I’m lying on a plush, king-size bed in a cozy little room in a cabin nestled deep in the mountains adjacent to Vancouver at the West Coast Wilderness Lodge in Egmont, British Columbia. I once again find myself speechless at how beautifully generous and thoughtful Lululemon is, as I’ve been invited to the 2013 Ambassador Summit as one of a select group of 27 other yogis from around North America.
We were met at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel by a welcoming committee in a conference room set up to help us relax upon our arrival with yoga mats, food and drink. After eating, we were whisked off by taxi to the harbour-front port where seaplanes flew us over the coastal mountains for 25 minutes before landing at the dock of the hotel. We climbed the short hill to the front desk, got our room keys, and scattered to relax and prepare for a yoga class.
The coming days will be an opportunity for us all to be inspired by the galvanizing words and tools shared by the incomparable Susanne Conrad, the Director of Possibilities for the company, a woman who understands the need to dream as much as she understands the importance of a profit & loss statement. Interspersed amongst our lectures and activities with her are yoga classes, hikes through the jaw-droppingly beautiful forest we’ve burrowed into, and the opportunity to get to know each other. I don’t take this opportunity lightly: meeting others who do what I do from different parts of the continent and realizing just how vast and far-reaching our community is. I feel so insanely lucky. But I also know that luck has nothing to do with it.
I work hard. I infuse every ounce of myself into what I do, and I’m beyond grateful that that effort and intention continues to be acknowledged and honoured. Lululemon must have seen something in me early on in my career, because they’ve been backing me up and encouraging me for over 4 years now. And yet even with all that support behind me, I now find myself in this room on the other side of the country, being treated like I matter. I appreciate it, obviously, but for different reasons than you might think.
I work to inspire, encourage and elevate people. I aim to bring people from a place where they’re mainlining to a place where they’re constantly being one-upped by the beauty and the highs that life has in store for each of us. It can be hard work, very demanding, and requires me to stay high energy for those I’m teaching/mentoring/lecturing to, etc… I often have moments where I feel depleted, where I need to refill my own cup before I can authentically and honestly go into the next teaching environment and inform others on how to refill theirs. Lululemon’s constant and unwavering support, consistently putting the company’s money where its mouth is, helps me refill my cup. I feel inspired. I feel honoured. I feel like it’s no accident that I’ll be spending my 40th birthday here on Thursday, an age which many faiths and belief systems attribute to the anchoring of the soul in the body. I’m where I’m supposed to be.
I want to thank every single person from Lululemon who has contributed to my being here. The list is too long to get into here, but you know who you are. I don’t take ANY of this for granted. I am aware of how fortunate I am to have people listening to me and giving back what I work so hard to initially offer. I’ll be back in Montreal at the end of the week and will have more to share from this moment on the edge of the country. For now, love to all.
