“Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.” –Matsuo Basho

I feel blessed to have been given the chance to work with the people of Yoga Lizard. This strange journey we call life becomes richer and more meaningful when surrounded by individuals who care. The journey truly becomes home when we are not alone; when we are no longer calling out into the darkness and hearing no response. To our friends, family and visitors, please take your shoes off at the door, find a comfortable seat, and make yourself at ease. This is your home too.

The Beginning: A Baby Lizard Is Born

Yogalizard.com sprang from the hearts and minds of Sean Kelley and his partner Christi. Practitioners of Yoga, they imagined a place where people could come learn not just about Yoga, but also a place people could find information on how to lead healthier lives. Combining their knowledge and resources they managed to create a website that did just this. However, working at full time jobs and caring for a family made it difficult to raise their creation to an adult. Their baby lizard lounged sleepily between the land of dream and reality.

Opportunity Knocks: A Lizard Is Adopted

Luckily, opportunity came one day when the place where Sean worked did a round of layoffs. Suddenly, a group of talented, caring people were given the freedom to determine their new future—scary and liberating at the same time. My wife Andi Luke was a web developer there. Her phone call was brief and to the point: “hey, can you come get me? I've just been laid off.” The heart sinks and the mind starts thinking of what to say. There is a feeling of disbelief. I picked her up and we took a long walk in Forest Park to try and make sense of things. The sun came out, there were huckleberries to pick and eat, and later that day there was an organic beer festival to go to. Life was good. We'd be OK. That weekend one of Andi's former coworkers, Katherine Bjork, emailed Andi asking her if we wanted to get together with her and the others who were laid off to discuss possible work ventures. Hmm ... it was awfully tempting to be able to relax and enjoy the summer. We were already talking about backpacking around Mt. Hood. However, we knew that if we passed up this opportunity we'd be missing out on being able to work with some great people.

Sean and Christi had everyone over to their house and shared the idea of making Yogalizard.com into something more. They invited us to be equal partners in building it into a website that was both meaningful and professionally done. It felt like someone was watching over us.

How To Build A Website: Yoga Lizard Grows Up

They asked me to do some editing and provide content. Andi would do the nut and bolt programming. Katherine would do the designing. Christi would work on content, e-commerce, and quality assurance. Sean would do business development, but he has also become our “many hat” wearer and "yes we can" point man. Ann Wagoner would edit, project manage, and provide Ayurveda content. Emily Trinkaus would provide Body Talk content. John Pelster would do “backend” computer server work. Sounds simple enough right? Well it's been hard work, no pay, and a lot of sitting at a computer while the beautiful days of summer pass slowly by. Maybe I haven't loved every minute of it, but I've come to appreciate the experience that it is. It is fulfilling work.

We work on this website as friends and equal partners. Our vision is that Yogalizard.com is akin to a people's cooperative. It's a place where people can come together and share their ideas and teachings. No one voice is more important than another's. We all have something that we can learn from each other. Ideally we have no “boss,” we have no ego, we only have a responsibility to each other to do our best and to be our best.

When John stepped back from the project in late July so that he could care for his new farm it was fun to jump in and give him a hand building a fence for his three goats. He in turn is willing to help out with the website on occasion. Trade the old fashioned way. Good times.

What Yoga Lizard Offers: Ayurveda, Yoga Poses, Conscious Living, Body Talk, Community

We also have a responsibility to you, our readers, to provide information that is not only accurate, but also meaningful.

We are very excited with the knowledge that Ann brings to this website. Ann is a licensed Ayurvedic lifestyle counselor and a Yoga teacher. She is a very passionate Ayurveda cook. She creates dishes that taste wonderful and yet at the same time are healthy for you (is that even possible?). You can find her recipes under the Ayurveda and Health section.

We are working on providing a comprehensive list of Yoga Poses to help you on your journey of self-discovery. In the future we hope to have video instructions to go along with the step-by-step descriptions.

Then there is the Conscious Living section where we will try and provide information on how to lead more healthy, thoughtful lives. Under this section Emily, who is a certified BodyTalk practitioner, will be sharing her Body Talk knowledge with you. Inside you will also find articles on Green Building, Green Lifestyles, Science, Philosophy, Health, the Environment, and even Music, Art, and Culture. We will try and be open minded in our writing explorations. There are many different ways to do the right thing. There are many paths to achieving enlightenment. We are all the same in that we are all different, unique individuals.

You also have a voice in this website; a very important voice. Our goal is to make Yogalizard.com a community of users that are willing to share their own ideas and teachings. We want to learn from you. We have a Forums page where you can share your thoughts and look for answers on anything from Yoga Poses, to Ayurveda recipes, to Philosophy, and a whole lot more. There is an an Ask Ann section where you can ask us specific questions, and either Ann, or one of us, will try and find an answer. Perhaps one of you, our readers will have the answer.

We are not perfect. We will make mistakes. Come, join us on this journey.