Not your average G.I. Joe. This one does yoga! A clever idea from Dan Abramson who’s also responsible for these creative and ironic broga mat bags, Yoga Joe action figures are about changing the way we see yoga and yogis. Abramson started a crowdfunding campaign to (peacefully?) kick these little guys into production. He says the intention behind it is to get more people to try yoga and to highlight all of the different people practicing today.
Here’s the description via kickstarter:
I made Yoga Joes in the spirit of getting more people to try yoga. More unexpected folks are reaping the benefits of yoga today, from professional athletes, to children, to military men and women returning from wartime.
When this idea was birthed over a year ago, I thought – what if yoga could be passed around in a way other than from a yoga class. What if yoga could be transmitted through a toy.
I’m hoping people pass Yoga Joes around as an inexpensive gift to friends and loved ones, who might like to give yoga a shot. Plus, I hope yoga fans display them proudly in their homes, offices, and yoga studios. And I hope kids get to be acquainted with yoga from a young age – celebrating military men and women for their focus and discipline.
And I hope people find them funny as hell.
Mission accomplished. They are funny, and somewhat ironic in that warriors are partaking in a peaceful practice. Though we’d rather not perpetuate and encourage the violent culture of war, we know for a fact that even more members of the military as well as veterans have taken on yoga for a variety of benefits from bodily rehap/prehab to relief from PTSD. So these little green dudes are maybe even more realistic than we think. Side note: how about some Yoga Janes, too?
At time of publishing, the Yoga Joes kickstarter campaign has raised almost $4,000 of a $40,000 goal with 21 days left.
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Earlier…
I teach yoga to veterans in Long Beach at the Villages at Cabrillo. There are over 500 veterans housed there between the VA and US VETS, a nonprofit that finds housing and jobs for veterans. I am trying to encourage more of them to get into yoga as they could really use it. Your Yoga Joes are fantastic.
There are others who teach yoga for veterans’ groups and the VA. If you get some Yoga Janes, you could start a trend.