Lovemore had an amazing week with the launch of the new site last week, and participation in our first ever Yoga Journal Conference, which was in New York City this past weekend. Yoga is all about love so we knew the conference would be full of amazing people who are excited to take love-inspired wear and gear into yoga class and out on the streets. As we shared our story of embracing the mantra “love more,” and our excitement about being a new Brooklyn-based business, we soaked up the post-yoga class glow and kind words of the yogis and yoginis who stopped by our booth. We look forward to continuing to nurture these connections and hope to see Lovemore in yoga studios and retreat centers around the country to keep the synergy and love flowing. For more information about wholesale opportunities, please connect with us through our wholesale page. We see yoga and Lovemore as soul sisters and couldn’t be more proud of the relation.

A lot of people don’t realize that hatha yoga, the poses or postures of yoga, is just one of 6 branches of yoga, which collectively create a connection (yoga means yoke) to the divine which is both within and all around us. Two of the branches of yoga that Lovemore has made part of our everyday business practices are Bhakti and Karma yoga. Bhakti yoga is the yoga of devotion, and its practice is about experiencing the connection and oneness of all that is, and opening the heart to accept and love all things. Sometimes the way this happens, on the mat and off, is to love and accept one’s own limitations. Angela and I participated in a 30-day Bikram yoga challenge a year ago, and wow, did we ever practice Bhakti yoga. As we surrendered in the heated room for an hour and a half, day after day, our hearts grew bigger to better love our limitations, our fears, and our our tiny breakthroughs. Drenched in sweat, going deeper and deeper into stuck places we didn’t even know we had, we felt the power of the phrase love more, and what it meant to call on it second by second. We have much gratitude for the teachers who helped us merge Bhakti and Hatha yoga in each class and think of them often. One way we express gratitude is through Karma yoga, the yoga of service, a core value of Lovemore. 

We like to think of Lovemore as a karma yoga company, in that we make giving an integral part of our business. With each canvas (and thus vegan) belt purchase, two dollars is donated for the care of Faith, a rescued cow now living peacefully at Farm Sanctuary in upstate New York. For all other purchases, we currently gift a portion of our profits to Earth Birth, an organization working in Uganda to empower women to birth peacefully and with support. In honor of the yoga conference we decided to super-charge our Karma and Bhakti yoga practices and increase the amount of our donations from conference sales. As a result, we are gifting 5% of our proceeds from the conference to these wonderful causes that truly embody the Lovemore mission. 

In addition to all of the amazing yoga at the Yoga Journal Conference – Hatha, Bhakti, Karma, and otherwise – we simply adored meeting so many love-filled people. Check out the photos on Lovemore’s flickr and gallery and send yours to ilovemore@chooselovemore.com if you haven’t already. Yesterday Angela talked to a mother and yoga teacher who visited our booth and picked up some Lovemore for her husband and 11-year old. She told Angela that her son wore Lovemore to school on Monday morning. How cool is that? Building this family of friends who commit to choosing love more helps us all in our individual Lovemore yoga practices. We are so thankful to share this journey with you. Namaste!