I expect it to be challenging on several levels:

• Other workshop attendees are yoga teachers (both stronger and more experienced than I);
• 3 hours of ab– and butt-strengthening poses — Yikes! my perennial weakness;
• It’s a particularly confusing period for me, as I’m relearning basic body mechanics, such as how to stand, walk, stretch, etc., through lessons with a Feldenkrais guru in Bellevue.

Back to the Beginner’s Mind

Yoga is nourishing when done mindfully, with careful attention to what the inner body is saying or feeling as you move from one pose to another, or refine your alignment during an asana. Mindfulness is a state that all yoga enthusiasts aspire to in their daily practice. It demands concentration and mental clarity.

Yoga practice has become more complicated, now that I’m working through the Feldenkrais lessons — relearning how to stand or extend my arm above my head. These days there are lots of messages competing for attention inside my brain when practicing yoga. Feldenkrais therapists and yoga teachers don’t use the same vocabulary (or even necessarily the same principles) when instructing students on how to move, balance or stretch — so it’s up to me to reconcile the differences in my head and body.

Having to process and harmonize competing instructions means getting to mental clarity is a future goal, not one I can easily achieve in the present moment. But once I’ve synthesized the Feldenkrais principles, I’ll enjoy a more powerful and stable practice, with less risk of injury to joints or muscles.

In a Beautiful Yoga Studio

Today’s workshop will take place in a beautifully designed and welcoming place, Yoga Circle Studio. The owner, Karen Guzak, has decorated her studio with Indian silk saris, creating a welcoming tent-like environment that surrounds the yoga practitioners with riotous colors and silken textures on walls and ceiling. The beauty around us helps to distract from the discomfort of burning abs or challenging yin poses…

I love the studio, but it’s an hour drive each way. Given the high cost of gas (or in my case, diesel fuel), I don’t get there as often as I’d like.

Wish me luck; it will be a long afternoon…

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Given the traditional guru-student relationship, how open is the yoga community to using online services for guided student practice, teacher training, inspiration?

I found myself pleasantly surprised at the number of choices available today. That said, when it comes to home-based study, many options appear limited to online ordering of traditional media (such as printed manuals and DVDs) that will be mailed to the student’s home. These are early days but we haven’t yet seen the full potential of online services and mobile devices as an aid to a guided practice, or even a yoga immersion.

Is “Distance Learning” the Right Term?

What surprised me was to find how often people use the phrase “distance learning” in conjunction with yoga. Although this phrase is used quite comfortably within academic or commercial settings, it’s disconcerting in the context of a yoga-centric learning environment.

Perhaps it’s time for the yoga community to come up with a label that doesn’t emphasize the notion of physical distance between people. Instead let’s choose a phrase that is more positive, one that embraces the convenience of online services, especially as a practical alternative for days when things get in the way of showing up for a real-world class.

I dream about the day when I can “take a class” from a favorite teacher, via a future online service. This would be an attractive and practical alternative to having to miss her studio-based class due to work or family conflicts. For those of us who travel regularly, being able to take online classes from our teachers would be a wonderful option while on the road.

If I knew I could take “make-up classes” via an online service, I’d be more comfortable about signing up for 12-week class passes. Instead I juggle classes at several local studios, based on which classes are the best fit for my schedule. I’d much prefer the option of choosing the teacher first, and then the schedule, rather than the reverse.

New Teaching Opportunities?

And wouldn’t it be nice if deserving yoga teachers could earn a decent income, assuming the future “online classroom” could create more teaching opportunities, or allow them to serve a larger number of students.

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Despite my feelings about the article’s editorial stance, over time it has had a positive impact on my yoga practice.

It caused me to reassess what classes to take, what teachers to follow, and what practices or styles of yoga to avoid.

I’m now more clear about what’s right for me (and why). This helps me be more authentic — especially when I choose not to do a pose or to perform the easier variation instead.

Sadly I now take fewer classes as a consequence of being more selective. The good news: the teachers are better, and I’m learning more — lessons that I can apply both in class and at home.

How to Avoid Injury in Yoga

Here’s what I’ve concluded from this reassessment process:

• Avoid over-crowded classes where it’s impossible for the teacher to pay enough attention to each student
• Avoid teachers who lack hundreds of hours of teacher training
• Avoid yoga class environments that promote yoga as exercise (the latest faddish workout)
• Be aware of your body’s vulnerabilities and where to pay extra attention during practice
• Take responsibility for communicating with the teacher before class, to ensure she understands what you’re dealing with today

Those are basic requirements to avoid risky conditions. But the choice of teacher is even more important.

Choose Your Teacher(s) Carefully

It’s taken awhile for me to recognize this, but it’s incredibly important to choose yoga teachers based on their instructional techniques — how well the teacher:

• delivers instruction about the yoga asanas
• demonstrates what she’s asking students to do
• interacts with students who don’t know how to apply those instructions to their own bodies
• recognizes and clarifies confusion
• corrects or guides someone into proper alignment

Having had the benefit of several exceptionally skillful teachers in small class settings, I’m now very aware of the difference between really good instruction and run-of-the-mill classes.

Teaching Methods Need to Improve

Steeped in the ancient spiritual and cultural traditions of India, yoga has been slow to adopt more effective teaching and communication styles. The teaching tradition has tended to be one of disciples emulating their gurus.

Immersed in these traditions, the typical yoga teacher errs by using terminology or phrasing that is poorly understood by students. The language is lyrical, evocative, full of beautiful imagery — but sadly, too ambiguous and easy to misinterpret.

This beautiful stone tracery, seen during a recent visit to La Alhambra, reminded me of my experience of a typical yoga class: poetry and grace in motion, strength, balance — but with language that means little to the uninitiated.

Here the calligraphy is integral to the design but conveys nothing to an English speaker. Let’s be honest: the same is true of Sanskrit pose names when used with beginning students.

Even when teachers stick to English, problems emerge when the language is ambiguous, as with these instructions:

• “Open your heart”
• “Set your foundation”
• “Snug your shoulder blades against your back”

I’ve been practicing yoga for 3 years, but it has taken me that long to recognize the risks of not understanding the optimal bio-mechanics of key poses. It took a few thankfully minor injuries to reveal how much I still need to learn.

So I’ve returned to classes for beginners, those led by exceptionally clear teachers with superior communication skills. I want to master yoga’s foundational asana principles before resuming classes with teachers whose guidance is better at conveying the spiritual aspects of yoga rather than the physical asanas.

Where Are the Best Teachers?

Today the teachers I find most helpful have hundreds of hours of teacher training, and at least as many hours of actual instructional experience. They are highly attuned to how well their students are actually learning and putting their lessons into practice.

Some earn their living via “bodywork,” so they have a deep hands-on understanding of anatomy and the principles of body mechanics.

Some are exceptionally gifted at knowing how to demonstrate a pose or key aspects of a concept. They link their poetic instructional language to unambiguous demonstrations, slowing down the motion or pose dynamics to make it crystal clear what they mean. They keep the class focused on practicing this approach until we have a taste of what it feels like to do it properly.

The teachers I seek out today know how to help students move toward the optimal muscular-skeletal alignment, combined with the breath. They see when I’m out of alignment, or failing to balance “effort with ease”; they know how to help me understand what I need to adjust.

Combined with my own improving mindfulness, it’s teachers like these who will help me minimize my risk of injury — and ensure the blessings of a lifelong practice.

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More Yoga Teachers

There’s been an explosion in the number of certified yoga teachers  — 70,000 at last count  (NAMASTA, 2005), plus the many newly minted teachers since then. The pressures of a sustained economic downturn are causing many to seek alternative careers.

Some of the newcomers want a more rewarding second career, a means to give back to their community. Some are recent college grads who’ve struggled to land a job that they find meaningful, people who see value in the yoga lifestyle. Others are people who have faced a major life passage or health crisis, been transformed thanks to yoga, and now want to share the joy of their practice.

Whatever their motivation, yoga’s increasing popularity has led to an explosion in teacher certifications, but this is not without risk for both newcomers and existing studios.

More Challenges for Yoga Teachers

If there are too many teachers within easy driving distance, it’s hard for new teachers to make an adequate living until you succeed in attracting a loyal set of students who attend your classes on a regular basis… Studio owners manage a limited inventory of available class times and space, so they prefer popular teachers who can fill the classes.

This is the classic “Catch 22″ situation for the the teacher.  It takes time to earn a good reputation as a valued teacher, time to build recognition for your contributions, time for word-of-mouth to generate referrals from your students to their friends.

The question is, how can new teachers speed that up? The answer is, by standing out, being different in ways that matter to students and the studio owner. (In the business world, this is referred to as “personal branding.”)

The challenge boils down to figuring out the authentic path that will enable you to attract the right students — people who will benefit from your particular teaching and interaction skills; people who will enthusiastically recommend you and your studio to their friends and family.

In a crowded urban market you need to stand out, be recognized for what is distinctive and meaningful about your services, your studio and its location, the caliber of your teachers and the vibrancy of your studio’s community.

Be Different — But in Ways That Are Meaningful

Start by spending some time looking around to understand what the other studios are offering in your area. Talk to other studio owners to see what’s working for them. Talk to yoga students about what’s missing from their current class experiences. Ask them how they would describe their “dream classes.” When and where would those classes take place. What would be different about the student-teacher interaction from what they’ve experienced today.

Then invest some quality time thinking about how you can make your offering more distinctive — more directly relevant to prospective students within driving distance of your studio. What’s special about the people who live in your area?

If you’re in a highly competitive area (like Los Angeles, New York or the Bay Area), think about ways to position your studio or some of your classes to appeal more narrowly to a specific set of students who share common needs or interests. For example,

• Classes for boomer women, or mother-daughter classes
• Classes for people struggling with specific health or mobility challenges: such as chronic arthritis, back/spine issues, or cancer
• Classes for people who need help restoring their self-esteem (or even their youthful appearance), as a result of being laid off or other painful life passages
• Classes for bikers, skiers and runners who need help relaxing those overly tight leg muscles, or to build upper body strength
• Classes for tennis players, or skiers, or golfers — you get the idea

What about classes that target specific pain zones — the kinds of anatomical or bio-mechanical problems that many people in your area are likely to experience? How about team-teaching with a like-minded physical therapist?

• Classes for people with tight shoulders, disk issues or neck problems — the kinds of issues faced by people who spend too many hours at the computer
• Classes for people with lower back weakness, or balance challenges
• Combined nutrition and yoga classes for people who want to manage (and maintain) weight loss in a non-faddish way

Increase Your Reach

Have you explored whether people who work for the larger employers in your area might be interested in classes offered at their workplace (after hours, before the workday begins, or during lunch hours)?

Classes at over-55 communities, senior centers, churches, etc.?

In addition to your private tutorials, have you developed classes or other services to help your students get more benefit out of their home-based asanas?

Do you offer asana guidance via podcasts that your students can download and listen to at home or when they’re traveling? If you get good at this, you might be able to offer a subscription service for a series of weekly or monthly podcasts that you market over the Internet.

If you have a friend with a digital camcorder, why not post some videos of your teaching style and philosophy on YouTube?

Have you thought about ways you might provide some online instruction (yoga sequences, guided meditation, etc.) that students could use to guide their practice, at the student’s convenience, on days when she can’t get to a studio for a scheduled class?

Some Examples from a Seattle Studio

The studio where I practice is quite sophisticated; their classes are overflowing. Here are some of the things my teachers do to keep themselves in front of their students when we’re not in their class:

• Create and sell an annual yoga calendar that features real students in a series of poses (including women over 80!)
• Send monthly newsletters by email to students who choose to receive them. The emails contain poems or stories written by the teachers, often with photos that inspire meditation — and reminders about upcoming classes, retreats, and special events.
• Host several special events each quarter (like weekend retreats in lovely settings within a few hours’ drive of their studio) or classes on special topics.
• And of course, they have a web site with information about the teachers, the classes, the events calendar, etc.

If you’re struggling to keep your yoga studio vibrant and full of students, I hope one or more of these ideas will lead to increased business success for you.

Society as a whole benefits when yoga values infuse people’s daily lives and activities. But for the struggling yoga studio or newly certified teacher, explosive growth in teacher certifications leads to increased competition in the local market. To thrive and grow in a crowded market requires a thoughtful strategy, one that’s put into practice via a focused and disciplined set of tactics.

Namaste.

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A mindful yoga practice can also help to shed light on the people, situations and opportunities that have made a real difference over the past year.

On the longest day of the year, heart-warming activities like these dispel the darkness, and counteract the chill of winter.

While reflecting on the highlights of 2011, I’m grateful for the wonderful yoga teachers who serve in Seattle and nearby yoga studios.

Yesterday was an example of one teacher’s generosity, and her commitment to yoga’s teachings…

Her husband was in the hospital recovering from surgery, so she had cancelled the morning class to spend the day with him. But she had no way to notify the students who had preregistered for her class online…

She showed up at the studio to do a few sun salutations before rejoining her husband at the hospital — only to discover two students waiting outside the studio for class to begin. (I had driven half an hour in rush hour traffic to get to class on time…)

Sharing the Blessings of Yoga

So she invited us to join her in a set of sun salutations, a practice she needed to ground herself before heading to the hospital. For us it was not a class, but a yoga-centered opportunity to open our hearts, breathe deeply, and express the joy of being alive, surrounded by people we cherish.

It was a beautiful practice, a wonderful gift from a yogini very pressed for time, but willing to share her yoga practice with the two of us. A true yoga experience…

Her generosity yesterday was a reminder of the enduring gifts that yoga teachers are eager to share, with those who are ready and willing to receive them.

Namaste.

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As my practice improves, I’m getting better at bringing energy up from my hands and feet to my core — but I tire more quickly. Legs start to shake, my poses lose their integrity.

Using the right mat can help, but I haven’t yet found the perfect solution. These days I’m experimenting with two different combinations, for different class styles.

For more in-depth discussions of yoga mats, based on personal trials, see: the quest for the perfect yoga mat, the quest (take 2), and still waiting for the perfect yoga mat.

The Yoga Mats Teachers Recommend

Observant teachers who see me slipping will recommend switching to a different yoga mat. Although teachers have different preferences, they tend to recommend either Jade or Manduka brand yoga mats.

As a result, I now own and use two different mats for class. Before heading off for class, I’ll choose the one best suited to today’s teacher — her yoga discipline and what she tends to emphasize in the way of asanas:

• Jade Harmony Professional Mat — for use in moderately sweaty classes (vinyasa flow, when poses will be held only briefly)
• Manduka Black Mat Pro — for use in Anusara classes that focus on core building and strong poses held for long periods (where stability counts)

Neither mat fully solves the problem, but for different reasons.

The Jade Harmony mat has a longer “mean time before slippage”; however, it deforms as it warms. So the Jade mat tends to be less suited for Anusara-style asanas with its focus on solid foundations and opposing actions. The Manduka never deforms, is always rock solid, but my hands and feet slip much earlier in class unless I’ve taken precautions.

Mat Covers Can Help

Because neither mat is sticky enough on its own, I’ve tested different mat covers, with varying degrees of success. Here’s my current “class formula”:

• Vinyasa flow: Jade Harmony mat plus Manduka eQua hand towel
• Anusara: Manduka Black Mat Pro plus Yogitoes Premium Skidless Mat-size Yoga Towel

For Vinyasa Flow

During classes with lots of sun salutations or other flowing sequences, I’ve found that Manduka’s micro-fiber hand towel does a good job keeping hands or feet stable. I’ve used a single towel, but am about to try placing two towels on the mat, one for hands and one for feet.

Manduka’s longer mat cover is less effective during vinyasa flow sequences — it wrinkles too easily. (This may not be an issue for skilled yoginis who jump and float easily from one pose to another, without graceless foot dragging.)

When possible, I prefer to bring the Jade Harmony mat to class because it weighs a pound or two less than the Manduka mat, rolls up nicely, and is easy to secure with a velcro strap. (That said, it took a couple of months before the rubber smell dissipated enough for me to ignore the Jade mat during class.)

For Anusara

My preferred solution for Anusara classes is the Manduka Black Mat Pro with Yogitoes skidless mat towel, which almost fully covers my yoga mat.

Even after two years of use and multiple washings, the Yogitoes towel remains reasonably absorbent, and the rubber feet keep it firmly in place — most of the time. It can wrinkle during fast-paced sun or moon salutations, so it sometimes needs adjusting during class.

What I don’t like is the somewhat bumpy feel of the rubber protrusions on the reverse side of the Yogitoes mat towel. This sort of spoils the zen-like beauty of the Manduka mat.

The wrinkly mat towel is the reason my vinyasa teacher tells me to bring the Jade Harmony mat to her classes.

I keep hoping that someday I’ll find a yoga mat that doesn’t compromise on stability while retaining its stickiness for the duration of the class. Perhaps this is just a fantasy…

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Revolution: The Perfect Dimensions

Designed in collaboration with Anusara founder John Friend, the Prana Revolution mat offers the perfect dimensions for yoga practice — 78 inches long and 30 inches wide — 4 inches wider and 7 inches longer than Manduka’s standard mat.

I own the Revolution as well as Manduka’s larger mat, which is 85 inches long and 26 inches wide. What I’ve learned is that Manduka’s mat is longer than I need (and those extra inches add to its heavy weight). But Manduka’s standard length of 71 inches is too short. This is why I find Revolution’s dimensions to be just right: 78 x 30.

If you’re tall, the Revolution’s larger dimensions make it easier to achieve proper alignment in poses like Downward Facing Dog or plank pose. And if you take classes in crowded urban studios, those added inches give you just enough breathing space from your fellow yoginis.

Like the Manduka black mat, the Revolution has a very dense and stable foundation: it won’t stretch or slip even when you’re jumping from one pose to another. (This stability is in striking contrast to some of Prana’s less expensive mats.)

The design-sensitive side of me also prefers the Revolution’s grass green color to the sober black of the Manduka. I also like the whimsy of the cute yellow-green Anusara logo placed in an unconventional spot on the mat.

I don’t like the white bloom that appears on the surface after a few moments of practice. It disappears right after cleaning, but reappears as soon as you resume practicing. (You can see the bloom in this photo.)

Both Mats Are Too Heavy

At almost 9 pounds each, both of my mats are quite heavy — and seem even more so while walking multiple city blocks from my parking spot to the yoga studio. If you carry this weight over your shoulder multiple times a week, it can really give you a sore neck or shoulder.

My perfect mat would weigh closer to 4 pounds — much like the weight of a well-balanced laptop computer.

Having said that, if your sticky mat is used only for home practice, this weight isn’t really a factor.

Note that Manduka’s smaller (standard size) mat weighs less, 7 pounds instead of almost 9.

How Well Do They Grip? Manduka Is Better

Neither mat is very sticky when brand new. If you don’t set your foundation just right, you’re vulnerable to slipping even in warrior poses. It took months of use before I stopped slipping on the Revolution. And even so, I bring a skidless towel to class to put on top of the mat.

I think the break-in time for a new Manduka black mat is somewhat shorter than for the Revolution, but the Manduka is also too slippery during its first month or two of use (even longer if you don’t practice on a daily basis).

The yoga teacher who sold me the Manduka mat advised cleaning it daily with a rough towel and mat-friendly cleanser, and “scrubbing the heck out of it” — her secret for breaking down the manufacturing residues that prevent a new Manduka from gripping as well as it’s designed to do.

After each mat has been broken in for a year, the Manduka’s surface affords a surer grip for sweaty hands and feet than does the Revolution. But on hot summer days or in warm studios, even a well-used Manduka is too slippery midway through practice if you suffer from sweaty hands and feet.

Neither One Is Perfect

In my home studio where I have the luxury of space, I go back and forth between the Manduka and the Revolution during daily practice. I’ve learned to prefer one mat over the other for certain poses — a clear sign that neither one is ideal.

Maybe someday I’ll be able to buy a mat with the wonderful dimensions of the Revolution and the superior grip of the Manduka — and a shoulder-friendly weight of 4–5 pounds.

That would be a happy day.

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Colorists, interior designers and other experts know how to influence moods and attitudinal state by the colors that surround people at work, at home or at play. I was reminded of the power of color at yesterday’s Anusara yoga class.

Before class, we were all buzzing about the energy we feel in Seattle Yoga Arts’ new venue (shown above).

The studio is vibrant, alive with heart-warming hues: reds, oranges, pinks, mustard yellows, and purple accents. The playful interior offers a huge (and welcome) contrast to the original studio a few blocks north. While this energizing palette may not be optimal for inspiring meditation or contemplation, it fires our asanas. An appropriate choice for Anusara’s heart-centered philosophy.

As one color expert writes,

…Red suggests the very ebb and flow of life. It is the most viscerally alive hue, the symbolic color of the heart, strong-willed and expressing strong emotions. It may command us to stop but at the same time encourages movement. Physiologically, red is a call to the adrenaline glands to get the body and senses activated.

—Leatrice Eiseman, Color: Messages and Meanings

Driving home, still pondering the impact of color, I recalled two starkly different office environments from earlier in my career, back in my Silicon Valley days.

Apple’s colorful, carefully designed office environments were a playful but energizing contrast to HP’s drab office spaces and linoleum floors. HP’s office always made me think of a house that was functional, but unloved. Although separated by only 2 miles, they were oceans apart in terms of corporate culture and design sensibilities. Apple’s environment stimulated my brain and inspired me to do my best; HP’s depressed me into a low-energy, dull and plodding state — one I couldn’t wait to leave.

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Cultivating community can be as simple as a friendly yoga class, a shared meal or an inspiring workshop. This can sow seeds towards creating a soul-centered kinship of yogis who take their community “off the mat” and beyond the studio walls.

Community Begins with the Teacher

For almost a year, I attended a yoga studio in the heart of Sydney, Australia. It was a busy school, packed with workers from nearby buildings, and had a “buzz” of the town outside. I attended several classes a week and was often taught by a particular teacher who, time and again, asked for my name. The first dozen times, I didn’t mind.

Another evening after class, I heard a teacher invite several students to the pub for a drink after class. I wasn’t offended by a yoga teacher having a drink with his students (Who knows? They may even have been drinking soda water.), it was the inclusive/exclusive inference that left me feeling on the outside.

My present yoga teacher cultivates community in each and every class he teaches. Not only does he have a gift for remembering names and the physical limitations of each student, he gently uses our names to verbally adjust students, which also works to introduce us to each other.

Creating Community — One Class at a Time

Each class is made up of a collection of individuals who bring with them the emotions and preoccupations of their particular day. I’ve witnessed yoga teachers change students’ differing energies, uniting the class towards common goals such as mindfulness.

Rather than create challenges for the more experienced yogis in the room, try to teach each class as if all your students are beginners — make your instructions accessible, your tone welcoming, and your spirit encouraging. A sense of fun and joyfulness is a powerful teaching tool and helps students lighten up and smile at their neighbors. Ask students to introduce themselves to the people next to them in small classes. And lead students in a Namaste to each other at the end of class.

Humor is most effective at helping students get out of their heads and onto their mats. Crack a joke and see people relax — most effective after a core strength session. One of my favorite teachers has a gift for cracking jokes at opportune moments. Although these jokes can be a bit off-colour at times, they are accompanied by a charming, open smile; my teacher easily disarms new students of their concerns that all yoga teachers are serious and holier-than-thou.

Taking the Classroom Outside

Encouraging students to linger longer can start with a cup of tea, extend to a meal, and end up with people volunteering in their community — it’s all in the spirit of inclusion.

One successful Sydney studio does this with grace as the yoga teacher boils a kettle in the reception room and offers students who linger after class a cup of tea. A meal at a local restaurant after a yoga workshop or the completion of a course also encourages students to relax and get to know one another outside of class. Depending on your locale and the students’ means, either bundle the meal into the price of the workshop or let everyone know it’s “Dutch treat.” Some studios sponsor annual or seasonal group meals, and ask students who want to participate to contribute something, such as a favorite home-cooked dish, to share with their teachers and fellow yogis.

For students who are frequent visitors to your yoga studio, offering a volunteer program can help build a sense of community, and not only among the volunteers. One yoga city studio I have attended has a “karma yoga” program offering free yoga classes in exchange for cleaning duties. I began volunteering at another studio giving adjustments and corrections during Saturday classes. I was already an experienced yoga student at that time and much appreciative of the personal instructions given to me by the yoga teacher. The studio also benefited from having an extra set of eyes and hands during busy classes.

Widening Your Community

Groups tend to be judged by their actions before people listen to their words. Perhaps the single most powerful thing yogis can do to encourage new people to experience the benefits of yoga is to become more involved in community services. This also allows students to experience karma yoga, the yoga of action.

Samadhi Yoga in Sydney has a formal “Yoga in the Community” program, and offers 16 heavily-discounted classes per week to anyone who wishes to attend. This organization also runs programs in conjunction with drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, at-risk child care services, clinics for patients with AID and juvenile justice units. While this type of commitment may be some years off for a fledgling studio, a “clean the park” picnic day, a free weekly class after school to local teenagers, or a visit to an aged care home is more easily manageable.

Each yoga studio has the potential to become a hub of activity for the community beyond its walls. When we gather together with the hope of reaching self-realization, we are working toward recognizing the universality of all beings, and achieving peace and freedom not only for ourselves, but also our worldwide community. Taking our yoga practice “off the mat” and into the world.

— Brook McCarthy, YogaReach, Sydney, Australia

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Sadly for shoppers (but not the store), all 4 of the dressing rooms were in constant use, resulting in at least a 15-minute wait to try on apparel for size and fit. As a testament to Lululemon brand loyalty, almost everyone waited patiently in line for a dressing room rather than go elsewhere. (There is at least one other yoga apparel store at this location, so people have other options within a 5-minute walk.)

Most of the bins for pants and crops in my size were empty, and the same was true for tops and tanks. I overhead one sales person tell a shopper that they replenish their merchandise on a weekly basis. 

Another positive sign, the cashiers’ lines were busy; lots of people were buying. Clearly this store doesn’t suffer from shoppers muttering, “Sorry, just looking…” And as everyone knows, yoga wear with Lululemon’s brand is definitely not inexpensive.

As another indicator of consumer confidence and this brand’s appeal, the shop was loaded with men and women across a surprisingly broad range of ages and body types. Yes, the store was packed with teenage girls checking out the latest hoodies, but also with boomer women trying on yoga crops or tops, guys looking at running gear, and men buying gifts for wives and daughters.

There was a lovely buzz in the store. It made me hopeful that this region is starting to rebound from its long slump.

On the other hand, one of my more cynical friends said that people aren’t shopping generally; they just find it easier to rationalize investments in “wellness lifestyle” aids. And if that’s the case Lululemon is certainly benefiting, at least here in the Seattle area.

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