Journal

Have you heard that sitting is the new smoking? Not nearly as stinky yet thought to be the new big concern in overall health. According to the Washington Post, American adults sit an average of 6-½ hours a day. For many of us, our work life centers around computers and we tend to stay in the same position far longer than we should. If you feel your shoulders rounding, heaviness in your head, pressure in your lower back, or a general feeling of rounded-down and hunched forward try these ten poses. Some may be difficult to do in the middle...

This week we’re highlighting two designs by our second guest artist, Lisa Martin of Paint the Mountain. Lisa is a super-amazing Colorado-based painter and muralist. (We’ll have more on her tomorrow when we post our next Yogi Highlight!) Lisa first reached out to us in August in response to a small Google ad we ran regarding our ability to create custom yoga mats. Unlike our friends at places like Lululemon and Jade and Manduka, we have the flexibility to create mats in small, affordable batches with quick turnaround times. As I’ve discussed in the past, most yoga mats are made...

This week’s yogi highlight (our 20th!) is Stacy-Lee Holm. Stacy-Lee first reached out to me asking about our assortment of ballerina designs. Back and forth we went talking about ballerinas, yoga, dancing, movement, our families… and through these conversations we discovered a friendship. Stacy-Lee is one of those people with contagious energy and optimism. She smiles when she talks, she listens with an open heart and an open mind and you can tell you’re being seen. When describing her yoga practice and her students she lights up. Stacy-Lee is the founder of Yoga Worship Movement. Her goal is to unite...

“With great power comes great responsibility.” ~ Benjamin Franklin Parker Social media is pervasive. In the past 10 years, it has come to dominate nearly every aspect of both public and private discourse. The power of its influence is impossible to quantify, or to deny. Unfortunately, as we’ve seen all too often in arenas ranging from middle school bullying all the way up to Presidential tweeting, not all of that power is used wisely or for good. With the list below, we’re hoping to provide some strategies to help you cope with our daily social media onslaught. Perhaps not all...

This week’s Design Highlight is a first for us, in that it’s our first overtly religious design (though some might consider our earlier Buddha design religious as well). As for myself, I was raised in the mild Minnesota Lutheran tradition but have found that I’m spiritual and believe that something is out there, but I’m not yet sure what. We welcome all religious points of view here at Big Raven, and we’ve found ideas of value in every major religion we’ve come across. Regardless of what you may personally believe, for example, I think we can all agree that the...