Yoga Love at Westerliefde

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Last night I, together with at least 100 other yoga lovers, spent an evening of Yin/Yang Yoga with Skadi van Paasschen, through the generous invitation of Lululemon Athletica Netherlands.

courtesy of Lululemon FB page

Why Yoga?

The evening was a great experience; it is the first time, since I started practicing yoga 2 years ago, (shortly before I ran my first marathon), that I have been introduced to yin yang yoga.

It came at a time I could completely comprehend,  and truly appreciate it.

More on the why behind this, in a separate blog, which will be entitled, "Why Yoga?"

Skadi

Now on to the evening of Yoga love with Skadi,  hosted by Lululemon Athletica.

courtesy of Skadi's website

lululemon events 

I  was sad, I missed the unique event lululemon hosted outside of Rijksmuseum, last May this year.  So, you can imagine how thrilled I was, when I received an email with the invitation to their latest event.

courtesy of Lululemon FB page

courtesy of Lululemon FB page

You can see the whole album here:
Funky Flow @ Rijksmuseum

Yoga Love @ Westerliefde

Lululemon Athletica did not disappoint!

I love that they replied right away to my e-mail enquiry about first come, first mat arrangement. They changed this policy to RSVP.

It was a lucky break for me because even if I was a bit "late" for the evening's registration  (between 18:30 - 19:00), I RSVPd early enough so I was on the invitation list, and in their e-mail I was told that they will hold the mat for me at least 15 minutes before the event.

When I arrived (about 10 minutes later) there was still a line of people registering, so it was a relief.  Next time, definitely will plan an extra half an hour for the train delays!

Later on, we learned,  lululemonnl team were still able to accommodate people on the waiting list because the other yogis shared their mat! Love being spread around. :)

Greeting at the door  of Westerliefde was very warm, helpful and accommodating.

Westerliefde
courtesy of Google Image

On the Mat, with Marije beside me...

After taking my shoes off, I found a mat beside a yoga teacher, named Marije from Absolute Yoga Amsterdam! After the event, I found out that there were a lot of yoga instructors amongst the participants.

I'll share on the blog about how I started with yoga, how I will continue with my practice of yoga, and my plan to try out hot yoga in Marije's class.

Marije -  yoga teacher 
@ Absolute Yoga Amsterdam 

Yoga Love experience in Westerliefde…

Here below are some of the images before the one hour long yoga session began.

Image courtesy of lululemonnl instagram
just some of the 100 mats awaiting the 100 yogis!

Marije took this picture before the room became full of yogis.
You can check out it out on her instagram feed, here:
marije_yoga

My face in the dark/behind the light selfie ;) ; the room is filling up!

I felt lucky and happy to have gotten a "sweet spot" at the back because it was beside Marije.

If you are reading this, and you were there, I was perhaps in the third row from the entrance.

"Friends are more important than money…"
Absolutely!!!!!!!!!
Taken while I was settling on my (complimentary!!!) mat, and reading the beautiful card from lululemon

Hermance HoraSiccama 

image courtesy of Lululemon FB page

welcomed everyone to Yoga Love in Westerliefde

Hermance HoraSiccama, community connector for Lululemon Athletica Netherlands, introduced Skadi, after heartily welcoming everyone to the event.  She also introduced  DJ Niels of the Disco Troopers, who provided the music for the whole evening.

Skadi then went up and step on to the podium; she was a very captivating personality clothed in enchanting pink (we were colorfully in synch! :) ).

I am glad that I did not Google her :) before the event because I could focus more on her energy without the details of who she was in my head.  But there was no reason to be intimidated since she has a very open, warm personality  - evident from this picture! It was great watching her after the event with other yogis do fun photos; I assume they know her longer from her classes.

I won't be able to tell you now all the yoga moves of the whole evening.  I would love to (!!!) go into how we experienced the whole yoga session but I need a longer time to recall everything in details with the corresponding names of the poses to do it justice!

The Lululemon team took a lot pictures during the yoga session, and if you would like to see them, simply like & follow the  Lululemon FB page, that you can get the notification, when the album of the evening is shared.

Letting Go & Let Love In

In summary, all poses were about letting go of negative energy to make space and be open for love.  Feeling your heart, getting in touch with your self , breathing and opening you body.

It was about letting go, breaking down the barriers we put up to protect ourselves, acknowledging how things are, being absolutely in the moment, accepting the imperfections, being OK with who you are. Loving the uniqueness of who you are.

Skadi's guidance through all the poses was excellent, combined with the soothing, meditative quality of her voice made the yoga session a relaxing, empowering moment.

Thoughtful thank you card, which lay on our yoga mat from lululemonnl!

The Yoga Poses Highlights

We did downward facing dog pose  - second to tree pose, is one of my favorite yoga pose! - several times in combination with other yoga poses.

Another favorite we did was  warrior pose, adding twists to our sides and  touching the heart and stomach with each alternate twist.

I also loved the squat pose, where we transitioned from looking at a lotus flower (as we were in squat pose)  to birds drinking water (or was it eating something from the ground?!)

Something new for me was the butterfly pose. It is hard to illustrate, and I hopefully can edit in a picture from the event later on.  This pose is something I think my almost 7 year old daughter will find fascinating because of the name!

I notice as I recall all the poses, that I am starting to have the need to do it perfectly and start from the beginning and go into minute perfect detail. But I am letting this thought go, and sharing only the essence of the evening before I lose the opportunity to spread the love of the experience!

It is after all the message of last night's session.  Be in the moment, love yourself, accept the imperfections in you, and around you.

The evening left me feeling beautiful (in mind, body and spirit!), strong (in my soul) and completely relaxed in my being.

Thank you, lululemonnl team! Thank you Skadi van Paasschen.

After the YOGA Love event we had some bites, drinks and the opportunity to meet other yogis.

DJ Niels of the Disco Troopers

On the way  home I had a huge wide yogi smile on my face and a new mat(e) thanks to lululemonnl!

I saved my Lite/Dark drink, which we all got after our yoga session, for when I finished this blog. Toast! :)

10/100