Article #2

Yoga enthusiasts pursue healthy living at no cost

Yoga instructor Gina MacKay (without mat) leads a Sunday morning yoga class at Lululemon in the Oakridge Centre Mall.

by Linnaea Kershaw

Langara students might be missing out on one of the best-kept secrets – a cheap and easy way to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Right down the street from Langara, Oakridge Mall boasts one of many Lululemons around the city that hold weekly classes for the low, low, price of “free ninety-nine”.

“We have so many connections to teachers because of the nature of our business,” said Kristin Lautrup, Lululemon’s community leader for the Oakridge store. “It allows us to run a whole bunch of classes that people are interested in and promote what we believe in as a company. A way to get people active and promote a healthy active lifestyle.”

There’s no need to sign in ahead of time, as the classes are all drop-in. This makes for a more comfortable, relaxed, and accessible atmosphere. Attendance for the yoga classes are usually between 10 to 20 people.
According to Lautrup, because Lululemon started as a yoga company, the yoga classes are better known but other classes are starting to become more popular as well. A run group, led by a local staffer, every Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m., is starting to grow in popularity.

If anyone has ideas for a session, they can bring them into the store and get put on the calendar as suggestions for future classes. Past classes have included a food workshop to inform the public on how to eat a balanced diet and a cleansing workshop to teach people who are looking to learn more about cleansing their bodies.

A class is going to be held on the Oct. 26 called a Financial Seminar, something never done before on the Lululemon calendar. In these economic times, Lautrup thinks it could be a valuable class for those that want more information on how to keep on top of their financial records.

For more information, people can go to the Oakridge Lululemon mini website, which can be reached from the main Lululemon site. They have a monthly calendar of events. They run a yoga class every Sunday from 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. and have the running class on Wednesday nights at 6:30 p.m.