This year our economy is still in the pits, we are facing a doomsday tax situation in January, and according to the Mayans we’re all going to die on December 22. Sounds like it’s time to go shopping.

Now it’s more important than ever to support not just your local stores, but your friends, and especially your yogi friends, because a strong community begins with supporting each other. This is a list of the yogis and people I know who are doing good in the world, as well as providing a service or product that is worth considering for the yogi in your life.

Yogi Muse’s Gift List for the Yogi in Your Life

• Crocus Pocus jewelry. The owner, Kelli Davis, is an experienced yogi who can help you choose the perfect crystal to support you and your chakras. She also supports saving the elephants worldwide with her Ganesha line. For a custom designed necklace, go to http://crocuspocusdesigns.com.
• Lost Bird Designs. These designs are by a California Yogi who had to rebuild her life after a sudden loss. I love these pieces for reflecting her delicate but tough nature. They are available locally in Denver at Moxie in Greenwood Village. For more, http://www.lostbirddesigns.com.
• Chocolate. That’s right, when life gets tough eat chocolate. Shushumna Chocolat is created by an experienced yogi using a special blend to support each chakra. What a lovely way to get in balance. http://www.sushumnachocolat.com
• Children. You can help bring yoga into schools so children from kindergarten through high school learn non-violent ways to manage stress. The Wellness Initiative offers a bag full of goodies and proceeds go to their cause http://wellnessinitiative.org/unevent/
• Yoga classes and Privates.  Buy a package from your local independent studio or a private for your favorite yogi from her favorite teacher. That way, we are able to grow and enjoy a wider variety of yoga in the world.
• Yoga Education. Support the yogi in your life with a Teacher Training from one of the new schools that started this year. My faves are by Martin Kirk, Noah Maze, Christina Sell and Darren Rhodes, and Amy Ippoliti’s 90 Monkeys for the best professional development courses in the business.
• Yoga Clothes from a company that’s yogic! Kiragrace makes cute yoga clothes and donates a percentage of profits to Off the Mat ™. What’s more, if you type in “Michelle” at checkout, Kiragrace will give an additional percentage to the U.S. Humane Society this year.
• The Best Damn Yoga Strap Money Can Buy. I have long been an advocate for the Hasta Pada Yoga Belt as it was the only way I ever got the full arm rotation. Now Helena Zera offers more intriguing products to go along with her amazing $28 strap. http://www.vyanayoga.com.
• A book. If you loved mine, then you might enjoy some other memoirs published this year including Yoga Bitch, Misadventures of a Garden State Yogi and, well, mine, Finding More on the Mat: How I Grew Better, Wiser and Stronger through Yoga. Ten percent of profits from my book also go to supporting animal rights and sanctuaries.
• Tom’s Shoes. For every pair you purchase, they give a pair to a child in need. Also, the wife of one of the executives is an awesome yogi and part of the initiative to give back to the world. www.toms.com.

 If you have someone you'd like to see supported, please add a note to the comment on this blog.

Yogi Muse’s Shopping Plan: One Green Thing

It’s hard to be perfect, so instead, aim for better. Our planet is suffering. At the time of this writing, it is 70 degrees in December in Colorado. Therefore, I aim for one green thing (at least). My green shopping plan is pretty simple:

• Always carry a bag.  I keep a rolled up bag in my purse all the time. 
• Forget wrapping.  I gave this up a long time ago.  It takes time and trees.  Or wrap in a cloth with a ribbon you can re-use. 
• Shop local, organic and environmentally conscious.  Whenever you can, support your local businesses. It is a smaller carbon footprint to buy local than to order something from the other side of the planet.

Michelle Berman Marchildon is the Yogi Muse. She is the author of “Finding More on the Mat: How I Grew Better, Wiser and Stronger through Yoga,” and a Columnist for Elephant Journal and Origin Magazine, and a contributor to My Yoga Online and Teachasana.  She is an E-500 RYT with Yoga Alliance and teaches Aligned Vinyasa in Denver, Co. She is an Ambassador for Kiragrace, yoga clothes from a company with a heart. You can take Michelle with you on your computer or I-thing by downloading her classes from www.yogadownload.com.