This Is Yoga celebrates diversity
Capoeira instructor talks Lululemon’s new project and its goal of inspiring people
Yoga is for more than just fitness. At least that’s the message Lululemon is trying to disseminate with its latest campaign.
Titled This Is Yoga, the project sees the Vancouver-based activewear company partner with Vice creative agency Virtue Worldwide to “inspire” people and showcase just how diverse the range of yoga practitioners and their inspirations can be.
Vancouver-based Capoeira (a form of Brazilian martial arts that combines different elements of music, dance and acrobatics) instructor Jian Pablico was one of the artists featured in the campaign and chatted with Postmedia News about the experience.
QWhat is the This Is Yoga campaign?
AThis Is Yoga honours the principles of yoga and the power of practice by celebrating the unexpected ways that practice empowers people around the world to live a life of purpose. Yoga principles come in many different forms and once we acknowledge that, we inherently invite more people to be part of yoga. What do you think people will take away from it?
I think people will see a version of themselves, as the campaign is relevant to everyone, regardless of age, and (it) celebrates diversity. I believe that once we are able to envision ourselves represented in a practice, we are more likely to want to be part of it. The first step is the invitation to be part of it, and This Is Yoga is the invitation.
What made you want to be a part of this project?
I was interested in this project because I wanted to be a part of disrupting what the landscape of yoga looked like as seen by those in the Lululemon collective. I believe that the practice of yoga in all forms is beautiful and transformational, and I wanted to share that with those who do not have access to it.
What does Lululemon represent for you as a brand?
Community-building. The brand cultivates genuine connections with people and, once those relationships grow, Lululemon is really great at supporting people who are up to big things in the community. Now with this campaign, the support reach is more wide open. The support doesn’t just have to be for those who do yoga on the mat but also those who are doing yoga off the mat as well.
How would you sum up your personal history with the brand?
Three words: connection, support and disruption. I have met a lot of amazing people through my relationship with the brand. Lululemon has supported me in my own personal goals, as a business owner and community worker.
Lastly, do you have a favourite Lululemon item? If so, which one is it and why?
The 5 Year Basic Tee and the 7” Surge Short. Both styles are comfortable and agile to any practice/ movement that I do.