weekends under jackets and blouses with some heels added and you have the perfect casual outfit. Also they’re so easy to pack when travelling.”

the colours
“I love the bright coloured ones; they’re great to add some pop to my wardrobe when I need it. My favorite colour is the rubber ducky. I get so excited when new colours arrive!

dressing them up
“My current favorite summer look is wearing a cool racer back with a cardigan over top, paired with some shorts or skinny jeans and some flats. I’ll layer it with a couple of unique necklaces draped over and a fun, coloured purse.

Melorin is a purchasing manager raised in North Vancouver. One of her favorite place she’s travelled is Gili Islands in Indonesia.

heathered grapeseed CRB tank

carolyn

why I love cool racerbacks
“I love the Cool Racerbacks because they’re extremely simple. I love simple because I wear yoga clothes all day long and I want to be able to style them up when I’m going to and from the studio. They’re just so versatile for me. They look really good layered but often I only wear one while I’m doing yoga to reduce on laundry.”

the colours
“I love all the colours they come in. I’m really into the pastels, especially heathered grapeseed, which isn’t a colour I’d normally wear. I love the heathered tango red too because you don’t see a lot of them. The heathered ones hide the sweat well; it blends in a little bit.”

dressing them up
“I love the length of them. You can wear it with any kind of pants; you can have it hanging over your pants or shorts or have it tucked in, like with a high-waisted skirt. Usually I dress them up with a scarf and I wear a lot of cardigans. They all look great under my cardigans and jean jackets. In Vancouver the weather is so changeable; it’s nice to have an extra layer in your bag to put on if it gets cold; and they fit into every single purse I own.”

Carolyn is a yoga instructor for Semperviva and YYoga as well as Ambassador for the lululemon on West 4^th, Vancouver. She does a lot of yoga and a lot of smiling.

surge CRB tank

elim

why I love cool racerbacks
“The Cool Racerback is my favorite because I can wear any type of support under it. I can wear it with a Flow Y bra (or my new favorite the Arise Bra) or any one of my standard bras; for minimal to full support. I wear them for running, Vinyasa and Hatha yoga.”

the colours
“I have five white Cool Racerbacks. I love them. I wear them on their own or layered underneath other coloured tank and shirts.”

dressing them up
“I’ll wear my Cool Racerbacks with anything. I love to wear them under my power mesh tops from the lab. I’ll dress them up by putting a blazer over the top or just with jewelry and leave my hair down.”

Elim is our Photo Studio Coordinator and Stylist. She loves to people watch the streets of Vancouver and has goals to work in a certain magazine in New York City.

pink mist CRB tank & wren CRB tank

bailie

why I love cool racerbacks
“The length is awesome which makes it a perfect layering piece – I throw it under a favorite shirt and ta da! ready for the office and yoga without messing around with a change of clothes. I love how light and breathable this tank is too. I usually pair it with the Arise Bra and my trusty Wunder Unders for working up a serious sweat in one of those impromptu Spin or Power Vinyasa Flow classes.”

the colours
“My favourite colour is Wren. Not only is it named after a lovely little bird but olive green is an amazing transitional color – beautiful in the summer but dark enough for those colder months.”

dressing them up
“For me it’s all about the layers.  It’s perfect under my loose flowing tops paired with some worn in cutoffs, great sunglasses and a beloved necklace.  Hello Sunday beach day! Or I’ll do a long jersey, high-waisted skirt and maybe a pair of amazing wooden wedges.”

Bailie is a proud member of the Men’s Team working as the Allocation Analyst (aka – gifting the stores with new product … whoop!).  Born and raised in Calgary and, yes, still loves the Calgary Flames.

They all said it in different ways (‘versatile’, ‘simple’, ‘favourite’, ‘ta-da!’) but the way that the Cool Racerback’s can switch from sports gear to street-wear and back is what makes it one of our essentials.

Let us know how you use your Cool Racerback. Join the conversation with lululemon on Facebook.

We didn’t feel we could introduce you to some of Jon’s favourite things without introducing you to Jon. We’ve edited down the biography of this surfer-designer-dad to these 11 answers.

1. describe what you do at lululemon in three words
Put. Out. Fires. (Ed’s note: Jon is the Creative Director at lululemon, not a fire-fighter)

2. who was your creative role model growing up?
When I was a kid it was Frank Lloyd Wright because I wanted to be an architect. His philosophy really appealed to me. (Ed’s note: in a nutshell, Wright believed in ‘organic’ architecture; that “form and function are one.”)

3. if you had a different job for a day, what would you be?
I’d be a landscaper. I love transforming things; things that I can see, that other people can see. It’s really cool to know that you’re working with something that’s living.

4. when do you consider a piece of work to be complete?
To me, it’s when I walk away from it, either in disgust or delight. And sometimes they’re never done (my wife would say that is closer to the truth. None of my projects are ever done).

5. tell us about one place in the world that inspires you
Anywhere in the ocean. It’s the one place where everything seems to make sense. We just got back from a family surf trip to California, my wife and I were sitting in the water (it wasn’t as cold as here), the sun was out and the kids were on the beach having a blast. We just looked at each other and said,  ‘why don’t we live here? We should do this.’ Then we got in the car, got stuck on the freeway in traffic, drove through congested neighbourhoods. When we got back to Vancouver, I went over to Tofino  for the weekend and surfed there with absolutely no-one in the water and realized why we’re here. There were no crowds, the water was clean and cold. It was gorgeous. It was amazing.

6. how do you fit yoga into your life?
Every Tuesday night, my wife and I do yoga together at YYoga in Lynn Valley with our teacher Alex – she’s awesome. It’s Anusara, which we really like because it’s a good workout as well as really technically astute. I find it has really helped me recover from some old injuries, so I definitely appreciate it from that perspective.

7. tell us about the first time you did yoga
I had this misconception that somebody would be walking around showing me exactly what to do right from the beginning; more of a lesson than a class, kind of a step by step. But it’s more of a sink or swim thing, you just get in there and do it. You just watch and learn and I find that part of the process really interesting and really humbling too.

8. what’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Measure twice, cut once.

9. what advice would you share with your children?
Be authentic. Be true to you. Because it will always come back to that, it’ll be the one thing that you will question later; whether you did things because they were the right thing to do for you.

10. what’s your favourite inanimate object in your house?
I collect chairs so I  have a couple of chairs that I like looking at: a couple of Eames, Corbusier and a really cool Bertoia wire chair that’s a thing of beauty. I always have to rearrange them to make sure they’re properly arranged. But the one thing that I always look at, that makes me smile, is a photo that my friend took at the L.A. Gay Rodeo a couple of years ago. It’s of a gay cowboy on a horse and he’s wearing pink high-heeled cowboy boots. It’s a really good conversation piece.

11. if you had an extra hour in the day, what would you do with it?
I’d play. I’d play more with my kids.

Jon’s picks

1. Ben Sherman straw hat
2. Metal Vent Tech short sleeve shirt
3. Men’s No Show socks
4. Game On Boxer Brief
5. Yashica Electro 35 range-finder camera
6. Miles’ art
7. Jack Spade Nylon Canvas Dad Field Bag
8. Pope Bisect Surfboard
9. Powell Peralta Mcgill Skull/Snake Skateboard
10. Trainer Shorts
11. The Mat
12. LOMO LC-A camera
13. The Surfers Journal magazine
14. Wedding photo – it’s our 10 year anniversary in August!
15. Vintage fiberglass Eames shell side chair
16. Headhunter SPF 30 sunblock
17. Vintage Tonka Winnebago – from my childhood
18. A ‘thing’ for exercise made by my son, Miles
19. Moleskine sketchbooks
20. Rainbow Sandals flip-flops
21. Dwell Magazine
22. Eoin Finn’s Blissology DVD
23. A birthday card from my youngest boy Wells
24. Sigg 1L Sport Top Bottle
25. Grandpa’s Tools
26. SKOAH clean freak body kleanser
27. surfer dude bobble head
28. iPhone 4
29. Manduka Equa Towel

Sometimes a vacation is just a few hours away. We recently took a road trip to the Gorge in Quincy, Washington for the 2011 Sasquatch Music Festival.  We found it amazing to find such an event close to home that we could fit into our busy schedule. The Gorge was the most unbelievable backdrop for us to relax on the hill,  and catch some of our latest favourite bands.

great bands to catch

We were so excited to catch some of our latest, favourite bands at this fest. If you get lucky you may catch them touring this summer.

• Matt & Kim – One word: AMAZING! This was our first time catching this two piece band, and we fell in love! The energy was awesome and they had they crowd beyond entertained! Download: Daylight
• Robyn – We have been running to her songs all spring and we were super-stoked to see her live! Of course she did not disappoint! Download : Dancing On My Own
• Fitz and the Tantrums – You can’t help move around when listening to this band. Download : MoneyGrabber

don’t worry…there’s more!

That’s not it for the summer music festivals. Be sure to catch some more great music at these future festivals this summer.

• Lollapalooza. Chicago, IL  August 5-7
• Bumbershoot. Seattle, WA September 3-5
• Wanderlust, Bondville, VT, June 23-26
• Wanderlust, Tahoe, CA, July 28-31

(Wanderlust is a series of yoga-cum-music festivals. We’ll be there bending and rocking out. We’ll also be offering goal coaching sessions in Vermont)

what to bring

Being prepared for a three-day music festival that includes camping AND travelling light doesn’t come off without a little planning. Here are our suggestions to keep the experience happy and easy.

• Layer up! The Gorge was warm during the day and quite cold in the evenings. Be sure to pack layers!  We luckily packed a few of our lululemon favourites for the task! (Who knew wunder unders and vinyasa scarves could get any better right?)
• Remember to pack your water bottle. Being in the sun all day can make you thirsty. Most festivals have refill stations for your reusable water bottles. It’s a great way to stay hydrated and skip those pricey bottles of water at concessions.
• Grab an air mattress! Some of us aren’t the most experienced campers. An air mattress can turn a tent into a home!
• Don’t forget ear Plugs. Sleeping in a parking lots of festival goers…ear plugs are a must!

We try to keep our ears to the ground for up-coming events. If you’re pumped about a festival this summer, let us know about it. Maybe we’ll see you there.