Costa Rica Yoga Retreat Featured Teacher - Justine Fuller

I am a firm believer in the concept of “stepping outside of the box”. I see all of the pressures that modern life puts on everybody to fit into some sort of box, physically and metaphorically. We are a culture of compartmentalization.  In fact, many of us spend all day long moving from one box to the next box even when we make our way to a yoga class (usually in some sort of a box) and step onto our mat (yet another box). I say no thank you, there is nothing about me that is interested in experiencing a life of confinement.  

This week I am pleased to introduce the innovative yogini Justine Fuller as our guest blogger. Justine is a mold breaker with an expansive perspective. She has created a 6’ diameter round yoga mat! Have you ever felt like your yoga mat is too small or simply too restrictive? I certainly have. I love to give my body permission to move around freely while enjoying my yoga practice, but I find that it isn’t always comfortable to be half on the floor and half on the mat. I’ve also noticed that it can be a little slippery and difficult to balance if my body isn’t placed symmetrically on my mat. Life can make it difficult to step out of the box but Justine is making it easy for us. She will be hosting a Costa Rica Yoga Retreat at The Sanctuary at Two Rivers February 8-14, 2015 where you can experience her Fuller Mat™. I can’t wait to try it myself! 

Sending you some jungle love, Liz Lindh

Breaking the Yoga Mold

How Fuller Yoga™ keeps your practice fresh.

By Justine Fuller

Yoga has been a great asset to my long history of physical activity.  From gymnastics to dance to yoga I have always been active and I never practice the same thing twice.  I’ve been a rebel against regimented styles that do the same thing each and every time.  Although I have taught and taken Ashtanga, I’ve always complimented it with other yoga practices in order to keep things fresh and new.

The traditional yoga mat is an integral part of one’s practice, fashion statement and lifestyle yet also a limiting space for the body.  In 2004 while working with a client who had a hard time comprehending the idea of swinging her legs on the floor while laying on her back it dawned on me that these “traditional yoga mats” are far too limiting.  In fact they are damn near the size of coffins!  The mat needed to be bigger and rounder so I created The Fuller Mat™.  Even though I had been teaching since 1998 and practicing since 1996, yoga was still fairly new on the market.  I had to search high and low to find a source for such a long and wide roll of sticky material that could be adaptive as a yoga mat.  I was lucky to be able to get a small quantity and begin developing and practicing and teaching Fuller Yoga™ on The Fuller Mat™.

Since then using The Fuller Mat™ has blessed me with profound insights on postures and transitions that can not only open joints and muscles more thoroughly, but also develop patterns that help move a practitioner more easily into arm balances, backbends and twists that most people struggle with for years.  My students have gained leaps and bounds in their flexibility and learned to trust the circles and patterns we work with. They can feel the right connection to what flows and what doesn’t both in their practice which then gets translated to their life.

In winter of 2015, I move Fuller Yoga™ out into the world by offering a week long yoga retreat at The Sanctuary at Two Rivers in Costa Rice February 8-14, 2015.  We will be able to develop our practice with two yoga classes a day and also define space and flow for ourselves in practice and in life.  For more details on the retreat please visit; http://fulleryoga.com/OurSite/retreatstrainings