Who do you love?

Yoga is for Lovers was an online, community yoga challenge created to help cultivate LOVE in our hearts, minds, and neighborhoods.

This 15 day event, completed in Feb. of 2019 included featured yoga postures, guided meditations, journal prompts, and personal tasks, as well as featured charities and community events all focusing on – you guessed it, LOVE!
By emphasizing heart-opening yoga postures and heart chakra work, we will begin to remind ourselves of all the different kinds of love we have to offer this wide world – personally, to our friends and families, our partners, our communities, to complete strangers, and globally!

If you’ve been to even just a few yoga classes, you’ve probably heard the term “heart opener”. This term is often used to describe back-bending, chest-opening postures, but it actually digs so much deeper than that. Heart opening in yoga can happen through posture, breath, or meditation – and affects not just the physical structure of the chest (layers of tissue, bone and muscle) where the heart resides, but the energetic and emotional capacity (love, compassion, acceptance, gratitude, to name a few) of ourselves as well.

With Yoga is for Lovers and the MBY community, we spent these 2 weeks working together to honor love in all it’s forms and finish feeling open, confident, and joyous in our daily lives!

“The power of love to change bodies is legendary, built into folklore, common sense, and everyday experience. Love moves the flesh, it pushes matter around … Throughout history, “tender loving care” has uniformly been recognized as a valuable element in healing.”
– Larry Dossey

Each day will consisted of a Yoga Posture (Asana), Guided Meditation, or Journal Prompt to participate in and you can look back on all the fun online community had either on Facebook or Instagram using the hashtag #YogaIsForLovers2019.

To help foster love and embrace to those who need it most, the challenge also included support for featured charities and non-profit organizations that support victims of sexual trauma and domestic abuse. I would love it if you would consider offering a small donation of time, energy, or money to help continue the work of these incredible organizations so that each and everyone of us can feel the power of real and authentic love.

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.”
– Helen Keller

Want to look back at all our daily themes, postures, and prompts? I’ve created 4 handy guides that consolidated all the love our challenge had to offer. Feel free to mix, match, or revisit our challenge any time you like!

Yoga is for Lovers 2019 Round Up – Journal Prompts

Yoga is for Lovers Round Up – Meditations

Yoga is for Lovers 2019 Round Up – The Postures

Heart Chakra 101

A few of our Yoga Lovers were also able to win some incredible prizes through their participation in our challenge, including a free month of Yoga to Go and these other great goodies from local makers and movers.

bekindshirt — 1 lucky winner will receive a Be Kind shirt from the Be Kind Brand.
“Kimberly Brown originally designed the simple, yet poignant Be Kind logo in 2012. It is now being offered to the masses, as the message NEEDS to be heard now more than ever. Put aside politics, religion, and all of the negativity the world spews out every day and simply BE KIND. It is as much a reminder for the person wearing or using the merchandise, as it is to those who see it.It’s simple, really.
Just Be Kind.”

iammug — This I AM mug is a collab with my dear friend over at the Angie Cruise Blog designed specifically for the Yoga is for Lovers Challenge!
1 winner will receive this 15oz mug from her Inspired Style Collection. Check out more of her products here!

psx_20190129_124412 — Our third additional winner will receive a handmade lavender eye pillow made by Tessa Elizondo. These pillows are perfect for meditation, savasana, or just unwinding at the end of the day. The satin sleeve is removable and washable and comes in 11 different colors for you to choose from.

Want some sweet swag for either yourself or your lovers?

Check out our Challenge T’s!
They go on sale January 30th and are only available until February 18th, so make sure to get them while you can!

All proceeds will go to the Yoga is for Lovers featured charities.

This Kansas City organization is near and dear to my heart as I was so lucky to work with them both personally and professionally. The work they do is invaluable and has a much wider reach than just the Kansas City Metropolitan area.

“Our mission is very straightforward. MOCSA exists to improve the lives of those impacted by sexual assault and abuse and to prevent sexual violence in our community.Without support and help, the trauma of sexual violence can stay with victims for a lifetime. So we do everything we can to prevent these crimes from happening in the first place, and to offer support, healing, and hope when they do occur. We help victims become survivors.”

There are plenty of ways to donate and you can read all about them here.
And if you are in need of help or resources you can learn more about those here.
You can also chat online with a trained staff member who can provide you confidential crisis support through the The National Sexual Assault Online Hotline here.

The Purple Dot Yoga Project is another organization I feel very strongly about. Their mission and their work to help survivors of domestic abuse heal through yoga is so very inspiring and feels me with hope for the future of our yoga communities.

“At Purple Dot Yoga Project, our mission is to empower and support individuals impacted by domestic violence and trauma using yoga as a healing tool. We started with a simple desire to assist individuals impacted by domestic violence and trauma to be able to move on their healing journey from survivor to thriver. Our vision is to create a community centered around yoga so that every individual impacted by domestic violence and trauma feels seen, heard, and supported.”

To learn more about their programs including Trauma Informed Teacher Training’s, One on One yoga classes, retreats, and shelter programs click here.
To offer support or a donation, click here.

The Embody Love Movement is a Texas founded organization that embraces self love!
Through transformative workshops, camps, and clubs Emody Love takes participants through an embodied journey that changes the way they see and treat themselves and each other. It includes exercises that create a safe container for emotional expression, expose media myths, change the conversation from criticism to kindness, and teach self-worth and purpose. Participants discover that their bodies are more than objects to be compared and evaluated, but instead a temple for their beautiful souls.

“Our Mission is to empower girls and women to celebrate their inner beauty, commit to kindness, and contribute to meaningful change in the world.”

To learn more and give a little love, click here.

Make sure you don’t miss out on any future events, challenges, or retreats by signing up for my email list here!

“Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu.May all beings everywhere be happy and free and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all.” ~ Yoga Sutra of Patanjali Jois