We love Chris Chavez – so much so that we’re always calling him up to play when he’s in town. The yoga instructor and longtime lululemon ambassador opened up his house (and heart) and let us peek into his life as a yogi. *Spoiler alert: it involves a dedication to practice, a lot of travel and even a little beer.

you’re a yogi-on-the-go if we’ve ever seen one. Got a favourite destination you’ve travelled to?
We get asked this a lot and I think I have favourite things about every place that we go. One thing about travelling is that you have to make every place home. If you don’t you become very “un-rooted” in yourself and you start to get stressed out. I try to look forward to the place we’re going next and start saying in my mind “oh, I can hardly wait to see so-and-so or go eat here or pick up fresh bread there.” That just helps me get rooted.

we’re always so excited when you’re in town, what’s your favourite thing about Vancouver?
The seawall! Is that what you call it? When we arrive that’s one of my favourite things to do. You know, drop the stuff, put some walking shoes on and just walk the seawall. Also, the yoga studios here – I think they add a quality of life that most cities in the world don’t have.

is there a pose you resist the most?
YES! Those are the poses that whenever my wife leads a practice she purposely includes. I’m always like… “argh I hate this pose, I hate this pose!” Typically it’s deep backbends that I avoid the most. What’s interesting is that it’s those poses that I say “okay I’ll be a real yoga teacher when I can do this pose.” Then every time I hit that pose the mark just moves a little bit further. I think it’s what keeps me excited about the practice and growing as a student as well.

we know you’re a musician yourself, do you have a favourite band or song?
Favourite band or song, umm, I go through periods. Lately I’ve been on a Coldplay/Snow Patrol kick. Right now when I wake up in the morning I’ve been putting on… I think it’s called “Crack the Shutters”… I start making breakfast and put that on and then I’m like “don nah nadkjf dfggf” (trying to sing along) and I don’t know any of the words other than "CRACK THE SHUTTERS, bah…de...dem!” and then I just let them take it from there…

what's the last movie you saw?
Ah the last movie I saw… in its entirety? It was probably like, the Hangover (laughter).

"Breathe deeply and appreciate the moment. Living in the moment could be the meaning of life."

I'll be honest, when I first joined lululemon and read the manifesto, my reaction to this statement was "That's great, but I already have my list of everything to do today!"

Ever wondered if we've organized ourselves out of appreciating what's around us? I am a relentless planner and a bit of an organizational powerhouse (it's when you start to make lists of lists that you know you have a problem). Recently, I realized that I rarely had a day off in my diary that wasn't already planned to perfection. What would happen if I went off the map a little more, I wondered?

day one:

I left my day off completely open (this gave me mild heart palpitations), and got a last minute tweet that Olympic freestyle skiers were giving a demonstration of their aerial skills downtown. I was there, camera in hand, 10 minutes later! I would never have caught this awesome event if, as usual, I had planned my day to perfection.

Score one for living in the moment...

day two:

Waking up to sunshine in Vancouver, I resolved to spend a morning appreciating the small things that make living here so amazing. Along the way, I spent some time with the fall leaves in Stanley Park, noticed that there is a great little cafe two blocks away from me where you can get a mean game of bocce, and chatted to a total stranger on the bus about my love of all things Twitter (only possible because for once I wasn't checking my planner en route). In the groove...

See what happens when you have time to look down?

day three:

Now in the swing of my new mindset, I flew by the seat of my pants and attended a brand new type of yoga class- possible only because I hadn't previously scheduled myself one to go to! When a friend of mine called one night and suggested I try Anusara, I swallowed my nervousness (partner yoga? what if I knocked them over?), and faced my biggest living in the moment challenge yet. One hour later, I couldn't believe it as my partner helped me into an inverted standing split. For once, my brain was not spinning out of control, anticipating the next few hundred things I was going to do. I was able to relax and just be in the physical moment, working with my body and setting no limits for where I could go.

What helps you to stay in the moment? I'd love to hear your tips!