why we should honour the dark

We talk a lot in yoga about light: honouring the light within us, placing our fingers and feet lightly on our mats, celebrating and seeking light in others - but we don't often talk about darkness.

Parsva Bakasana is so easy in the dark!

We met at the Sun Tower (like that one, Alanis Morrisette?), exchanged our belongings for a pair of wooly socks, and were lead downstairs to a candlelit room.

I got into my first ever scorpion pose... or did I?

what yoga in the dark sounds like

Unlit candles in jars being knocked over. Bodies gently crashing onto mats. Scattered and sincere apologies as rogue feet and arms accidentally meet mat neighbours. The constant and rhythmic wave of inhales and exhales uniting each body in the room.

Have you ever seen 200 people do handstand away from the wall together? Me neither.

embrace the darkness

The dark is a space where anything is possible.
In the dark, you are perfect.
In the dark, you nail every pose.
In the dark you can cheat in navasana or do savasana for the entire class.
In the dark there is no comparing, no judgement, no limits to what is possible.

experience it yourself

You don't need to wait for an organized Yoga in the Dark event. The next time you practice, close your eyes. This is how yoga is meant to be experienced: in your own body, where the only thing that exists around you is space.

As we move away from the darkest day of the year, take some time to explore who you are being in the dark so that you can fully appreciate all the light that 2013 will bring.

rebecca

I love my collarbone because it is so defined and makes me feel oh so beautiful and womanlike, especially when I'm dancing, modeling, acting and walking!

marlissa

I love my arms because they are feminine and lean, especially my triceps. They make me feel strong when I'm grabbing those handle bars in spin class!

keri

I love my bum because it is like no one else's and follows me everywhere I go. It rocks out from everything to squats, shopping and even on the dance floor!

karey

I love my legs because they carry me through my day. I appreciate that I've been blessed with two of them. They provide me with thee ability to dance, run, swim, bike, hike or strut!

jennifer

I love my tiny waist because it leads to a nice bum, which isn't always popular for Asian women. I love my waist in hot yoga class and finding outfits to accentuate it.

greg

I have been blessed with naturally broad shoulders. They are the envy of my smaller shouldered brother. They look even larger when compared with my tiny hands.

ashley, alex & marisa

Ashley: I love my collarbones because they protrude and make me feel beautiful. My favourite workout is bikini bootcamp.

Alex: I love my stomach because it's toned and makes me feel good about myself, and shows me that my hardcore ab workouts are paying off.

Marisa: I love my arms because they make me feel strong and beautiful, especially my biceps. I love working my arms in a muscle conditioning class called Fabulously Firm.

andrea

I love my beautiful waist because it makes me feel awesome, especially sweating in Zumba class.

What's your favourite body part, and why?

Ever since then, I've been waiting for someone on the online team to accomplish a goal so they could wear the hat and I could take a photo of it -- and share it with the internet, of course. I am happy to announce that the day has come!

Pat, our photographer, has just accomplished a goal: to shoot a Yoga Journal ad for lululemon!

A photo of Pat's goals from our goal wall at the SSC. Check mark added by the editor.

Pat checking out the latest Yoga Journal, hot off the press...

...and with the ad he shot.

So, just a reminder: don't wait for birthdays or milestones to celebrate. Amazing things are happening all the time - let's celebrate!

Congratulations, Pat. (And thanks for being the first Goal Hat wear-er.) What's your next goal?

From left to right: Jakob Fugslang (rider), Jacki Carr (lululemon Regional Community Guru), Andy Schleck (rider) Jessica Edwards (lululemon Regional Community Guru) Allison Forsyth (lululemon Athlete Programs Manager)

A nail-biter until the finish, Andy Schleck (the Schleckster to us) delivered with an incredible second place finish overall, a mere 39 seconds behind the winner. This impressive result has launched Team Saxo Bank to second place overall in the UCI world rankings.

The lululemon office was rooting for Team Saxo from our desks! This is Allison on an early morning during the Tour.

Congratulations Team Saxo Bank - you rocked our world!

Join in our celebration by picking up your official Saxo Bank kit, available for a limited time on our site.
- View the Saxo Bank kit for women
- View the Saxo Bank kit for men

In celebration of our first year, here is a list of some of our most read and commented-on blog posts in case you missed them the first time around. Enjoy!

1. how do i wash my lululemon?

In case you're not a laundry-symbol whiz (I personally always have to Google to decode them), this post has tips on how to care for your lululemon.

2. how to know you’ve found your groove (pant)

How to find your perfect fit in our Groove Pants.

3. 5 things to know about the mat

This past spring we welcomed a new mat to our family: the Mat. Our product trainer, Brittany, takes us through what you should know about it.

4. wunder under challenge

Elim wore Wunder Unders every single day in January and blogged about it! Read this series to see how she took her WUs from street to sweat.

5. why we love the gusset

Say no to toe.

6. we heart feedback

When we introduced We Heart Product Reviews to our product detail pages, this blog post introducing the ability to leave product feedback also received a ton of feedback! Thank you to everyone who left a comment and shared their thoughts with us.

7. the gift of yoga in our stores

All lululemon stores have weekly complimentary yoga classes. But you already knew that, right? Read this post anyway and invite a friend to join you next time.

8. put your goals out there… this is why

A guest experience in Ottawa last year became a blog post which turned into one of our most commented-on posts from the last year.

9. love your body

This post inspired me to run around more with my shirt off. A must-read if you're ever feeling doubtful about your radness.

I'd like to give a big shout out to all of you who have contributed in some way over the past year to the lululemon blog community - whether it was through sharing your story, leaving a comment, or "liking" a blog note on Facebook. We are continuing to grow and evolve the blog and it's because of your feedback and contributions. Here's to a great year of blogging and many more to come!

One of the quotes from our manifesto is "Do one thing a day that scares you" - and I totally do. I am the first to jump off a cliff into open water, I will show up into a foreign city with no plans, and I actually embrace failure like it's a trophy. My friends know I have this weird rule where I am willing to try anything three times. So I never thought I was afraid of anything. But through digging deeper and figuring out what type of listener I truly am, I discovered I am afraid to succeed.

Hmpf! Afraid to succeed? I had never heard of this before. I would constantly hear the cliché I'm afraid to fail - but that phrase has never left my mouth.

I have viewed every failure in my life as a learning opportunity. Every time I didn't get the marks, I didn't get the job, I didn't get the guy, I didn't get something, I knew that there was a plan for me and I just worked harder and made my goals bigger, better, more bad asser. I would then achieve better marks, nail a cooler job, and - um, still working on the guy area! Some goals I achieved and others I reworked, but I never took the time to stop and pat myself on the back or take in the acknowledgement from others for things that have gone well. I simply pushed it the back burner and said "Next!"

I recently had the chance to spend some time with an amazing group of managers from lululemon for a breakout session with Andrea Bennett (lululemon's Canadian training manager) and Susanne Conrad. When you look Susanne up on lululemon's company directory her title couldn’t be more fitting: Director of Possibility. She is full of sass, has the spirit of an uninhibited five-year-old, the vocabulary of your best girlfriend after a night on the town, and someone you could have tea with and not realize the cup had been empty for hours.

Susanne led the group on a path of discovery and development, and what happened during this time has completely shifted my mindset about success. I realized I had been telling myself it wasn't okay to totally own the great stuff in my life, truly take in compliments, or party it up when everything's awesome! I thought that no one wanted to be around someone who is full of themselves... right?! But the truth is, no one wants to be around a person who can't stop and acknowledge their own hard work.

This experience was literally the best slap in the face I have received: a wide open five-fingered whack right to the internal thought process that gave me permission to stop and tell myself: "Self, you kicked ass!! You did good."

I am grateful to have been part of this event, which began at the Northbrook Court mall about 10 miles north of Chicago. Our Northbrook store’s ambassador, Marcy Caron, kicked off the 3-day with a morning stretch for 2,200 walkers at the opening ceremony.

In being there to see the opening ceremony, I was able to get a small taste of what the walkers would go through over the next 3 days. They trained for this event and looked forward to it for so long, and throughout the weekend they cheered, laughed, cried, shared, and celebrated together.

Beth, Liz, Marcy, Kristin, Suzanne, and Billie supporting the participants of the 3-Day Chicago at Northbrook Court.

Once the walk began, I went to a spin class at the Pilates Barre in Winnetka with the rest of the Northbrook lululemon team. To our surprise, when we were eating at Panera after class, the 3-day walkers were moving through Winnetka! In the brief moments I spoke with the walkers and encouraged them on their journey, I was touched by their stories, their memories, and their unforgettable t-shirts and memorabilia. It was so incredible to be a witness to their courage, commitment, love, and optimism.

Above are Tiffany's housemates, Fay, Emma, Kelsey, and Sarah, who are giving thanks to each other in little ways.

To most university students, Thanksgiving brings the excitement of going home, spending time with old friends, and eating plenty of real, home-cooked meals.

I have four housemates – Emma, Fay, Kelsey and Sarah – and we live in a little house right near the Queen’s University campus. Similar to most university students, we’re all very excited to go home to see our families and, of course, eat home-cooked meals.

This past Saturday, we received a Facebook message from Emma, which I wanted to share with all of you:

so i’ve decided that we are going to celebrate thanksgiving.

for thanksgiving we all go home and appreciate food and that is definitely great. but i think our celebration (although it will involve food) should also involve thanking each other. so what i will do this week is go around and give everyone little cuecards, and on those cuecards we will have to thank each other for something (coolness, being a person who listens, sharing food, etc.) then i will compile them and we will have a dinner celebration (date and time to be decided) and hand them out.

Although the message was simple, it got right down to the point of Thanksgiving – giving thanks to those who you are grateful for. These four girls are my best friends in the world – but sometimes its easy to forget how much I truly appreciate them – even if its just for their coolness!

I challenge each and every one of you reading this blog to do something similar – take a moment and really give thanks to the people around you. Let them know how much you appreciate their love, time and special characteristics.

We had our Thanksgiving feast on Monday night – and despite the fact it certainly wasn’t a homecooked meal – it might have been the best Thanksgiving dinner I’ve ever had!