Monday, November 28, 2011

YogAttitude Cards: Review and Giveaway!

A little while back I received an email from the lovely Nadine Fawell, asking me to review her new Yoga Cards- YogAttitude. As I adore receiving emails and I'm always pretty good at responding, I wrote back just to make sure she knew I wasn't a yoga teacher (and perhaps not as "qualified" as she might like).

Silly me, of course she knew that- she wanted the student perspective!

A few short weeks later I received MAIL (I LOVE mail!) with a little box of yoga treasures to check out. Unfortunately my life also kinda blew up in October and it took a little longer to review than I'd hoped.

I'll be honest, I've never really enjoyed the yoga cards that I've seen floating around. The large, new age-y cards with some meaningful "yogic" inscription that some yoga teachers like to read in class. I was a little nervous about how I would use these cards I'd agreed to review.

Then I opened the box and realized I had found the yoga cards for me!

First of all, this cute little box is fantastic. I am a huge fan of the peacock feather graphic and the actual name of the cards "YogAttitude". The cards are quite narrow, which I was initially concerned about how I would use them, but after a few trials I realized that the narrow, smaller cards are actually better for practice.


Whereas the larger, clunkier cards are unwieldy and not really meant beyond a one card deal, Nadine's smaller cut cards are PERFECT for creating a sequence of yoga asana  to keep near your mat as you practice. She's also divided the cards into asana pictures and words to inspire, which allows the yogi truly carve a unique practice to their needs. That and smaller cards means less waste!

The cards come with a well written, not too froufrou workbook... which is pdf!! YES! Extremely environmentally friendly, if I choose to I can print it on recycled paper.

The size of the box and cards along with the pdf file workbook means that these are a wonderful accompaniment to my current traveling reality- I can easily bring yoga inspiration with me all over the province!


Beyond the practicalities of the cards are the actual images. If the usefulness didn't get me, I was instantly a fan when I saw how real Nadine's yoga asana images were. No uber skinny, American Apparel Yogini- but a gorgeous, strong, tattooed (LOVE her peacock tats!) Yogini to be inspired by.

So. How did I use the cards, really? I tried to go through and use them as a sequencer, but that really just didn't fit well with my style of practice. I tried choosing a few inspiration or "goal" asanas and that went marginally better.

The best success, for myself? I use them in a familiar way- almost like Tarot cards.

Yoga Asana Trio Prep w YogAttitude:
Taking the cards I close my eyes and begin to ground my Energy using my breath. I feel the cards and breathe into what is unconsciously influencing my life and choose a card. I breathe into what has been the root, the anchor in my world- and choose a card. Finally, I breathe into what I would like my life, my practice, to reflect- and choose a card.
The result- a trio of asanas meant to support, sustain or strengthen each aspect: the Unconscious, the Anchor and the Wish.

I have truly enjoyed these cards and am very thankful for Nadine in sharing them with me.

In the spirit of Giving, Nadine has sent me not one, but TWO decks (Yay! Thank you Nadine!)... and I would like to share a deck with YOU! Perhaps you'd like it for yourself, or for a special yogi(ni) in your life (a fantastic Yulemas gift!).

GIVEAWAY RULES:
All you have to do is leave a comment saying how you'd use the cards (or how you imagine your giftee would benefit from them) by Saturday, December 4th, 4pm Atlantic Time. An email address, or a way to get in touch would be necessary :)

Good luck!

article and photographs copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

17 comments:

  1. what awesome cards and what a fun giveaway. i'd use them to draw at random and work on the asana that i drew. :) hugs & namaste!

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  2. Thank Lisa (and Nadine) for the opportunity to think creatively about how to use these wonderful cards! There are a couple of ways I envision using the cards in my day-to-day life. Currently, I am a doctoral student consumed by enormous amounts of reading and writing. At times, my yoga practice tends to slip through the side-lines. However, I could use these cards as daily reminders of yoga. I would pick out weekly cards and place them in various spots in my house (e.g. fridge, bedroom mirror, living room, front door shoe rack, etc). Ideally, I would pick places where I commonly hang out. Then when I get a moment in those rooms, which happens more than I recognize, I would try out the various poses. The idea behind this is to increase small yet important doses of yoga into my lifestyle, even if it is one or two poses per day. And even if I’m not wearing my yoga pants or practicing on my matt. I also really like the inspiration word cards. A good way to use these would be by putting one card in my agenda and rotating it on a regular basis, maybe each day, week, month – depending how it goes. Let’s remember how much graduate students rely on their agendas!! These cards would remind me of the ‘bigger picture’, even when life and school seem to want to get the better part of me. And there you have it – a graduate student’s review. Your neighbour, CS!

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  3. Fabulous idea! I too am not a fan of the bigger yoga cards with the yogic sayings on them. Too--I don't know, something for me! I would love to use the cards in my classroom, to choose asana for my students. Some of them have pretty much mastered sun salutations and simple asana and I'd like them to see yoga as something they could do outside of when I want them to calm down :) And yoga is delightful for that purpose, btw!

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  4. I love the size and would use them for sequencing I think...Thanks!

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  5. Oh! So happy you got a deck of these cards! I won my own from Rachel at Suburban Yogini and have been using them to help my students set an intention for class. So great! Lovely review...

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  6. I would use them as inspiration for my classes. Shanna@wellnessfrominside.com

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  7. These are awesome! Definitely something my fiance and I would use for our home practice. Also, when I become a yoga teacher, maybe I could use them for sequencing inspiration! I love that you use them like tarot cards, wonderful! :0)

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  8. What a great giveaway! This would be a great way to jumpstart my practice at home. I regularly attend one class a week but would love to have a way to practice on my own at home. erica_broderick at yahoo dot com.

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  9. They look like a great addition to yoga practice :)

    I guess I'll have to be selfish and give a reason for myself, not as a present...

    With the long working hours (and riding out the six months to my redundancy) and short, dark days, my yoga practice has become almost non-existent. Why does the sofa seem so appealing? The cards would be useful for kick-starting and inspiring me, keeping it simple and giving me a focus.

    Oh and it might give my two kitties something to play with while I practice, instead of sitting on me or the mat! (It's called cat-yoga, not sure if I can market it though).

    @Hayleylulah (on Twitter)

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  10. Those look like great cards! Now that I have been cleared to get back into yoga, I am looking very forward to easing my way into it!

    How would I use the cards...as you know I am a fan of Ashtanga but going to YITP has pushed me to try new asanas and these cards would do that too. It would be an easy way to get ideas for new asanas, especially early on when I am slowly trying to build my practice back up from nothing in 6 months! I also LOVE your idea of choosing 3 cards like tarot cards! I would definitely give that a try!! :)

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  11. I have not seen these before I suppose as I have only really started my yoga journey. I would use the cards to inspire my to practice more oftn in the week by placing them around the house!

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  12. Those are beautiful! I would use them to enhance my developing home practice as I work through my teacher training. I love your tarot card analogy!

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  13. This may sound weird, but I would use them on my lunch hour at work. During my crazy days as a school SLP, those 30-40 minutes I get at lunch are getting filled up with sending emails, photocopying, etc. I think these cards would be great on my desk to remind me to take time for myself and to breathe. My colleagues would love these as well!

    I love these cards - where can non-winners get them at?

    sarahroffman@gmail.com

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  14. Hi Sarah! (and everyone) You can get these fantastic cards on Nadine Fawell's site: http://yogawithnadine.bigcartel.com/product/yogattitude-cards-workbook :)

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  15. Hello

    Thank you so much for introducing me to Nadine's beautiful and inspiring website.

    I would use the cards to choose just one pose to do each day after my morning sun salutations, before work, and to choose a word to be inspired by during my day. I also love your idea of drawing 3 to inspire a longer practice.

    Thank you again for such a generous giveaway.

    Madeleine

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  16. Wow thank you Lisa - I think I would try your idea of using them as "goal" asanas, but selecting them randomly so I don't always pick my favourite!

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