Review: Nadine Fawell’s yogAttitude cards

The yogAttitude card set provides a fun and flexible way to shift your attitude and deepen your yoga practice

I’ve been playing wth Nadine Fawell’s yogAttitude cards for a few weeks. Nadine designed the deck, which includes 25 yoga poses and 25 attitudes, to help users ‘design and deepen’ their yoga practice.

The basics

The cards are fairly sturdy, made from good stock (I believe they’re Moo cards) and come securely packaged in a thick box. The color scheme of blue, light blue, white and grey, especially with the 25 attitude cards, are soothing and match the vibe of the project.

In addition, the photos of Nadine in her 25 poses are clear and easy to make out: even if you’re not familiar with all of the positions, you can see enough of what she’s doing on the cards to replicate the poses.

Each attitude card lists a characteristic: “brave,” “loving,” “grounded” and “calm” are some of the characteristics used.

The extras

The yogAttitude cards come with a downloadable 88-page PDF workbook (the link is sent with your order confirmation), two guided practice MP3s and five readings from the attitude section of the workbook (also MP3s). Nadine introduces the premise of the yogAttitude cards in the workbook and give suggestions on how to use the cards in a very warm and conversational tone. She then presents color copies of the pose cards, but not actual instructions on how to do the poses or their names. This may be off-putting to some, but the true worth of the set is not the asanas, but the attitudes. She also clearly states that the cards are not a “how-to set: they are for use at home to supplement your yoga practice.” With that said, the cards showing  Nadine in the poses are beautiful.

Nadine offers the workbook to help the user dive deeper into each characteristic, leading him or her into a thoughtful, and yes, sometimes uncomfortable (at least for me) self examination. For example, for the attitude “accepting,” she prompts the reader to ask, “Can I accept myself exactly as I am, the good parts and the shadow parts?”

I’ve only listened to one guided practice file (sun salutation) and one attitude reading. Nadine has a wonderful, soothing speaking voice, which comes through in full form in the sun salutation mp3. Her voice is “up” enough for morning, but not irritatingly chirpy. It’s very natural.

How I use the cards

Nadine designed the yogAttitude cards to help the user shift their attitude if they’re feeling overwhelmed or just plain ol’ down. One can pick pose cards randomly and see if they fit into a series, or one can put them in a particular order and link them with attitudes. I’ve been using the attitude cards more than the asana cards. For example, I pull an attitude card as I am about to leave for work. I keep that attitude, or at least try to keep it, in my mind as I go about my day. I pulled “open” a few days ago. I asked myself, “How can I be more open today? Should I be more open to ideas? To criticism? Am I *too* open in some cases?” I tried to remain aware of the word.

In some instances, I put whatever card I pulled that day in my Filofax as a little reminder (hence the comment above about the sturdiness of the cards).

You need a little yogAttitude

Nadine has put together a fun, flexible and easily understandable package to help yogi/nis of all levels deepen their practice. Any type of learner can benefit: visual (text and pictures), auditory (mp3 files) or tactile (the cards themselves). YogAttitude is not a “learn cool yoga poses” set: it’s a tool that gives the user the power to form a practice that starts with the mind, moves to the body, and then lifts the user off the mat.

YogAttitude card set
Available on Nadine Fawell’s site