Blissed Yoga website launch

[CarsonZi]

Namaste Friends....

Just wanted to "officially" launch my new website www.blissedyoga.com ...... Have a look, let me know what you think and if you have any comments or criticism I would love to hear them.

Much Love,
Carson[^]

[machart]

Hi Carson!

Very nice website!

You might want to include Katrines website http://www.satsangwithkatrine.com/ in your resources.

It is very nice too.

[CarsonZi]

Thank you Machart!  How I forgot Katrine's site I will never know.....I claim "Baby Brain"!  http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-pregnancy-brain.htm  (even though it is not me who is pregnant)  I will add it tomorrow at work assuming I am able to access the site on my work computer.  I basically built the site at the Internet Cafe this weekend!  I really gotta get a new computer!  Hahaha....Thanks again for reminding me of Katrine's site, and for the kind words.  

Much Love,
Carson[^]

[Scott]

I like your website Carson, and think you will be a great yoga teacher![8D]

[CarsonZi]

Thanks Scott...

I now have my first official venue for classes.... The Gateway Wellness Centre here in Calgary...the same place I get acupuncture and was taking Kundalini Yoga classes at one time....super excited.  It's on!

Love,
Carson[^]

P.S> Gawd my spelling is horrible today!  Editt, deit, eidt, EDIT

[Etherfish]

Beautiful website Carson!

This is just an opinion - I think the words at the right with the underlining that comes up partially through the word are a little too much artistic license. It looks like it begins emphasizing, then ends up negating, so it's subliminally confusing and uncomfortable.
Maybe that's what you wanted, I don't know. But I think people should be made comfortable when you have a business.

Minor thing though, and congratulations on your venture!

[CarsonZi]

Hey Etherfish....

Wish I could change that but the website is basically a wordpress theme, that I have been able to re-write some of the code on, but not all....wish I could figure out  how to change that, as it bothers me too, but it has become a lesson in letting go as I can't figure out how to change it.  At the very bottom of the site on the "site designed by Web Cafe" or something like that (I can't see the website from home so I can't look for an absolute reference, have had to build the site at internet cafes and at work) you can see how the template looks before the changes I made.  Even the picture beside the "About Me" part was hard written into the code, so I had to hack into it just to change it to a picture of me.....damn web designers  Thanks for the kind words though!

Love,
Carson[^]

[NSB]

I will second that the font on the right is coming through to me as if the word is crossed out. Also it occurred to me that in your "about me" section you may be turning away a section of the population, probably the section with money, who will maybe mistrust you because of your experiences with addiction. Maybe more emphasis on where you are now, rather than where you've been? You look very flexible and fit. And it is cool how you have been so inspired by AYP. I am sure you will make a valuable contribution to the lives of your yoga students. I wish I was in Calgary, I'd come and have a yoga lesson.

[Scott]

That's a good point, NSB.  I also felt like "this is a different type of yoga teacher" when I was reading the About Me section.  Maybe putting the drug addiction stuff at the end, after you describe yourself in a very positive sense, would work better?

Regardless, if I were in the area I'd train with you immediately, Carson.  You may just attract a different type of crowd based on who you are, who will be better for you to teach and help.

[Etherfish]

Those crossed out words are stored on your site as:
http://blissedyoga.com/wp-content/themes/seasons-theme-autumn/img/about.gif
then in place of "about", same address:
recent
categories
archive
meta

so if you could change the "autumn" theme for just those words it should do it.

[Kirtanman]

quote:Originally posted by CarsonZi



Wish I could change that but the website is basically a wordpress theme, that I have been able to re-write some of the code on, but not all....wish I could figure out  how to change that, as it bothers me too, but it has become a lesson in letting go as I can't figure out how to change it.
Love,
Carson[^]

Hey Carson,

Congrats on the site ... very cool that you're putting it out there!

Wordpress has a ton of themes ... you could probably find a more flexible theme .... even a lot of the free ones are really flexible; check out:

http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/


... most of them let you preview them, too, I'm pretty sure.

Changing themes is usually a lot easier than hacking the one you have ... that's one of the reasons Wordpress is so popular.

I hope this helps ... and again: cool site; cool that you're teaching .... where love is, teaching happens.



Wholeheartedly,

Kirtanman

[CarsonZi]

Hi Everyone and thanks for all the great suggestions.

About the About Me section...I realized that I may be cutting out some people who don't trust an "ex-addict" but those aren't the type of people I want to be teaching anyways.  Most of the people I want to teach ARE addicts or people struggling with addictions.  These classes are half marketed as "Yoga for Addicts".  I am even hoping to host classes at several Addictions therapy centres and Rehab places...this is why I decided I wanted to start teaching in the first place.  Some of you may remember that when I originally started teaching I was teaching at the local Homeless and Rehab shelter.  And I am the type of guy who is neither ashamed of my past, nor feels the need to hide the reality of where I have been.  If some people can't see past my past, well, then it wasn't meant to be.  Already my first set of classes is half full, and I also have 3 private yoga clients from that website already (it has only been up for a few days).  I'm not looking to make a lot of money at this point in time, just gain more experience teaching (mostly postures as I have a fair amount of experience teaching the AYP system already), spread the word and begin to develop a solid client base.  My target market is young, open-minded people like myself.  But already even as it is, I am attracting some older clients too.  I think that the fact that I am honest about my past draws as many people in as it turns off.....at least I hope so.  Only time will truly tell I guess.  If no one signs up for my next set of classes I will consider revamping my About Me[]

About the font/theme......I really like this particular theme....I spent a fair amount of time picking it and trying things out with it to make sure it supported what I wanted to do with the site.  In general I am pretty happy with how it looks.  
I know where the words are stored, but the issue is that they are .gif files, not font files....it's not as simple as opening them and taking out the line or changing the font....they are flattened images and I would have to rebuild them from scratch...as well as spend a bunch of time matching the font...at this point I have too much other stuff to focus on....like getting the affiliate links for the e-books and the audio books, making videos (for each of the classes) which I hope to sell as downloads off the site, (so others who aren't in Calgary can still take the classes from home), and much more.  Cosmic has offered (in private email) to help with fixing the font, which I may take you up on Cosmic , but at this point to me it is a pretty minor aesthetic(sp?) aspect and I am not that concerned.  The marketing, filling up the classes, finding places to host classes, making the videos, setting up affiliate links etc etc is much more important to me at this point.  

Anyways, thank you all for being so supportive and for all the great suggestions....I am considering them all, and will work on making changes as I can....thank you and may you each continue to live a Blessed existence.

Namaste.
Love,
Carson[^]

[Etherfish]

Wow, sounds like you are doing well.
I am glad you don't want to change your story, and can help people like that. Eventually there may even be some kind of connection with programs that try to help addicts in other ways. For instance, in the US, there are government programs that help addicts with psychology and meds, and I know often it's a very long process with little results.
Also a lot of homeless people have mental problems that are addictive, and addictive personalities can manifest in so many other ways besides drugs, so very much needed approach you're taking.
Best of luck.

[Shanti]

quote:Originally posted by CarsonZi

 Most of the people I want to teach ARE addicts or people struggling with addictions.  These classes are half marketed as "Yoga for Addicts".

Carson, I realized this when I read your "about me" section and I was really touched. I think it is great that you are doing this.

Just one thing that is coming up to say... it's wonderful that you are ready to help people with addictions, but you are doing a disservice to those who are going to be turned off by this. Think about Greg Baer, if he just promoted himself as an "opiate addict" who found "real love", would it not be sad if many got turned away and missed out on "Real Love" for that reason. He does talk about addiction and how his addiction cost him his career, but that is a small part of his intro. Not saying you should take the addiction part of your "about me" out, but don't make it so prominent. Mention it, talk more about it in intros that you do with "yoga for addicts" but don't make your "about me" about the addiction.

In other words, drop the label you have attached to yourself as an ex-addict... when you attach a label to yourself, you are limiting yourself to that label, when you drop the label, you are limited only by the energy of the universe, and this energy is endless.

Wow, I am surprised I wrote this, I was going to actually write I support you doing the "addict yoga" thing and that is what the world needs... not sure how these words happened... but hopefully they will help.

[CarsonZi]

Thanks Shanti[|)]

Can you suggest something else worth saying?  I can't think of what I would put there other then what is written.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Love,
Carson[^]

I guess what I am saying is that the "ex-addict" label is the only thing I really "think" of as "me".  Other then that I am just....well....I am just Being.  That's not very exciting[8D]