A few months ago one person from our lululemon family in Washington D.C. set an intention of holding a complimentary outdoor yoga class to be simultaneously held across North America. The goal was to create a shared space for any and everyone to be a part of. She enrolled the team around her, and Salutation Nation was born, quickly to become a movement of health and togetherness our entire community was eager to share.

Yoga mats ready to be rolled out in the U.S. and Canada.

It was this intention that woke me 20 minutes before my alarm went off at 6am this morning. Normally I can continuously hit snooze for a good hour, but this morning I awoke to an amazing energy that wouldn't be dismissed. We were more than 3 hours away from the kickoff of Salutation Nation on the west coast, but the east coast was awake and breathing our intention and sending it my way.

Saluting the sun in Boston.

Waking in San Diego, I longed for a way to connect with the Salutation Nations happening in near minutes on the opposite coast. I opened my computer to find lots of buzz of the yoga about to take place in Boston at the Esplanade, and the Ellipse at the White House. Although I didn't get to take in an OM with the east coasters, I felt them and was so excited for the west coast hour to begin.

Ready to begin in San Diego.

I wasn't alone in my anticipation and was delighted to see familiar lululemon faces, guests, neighbours and new friends in San Diego bright and early at 7:30. We began to lay our mats and an air of wonder filled us all. We didn't know how many people we'd practice with in the park.

We didn't know how many people we'd practice with up, down, and across the coast. We didn't even know if the sun would come out so that we could salute it properly. But it didn't matter. Our neighbours woke up this morning to practice yoga together, and that in and of itself was enough.

We shared an hour together today of yoga and breathing, an hour of enjoying our lives outside. It is days like today we are so proud of the community we commonly shared today. We took in oms with familiar faces, and shared a savasana with people we hadn't met. That's the wonderful thing about yoga, although your practice is entirely your own, the space is shared and connects us to one another without objection, even miles, cities and countries apart.

Thank you for sharing a space with us today, can't wait to see you next year. Namaste.

It seemed like Barefoot in the Park, an hour and a half yoga sampler featuring 7 different styles of yoga, was destined to be a rain date. So it was appropriate that on this glorious summer evening, lululemon Regional Community Guru Liz Eustace expressed her thanks to Mother Nature in addition to all the people who made this event possible.

The Lawn at Bryant Park was filled with 417 people young and old, experienced and just starting out, on top of a sea of yellow, blue and red mats. The soft lull of the sitar and the driving rumbling of the drums, created by the group Yoga Organix, provided the atmosphere for an open mind and open heart and accompanied the seven different teachers who were sharing seven different styles of yoga, everything from Kundalini, to Iyengar, to Vinyasa flow.

For those of you who have never done yoga outside, you must drag your mat out into the sun and experience your practice in a completely new environment under completely different elements. As New Yorkers, it's hard to find time to wind down and establish a consciousness that is solely centered on indulging in your yoga practice. In a city where its pure expansiveness can swallow you whole, it can also act as the perfect backdrop to embrace the fresh air and join with strangers in a unifying Om.

Here at lululemon we love bringing our guests in the store a great experience by providing them with amazing fitness classes and more. The question is: how can we bring that lululemon experience to our online guests? I decided we should challenge our tech-savvy crowd to get active in REAL time by bringing the virtual world to reality.

lululemon will be having our FIRST ever tweet up (and I dare say, I hope not the last) in Bryant Park on June 18th. We are combining the New York team’s incredible work for Barefoot in The Park at the same time! (Did you know our stores in New York provide yoga classes at least twice a week in Bryant Park?) Mix, mingle, chat about social media, and try out different styles of yoga and instructors all in one night.

I will be in New York for two months and I am ready to explore the city. I want to meet YOU! I personally invite each and everyone of you to come to Barefoot in the Park and the first ever lululemon tweet up! I dare you to choose your favorite style of yoga and your instructor and tell me about it through Facebook or Twitter.

Want to come? RSVP through Facebook! (Ps, make sure to check back to the Facebook event in case of rain!)