Journal

This is the 15th in our ongoing series highlighting our happy yogis. This week we’re profiling the amazing Alicia Arellano. Alicia has been an incredible friend and ardent supporter of Big Raven Yoga. She is a fierce cheerleader and perpetual inspiration for determination and drive. Alicia is a director with Zyia Active yoga clothing, and she ordered a fully custom yoga mat to help promote Zyia. Not only is she a director at Zyia, but she’s also a fitness instructor, including an instructor for Pound, which is… well, it’s rock-n-roll cardio drumming, basically. I’ve done a lot of Pound workouts, and...

This week’s design highlight is, once again, one of our three new designs for July 2019: The Light In Me and alludes to one of my very favorite words ever: Namaste Commonly translated as “the light in me honors the light in you”, namaste is the most commonly used word amongst yogis — and with good reason. When yoga class ends, we bow to each other with palms pressed together at heart center, reminding ourselves of the good energy and intention we’ve set forth in our practice. When we say “namaste”, we are acknowledging and honoring the light, love, truth, beauty,...

This is the 14th in our ongoing series highlighting our happy yogis. This week we’re profiling Jody Smith of Wayzata, Minnesota, who was the first customer of ours to order 4 (FOUR!) yoga mats in a single order, way back last fall before we had even really began promoting our work. Our first reactions was… Huh? That’s gotta be a mistake… OH MY GOD! SOMEONE JUST ORDERED FOUR MATS! FOUR! And then we did the happy dance around our workshop. It was an incredibly exciting day for us, needless to say. (And, to top it off, she was a complete stranger...

This week’s design highlight is one of our three new designs for July 2019: Born In the Moonlight. It’s another in our often-used sun/moon/stars theme. We have so many of these because one of our designers, Karla, spends every moment she can outdoors, under the sky, camping, surfing, cooking out on the beach, and the night sky is her muse. The description for this mat, on the other hand, was written by our very talented Bri Traquair, who’s probably the most slyly hilarious member of our team: If you believe in old superstitions, you might think that being “Born in...

AKA, “How Yoga Keeps You Looking Young AF” 1. Flexibility Flexible bodies are often equated with youth. Most children are naturally pliable. As we age, we fall less and brace more and in doing so we become less agile and less supple. Flexibility leads to better blood flow, fewer injuries and, counterintuitively, more muscle tone. 2. Strength When you hold a posture long after your mind has told you to give up you will get stronger. Yoga builds physical strength by lengthening muscles, increasing the range of movement across joints, and relieving both physical tension and stress, all of which...