800px-Rainbow-diagram-ROYGBIV.svgYou might remember that there was a secret post from Rainbeau Mars last week, which was live for a few hours then removed on Rainbeau’s request. Well, here it is, slightly edited but in all its full glory! I thought that we were pretty much done with this Rainbeau/Adidas Yoga thing, but the comments continue to trickle in and I think this conversation can continue in more directions. So check out what Rainbeau has to say… and I’d love to hear your thoughts. What role do brands play in your life? In your yoga practice? How do you choose and take responsibility for what you consume? Let’s hand it over to Rainbeau (and y’all be nice to her this time).

Hmmm – Well many of you said you need no brand to do yoga…and I agree whole heartedly – but at the same time I question the reality of life without brands as some of the yogis here seem to be requiring.  Yoga to me is the depth of going inside so far, that we come back out again and realize that it’s all one big reflection. We get feedback about ourselves from this holographic experience and vice versa.

Branding Yoga

Some thoughts about brands when it comes to our exercise routines:  Les Milles, Pilates, Bikram, Power, Gaiam, Ashtanga (Mr Jois himself) or Iyengar (after his own name), right? This was along the same line that Adidas felt there was room for a sporty variation for those die hard Adidas fans that otherwise, may have never made it into a yoga room. Their mission is to walk side by side with their athletes and give them the tools they need to do whatever they do. How cool is it that Yoga has grown enough for even these major soccer moguls, to say “You know what? Everyone seems to be hopping on the ‘fastest growing sport is yoga’ bandwagon and we recognize it as one as well and will bring it to more people, including our very own athletes.”

Do you buy no name/brand foods or do you occasionally trust what High Country Kombucha, or Guayaki Yerba Mate, H20m, Zico, Fila has to offer? Hass Avocados, Evolution juices, Celestial, Yogi teas? Do you trust Whole Foods or choose your local Coop or grow your own? Do you drive an American car or do you trust the safety of Mercedes? If you choose to bike it (props!), is there a brand you trust more? When you wear clothes which do you choose, Prana, Lululemon, Lucy, or do you make your own? Do you go to U2 Concert and buy a T-shirt?

I totally understand and respect your right to not choose Adidas Yoga, which just happened in the last few years (it’s actually ra’yoKa which is still the name I created out of my right for free expression). I also respect your choice to do whatever you are so drawn to do or not. I feel we have to ask ourselves what’s really important about any of it, and in that, we may find many of our “need to be right” thoughts that were so justified, simply may fall away… In the fact that we are all headed in the same direction, but at different times and paces – can we try to look for and find the similarities within each other and our selected choices? I hope you can respect the people that actually feel safer about trusting a certain person or even company with what they choose to spend their time or money on.

Freedom of Choice

I question that some of the accusations I have heard here are honest or realistic and at the same time think it was an important conversation to be had. I just hope that all those who may be pointing the finger upon someone else, no matter how big or small they are to you in your life that you are taking the same amount of time to look at yourself and where there may be the creation of exactly that which you are being critical of – then say is this any more yoga then a brand claiming its own version of a much respected practice?

I wonder why there’s so much animosity towards a company, big or small. Do you realize how many jobs are provided by Adidas?  Do you know that Adidas donates millions of dollars privately each year to bring sports fields into under privileged villages (they do not publicize this)? Not to mention the outsource for design and PR teams, web people, artists and athletes and the managers that they help support…

Then the things they sponsor, either solely or as a participant, like the Olympics, NBA, FIFA, ATP, WTA…  Now yoga! Martial arts, Pilates, women! The events that they helped sponsor, such as Play Yoga campaigns where people came to by the thousands or the Asian Fitness academies made history. They helped RML co sponsor the YJ conference and just in case you did not know – YJ (who is also a brand) needs these types sponsorships to exist, giving a lot of people some new yoga information and for even this discussion to exist. Do you want to sponsor YJC privately? Do we really want to bite the hand that feeds us? Damned if they do or don’t right? Please tell me your “Solution”?

Thank you Adidas for helping to support my personal mission which is to support and serve the planet with tools that can enhance ones lives, health and beauty.  I was able to give some great people, a pretty good job and to evolve in ways that have been a gift to my life in every way.

The Yoga of Non-Judgment

I only hope that I increase my abilities to support the people I want to and pray that you won’t judge me for having the passion to use the resources that are available to create what in my hearts and mind (and the people I reflect with daily) to serve and support and hopefully become a brand (Rainbeau Mars Lifestyle) that people will know and trust that they can count on. This many sound crazy, but Martha Stewart, Oprah, Rachel Ray, Tyra Banks are brands that I respect and have watched many people live for the filters they have and the information they are sharing with the world through television. God willing, one day I will be able to offer my holistic piece of the puzzle to a smaller or just as large group of people, cause lord knows, I would love to do that and based on the daily emails I get, I believe we want it.  I hope to deliver content and products that can be trusted on every level including holistically and eco-sustainably. All brands are the individual offering and filter of one or a synthesis of people. We as natural consumers, eating, buying clothes, cooking, dealing with relationships, house cleaning, keeping our bodies healthy and beautiful as we sometimes count on certain brands to support us with the tools we need.

Yes – Do yoga – on your own and barefooted, naked at times, but you can also do it in high heels or tennis shoes or even some strappy shoes that grip the floor so you don’t need to travel with that big heavy mat that takes up way to much space in a luggage that I want my sustainable clothes in. Because yoga is ultimately for anytime and anywhere, anyone and any class, type, age, sex or even athlete. Yoga is union – are you doing it when you are being a parent, a wife, husband, co worker, or just a member if society that chooses these tools for EVERYONE – not just what we are getting from our pockets of insight, but how much are we sharing and giving back. It’s ultimately all yoga.

AND NO… We do not need Adidas to do yoga or any brand for that matter. Thank goodness we ultimately need no one but our own selves.  However, the big journey may be mostly solo, we our communal beings, needing, guiding, realizing, inspiring with the help and reflections of each other.

I personally like just the right clothes – and I have to admit – I am right now cuddling in my super soft, earth colored clothes that I created with Adidas. They are natural, breathable and yes, flattering and comfortable. I sometimes live in these clothes and am beyond grateful that I had a partner/home in which to create with.

Taking Responsibility

I deserve and hope for the best out of myself and that which I surround myself with. What I choose to support is hopefully a reflection of who I am. I love ECO – sustainability, natural fibers and I also love beauty full rich colors, not lots of black, but I love details that feminine details that somehow just remind me to appreciate the creation that we are all part of. At the same time, I often opt for simple, natural, real, whole and yet – I am not attached to any of it. I am so grateful that we live in a world of creation and choice, hoping we all keep finding ways to give back and take care of each other as well as the planet and ourselves as we do so.

So we lead by example, heal within and then let it shine so we can reflect all that we do love about others and ourselves. We can choose to support, encourage, breathe into, take our own responsibility and let the judgment we have about others go, for it is ultimately only judging ourselves. I am you and you are me… remember? This is ultimately the real yoga and actually a more challenging pose in many ways than down dog – although I know that hanging in down dog for a while can teach us how to encounter this similar difficult lufe lesson with more grace, deeper breaths and an inward smile.

AUM

Rainbeau Mars

… and previously in the Great Adidas Yoga Debate:

“adidas yoga” class offered at yj conference

the adidas+yoga equation