Your outlook on life is a direct reflection of how much you like yourself (for real this time).

What a concept! So simple and yet so remarkably true. Finding your sweet spot in life is all about uncovering the sweet spot in you. And why not really go for it? If there's one thing I have learned, it's that anything is possible, including that big, bold, juicy slice of life that you've always wanted. So today, I not only committed the day to totally, completely taking care of me, but I also set aside time to write down the things I don't like about myself (while  always remembering that I have the power to change everything). End result: all the fluctuations in life (good and bad) don't feel so extreme, because you are at peace with the whole package.

So, living out this part of the manifesto meant I had to be really clear and honest with myself. That included admitting to some lingering body image issues and formulating a plan to get myself to a place where I love my outside as much as my inside. This plan includes: a full body assessment to be performed by my good friends at Endorphin Junkies, as well as a nutrition overhaul by powerhouse and Dailey Method Guru and good friend Danica Howlett. And the last piece of the puzzle was personally committing to changing my lifestyle. What that looked like was a heartfelt talk with my man, and planning out realistic >meals and a balanced fitness routine that I am able to stick to. The icing to this cake of change is also establishing a support system in my life to encourage me (and hold me accountable).

A couple of learnings from this full body/mind dismantle:

• Loving yourself means committing to participating in your own life.
• Learn to forgive and grow from perceived failures (we often forget that these feelings pass).
• Identify flaws and what you are doing with or about them.
• Learn to interrupt my inner voice, especially when it starts going on those long-winded rants about you not being good enough, or in control, or perfect (you know the usual cycle of darts you throw at yourself).
• I learned that I can talk myself in or out of anything. Someone once told me that you can rationalize and justify all day long, all life long and do nothing to live a better life. Or, you can begin to realize that you actually hold the secret within you to take your life or at least your attitude towards life in any direction you choose.
• Don't be afraid of opening your heart to the experience that comes with darkness and pain. Things happen in life...lots of things. Those non-ideal moments don't change or become you, they grow and teach you.
• Your outlook can be one that will strengthen your character or one that will make you crumble. It has the power to color every word you speak and every emotion you experience. You have the power to change, choose and become the person you always wanted to be.

Up next… Write down your short and long-term GOALS four times a year. Two personal, two business and two health goals for the next 1, 5 and 10 years. Goal setting triggers your subconscious computer.

Follow my journey on Twitter @olimaughan!

Where will you be travelling this summer?

Summer is approaching and everyone has traveling goals, can't wait to soak up the sun, or hop on a plane to see the world. The question is, “what will you be packing?” To us, the answer is a no brainer -- pack your favourite lululemon pieces! Easy to pack, wears well during the day and then you can hit the streets of Venice, Italy or Venice Beach, California for a dusk run to enjoy the view!

Throughout the years we have received emails, postcards and now Facebook pictures and Twitpics of our guests traveling around the world in lululemon pieces.

This month during your travels, share your experience, your destination, your travel stories, people you meet along the way and show us how far lululemon travels through a snap shot of you somewhere in the world.

Join June’s Travelling lululemon photo challenge this month and share your group shots with us.

how do I send you my photo for this challenge?

You can upload your photo to our monthly challenge photo pool on flickr, send it to onlinecommunity@lululemon.com and we’ll add it for you (we won’t publish your email address), @reply us on Twitter, or post it on our Facebook wall!

what will you do with my photo?

We’ll be featuring some of our favourite entries on the lululemon blog. If you don’t want your name or entry to be public, let us know.

Sweat hard, and travel harder!

Dance, sing, floss and travel.

Every month, lululemon organizes a photo challenge for the world to share their best shots of the month’s theme! For May we want to see your camaraderie out in the baseball diamond, spiking the ball for the volleyball, diving for the winning Ultimate Frisbee shot, or your department’s lunch time team building pyramid shot!

lululemon team huddle in Hamilton before game day!

Team Ninja hanging around after a big dodge-ball competition.

Team Beech-lu showing off their pyramid skills during a beach volleyball break.

Join May's Go Team! photo challenge this month and share your group shots with us.

how do I send you my photo for this challenge?

You can upload your photo to our monthly challenge photo pool on flickr, send it to onlinecommunity@lululemon.com and we'll add it for you (we won't publish your email address), @reply us on Twitter, or post it on our Facebook wall!

what will you do with my photo?

We'll be featuring some of our favourite entries on the lululemon blog. If you don't want your name or entry to be public, let us know.

Just remember to smile and note there is no 'i' in team!

What are we doing around here to track our run goals? We are photo happy and documenting the trails we are finding, the run clubs we are going to, and the finish line shots—our favourite.

Join April's Run It Out photo challenge this month and share your running shots with us.

how do I send you my running photo for this challenge?

You can upload your photo to our monthly challenge photo pool on flickr, send it to onlinecommunity@lululemon.com and we'll add it for you (we won't publish your email address), @reply us on Twitter, or post it on our Facebook wall!

what will you do with my photo?

We'll be featuring some of our favourite entries on the lululemon blog. If you don't want your name or entry to be public, let us know.

Just remember to smile because someone is bound to snap a photo. See you at the finish line!

We recently asked our guests on Facebook and Twitter for a little inspiriation for our monthly challenge and the theme that came up with quite of few people was to share the idea of capturing balance in a picture.

This month our monthly challenge is to capture the way you find balance in your life! Do you turn to yoga at the end of the day? Are you the one who breaks out into a dance routine at the corporate office? Or do you spend the weekend photo journaling with friends to capture the moment? We can’t wait to see how you express balance through your photo submission! Show us your balancing act!

Elissa showing how she has balance in her life.

How do I participate in the challenge?
You can upload your photo to our monthly challenge photo pool on flickr, send it to onlinecommunity@lululemon.com and we'll add it for you (we won't publish your email address), or post it on our Facebook wall!

Below are some of the photos that capture what happened in January from our team and photos that were sent in from guests:

Mark and Matt at the Store Support Centre doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

 
A lovely afternoon yoga class.

Whitney embracing the cold weather.

Upward dog in the snow!

Embracing the mountain snowboarding.

Snow angels afte a good run.

Just hanging around.

Tree pose in Toronto.

Janice at her gym working out. She actually documented the entire through her own flickr album.

Jackie about to go to circuit training after a hard day at work.

Jenna sweating it out on the treadmill.

The coolest ladies around.

Summer can't come soon enough. The best way to do yoga is on the beach.

The Run club is ready to brave the cold!

Ready to sweat in her new gear!

What was your favourite way to sweat this month?

Sweat once a day with the online community team.

We are running, walking, doing yoga, circuit training, flexing in Daily Method, swimming, and sweating with tight deadlines. Our team will be capturing all of this all through photos and challenge you to do the same! You can either email your sweaty photos to onlinecommunity@lululemon.com or upload directly to our monthly pool on flickr here: Sweat Once  A Day Flickr Set

For more sweaty details check out our monthly challenge page: http://lululemon.com/community/challenge

What are you doing to sweat once a day?

My challenge outfit today consists of:

- Wunder Under Pant
- Cool Racerback
- The Essential Gym bag. Check out the Best Basic Yoga Tote for a bag that can store your gear and your mat!

Where are you sweating today?

This edible logo was sent in by Sarah!

A recreation of lululemon Upper Canada Mall, sent in by Heather.

Jennifer made this in her cake decorating class. The cake said "Dance, sing, floss and travel".

Manifesto cookies made for Black Friday by Lesley at lululemon Highland Village in Houston, Texas!

Yahaira in New York made this amazing cake!

A giant water bottle cake from lululemon Greene Avenue in Montreal!

Oops!

Stay tuned for more info on December's challenge, coming soon here! http://lululemon.com/community/challenge

Meet Shannon, our amazing St. Louis Showroom Manager!

What is your role at lululemon?

Community Creator (a.k.a St. Louis Showroom Manager)

What is the difference between a showroom and a store?

A showroom is a "cozier" version of a lululemon store; small and intimate, and more boutique-like... it’s like stopping by a friend's home to catch up and see what’s new. We operate just like a retail store in terms of offering tons of great product, but we spend as much time out in the community as we do in the showroom, so our hours are a little funny as we are not open every day and may close early for private events and trunk shows. We do our own painting and arranging. Some may call it "kitschy", but I prefer "homey", perhaps even "endearing". The showroom atmosphere engenders such a personal guest experience that ultimately creates authentic relationships. It's so amazing!

How did you come to lululemon?

I received my first pair of Groove pantsa few years ago and fell in love with the product. After completing my Masters in Spanish Literature and realizing the academic route was not for me, I began researching companies and met MK Letchworth who came to St. Louis to open the showroom here – her energy was INCREDIBLE and her enthusiasm for lululemon, contagious. It was an instant connection; we had so much in common! I applied online for positions in New York, was contacted by lululemon and ended up finding the best fit and opportunity right here in St. Louis with the fabulous MK (now lululemon masonville assistant manager!).

Tell us about your community:

St. Louis is friendly, loyal and authentic. It is a cosmopolitan city with world-class restaurants, museums, sports teams - but all coupled with a quaint, small-town feel. In terms of health and fitness, this is a running and fitness community where yoga is really taking off!

Inside the St. Louis Showroom!

What is a typical Wednesday like for you?

No typical day really – but in general I rise early, take a cardio class or go for a run, eat breakfast, participate in a conference call, grab a coffee and head to the showroom where I hang out with friends and make new ones talking about the latest and greatest lululemon gear, fave yoga class, new restaurants, goal setting, etc., and receive new product! After work I will drop in on a yoga class (or as of November in St. Louis, run with the lululemon run club!) make dinner and spend time with family and friends.

How do you usually sweat once a day?

I love to run, spin, practice yoga and take crazy cardio classes with some of the amazing instructors we have in St. Louis.

Why do you have the best job in the world?

Because I enable people to live longer, healthier and more fun lives by being a hub of health and fitness knowledge in my community. We offer complimentary yoga and fitness classes and educate the community on super high performance gear for however they choose to sweat!

No two days are ever the same. I wear stretchy pants to work and get paid to work out and have authentic conversations with people about health, fitness and living a GREAT life. My company is constantly challenging me to create a life of possibility and never settle for mediocrity, providing me with the developmental tools and support to make that happen! And, seriously, our manifesto includes such words of wisdom like "Dance, sing, floss and travel"and has monthly challenges that include dancing the running man once a day!

What piece of advice do you have for future showroom managers?

Be yourself and have fun. Sounds simple, but you are hired into this incredible company because you are incredible, so just keep doing that thing you do. And, well, if you are not having fun every single day, then you are doing something wrong. Get out there and connect in your community - love, laugh, sweat and breath deeply every day! Honestly, just read the manifesto, it’s all there!

What makes your showroom unique?

Simple - our community makes us unique: from the educators to the guests, to the ambassadors and R&D team, to our fantastic Central West End neighborhood. There is no showroom like it!

What's your Big Hairy Audacious Goal!?

My BHAG is to bring lululemon into Spanish speaking countries, uniting my passion for the Spanish language and culture and sheer enthusiasm and desire to continue to spread the lululemon love… en español!

See the amazing opportunities at lululemon with the new showrooms opening up!

Last Sunday I was poking around our stores' Facebook pages (my usual Sunday morning routine) and I stumbled upon an album that our Kingston, Ontario store created. It was a collection of pictures of cakes, cookies, and other lululemon themed confectionery delights!

The baker, the crafter, and the cupcake eater in me thought that this would make a perfect monthly challenge for November. And so, I asked the troops on Facebook what they thought about a baking themed challenge. Within minutes our fans were begging to be judges, volunteering up recipes, and practically pre-heating the oven! And so, our November monthly challenge was born.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it:

1. Create a lululemon themed sweet treat (I'm baking a cake shaped like Groove Pants - with the Winter quilting themed groove band. I've already heard rumblings of a Ta Ta Tamer cake / cupcake combo).
2. Take some pictures of your culinary creations and share it with us on our Facebook Wall, in our Flickr Group, or email them to onlinecommunity@lululemon.com. You never know what we have up our sleeves.
3. Eat said confectionery delights or share with someone in need of a little sweet treat! Everything in moderation right? I like to bake with the music cranked - that way I get a little cardio with my cooking.

There are no rules, and no limits! Want some inspiration? Check out the creations our stores have come up with over the years below:

Above: This April, to celebrate the launch of our new online store, our QA Manager whipped up a batch of cupcakes to keep our energy high as we tested through the night!

Above: A tower of cupcakes at our Palo Alto store. That icing looks good!

Above: lululemon Manhassat cake, from Manhassat, New York. Love the writing: Live long, live healthy, live fun!

Above: 6th & Lamar ambassador cupcakes from Austin, Texas. They asked their newest ambassador to join the team via a cupcake message. I wonder when the first lululemon cupcake proposal will be?

Above: A giant workday cookie at our Guest Education Center.

Above: Calgary Chinook warehouse sale cookies, from Calgary, Alberta.

Above: Columbus Ohio cookies. The icing looks thicker than the cookie!

Above: A lululemon Dallas Galleria cake, in Dallas Texas.

Above: Cupcakes from our Halifax store! My stomach is growling!

Above: Oak Brook appies ... and yogo shaped cookies of course.

Above: Two lululemon Whyte Avenue cakes, from Edmonton, Alberta!

Above: Garden State Plaza lululemon cookies! From Paramus, New Jersey!

Above: Bagels, yes, bagels! From our Garden State Store. Props for creativity!

Above: Sugary delights from our Legacy Place store in Dedham, Massachusetts!

Above: At our recent manager's conference we kept our energy high with yogo topped cupcakes, c/o Chix (see below).

Above: Chix, our QA Manager, has a sweet tooth too. Her BHAG is to be the top cake designer in the world. She can test her skills on all of us this month for sure!

Want to learn more about our monthly challenge? Visit our website here: http://www.lululemon.com/community/challenge

Above: Meet Suzanne! She is our Online Community Manager Carolyn's mum and one of our biggest fans! Suzanne is from the small town of Oliver, BC, which is home to the World's Largest Cherry Pie!

Here on the lululemon web team, many of us are from small towns. We're from places with claims to fame such as the World's Largest Cherry Pie and the Salmon Capital of the World.

For October's monthly photo challenge, we want to meet your tiny towns! Show us your landmarks, your monuments, the roads you run and bike on, your town's yoga studio, or where you have your morning coffee. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

You can either upload your photo our monthly challenge photo pool on flickr or send it to onlinecommunity@lululemon.com and we'll add it for you (we won't publish your email address). If you'd like, add a sentence or two about your small town so we can share your town and why you love it with the world.

Above: Pink Jeans Reach to the Sky Pose and Sidewalk Jazz Hands Pose in Berkeley

You've got three days left to enter our September Monthly Challenge! This month we challenge you to invent your own yoga pose. Yep - the sky is the limit! So far we've seen everything from Samosa Pose to Caesar Salad Pose to Rice Pose! I definitely see a food based theme here ...

To enter, simply strike that pose, take a photo of your new fangled pose and email your photos to onlinecommunity@lululemon.com (we won't publish your email address). You can also upload your photo to our monthly challenge photo pool on flickr or post it on our Facebook Wall.

Need a little more inspiration? Visit our Monthly Challenge page, or take a peek at some of our great submissions from this month so far below:

Joyce's little one is starting his yoga practice early with Tiny Dancer Pose.

Bibiana's little one sleeping and trying out Smiling Baby Pose / Thumbs Up Pose at the same time!

Here is Yukie in Rice Pose, which she invented in the countryside of Japan on a visit to her grandparent's house.

beauty:

imagination:

peace:

and of course, a sense of fun:

As the collection of inspiring international images grew, my respect for yoga deepened. I found smiles revealed in challenging poses:

serenity swarming city streets:

landscapes enhanced by the yogi or yogini practicing in its beauty:

and the enrollment of others on the yogic path:

147 people from our Facebook community even chose the image below as their favourite from a snapshot of the collection!

I had never tried yoga before coming to lululemon and now I find it hard to go a week without it. Practicing yoga has helped me find peace in the noise that is my life. It has also helped me become a better runner; my breathing is paced allowing me to run longer distances without melting into a panting mess. These photos inspire me to relax my face into a smile when I am in bow pose and encourage me to kick higher...even in my fifth breath. To those who contributed, thank you for sharing your light with our lululemon athletica community!

Namaste.

Our monthly challenge for August on lululemon.com is Spread the Love: leave an inspiring note for others to find.

Each month we'll be posing a big, bad, bold challenge to the world. We want to see what you can do, hear what you have to say, and watch you challenge yourself!

What's on tap for the June Challenge you ask? The Running Man Workout of course!

Q: What is the Running Man Workout?

* A surefire way to impress people and make instant friends at the club
* A popular dance in the 1980s
* An intense and fast-paced exercise experience

A: All of the above!

Do it for 30 seconds to get your heart rate pumping or for 20 minutes for a full body work out.

How do I participate in the challenge?

Upload your photo/video to our monthly challenge photo pool on flickr or send it to onlinecommunity@lululemon.com and we'll add it for you.

We'll be featuring some of our favourite entries here on the blog! If you don't want your name or entry to be public, let us know.