If you like to shop fair trade and also have that extra boho flair that brought you to Global Groove Life’s website then you probably already have an unique home design theme going on. Cheers to that - good for you!

Circular seating continues to build interest in your space and provides seating options that alter from the norm (always a good thing with the bohemian crowd).

Functional And Fun

Need additional seating? Roll in some balance balls from the office or studio instead of having your guest “pull up a chair.” This is way easier to do than carrying chairs around to move them - and it works especially well if you have multiple areas of the house that are used for socializing with people.

Red Flower of Life Cover

Gone are the days of uncomfortable office chairs. If you work from home or are otherwise spending a lot of time sitting at a table or desk then you should really try sitting on a yoga ball. They’re quite comfortable and you can easily find wheeled bases that keep them more stable beneath you if straight up sitting on a ball sounds like a bit of a challenge.

Here are three of our top reasons why we recommend using a balance ball as your new favorite chair:

1. You’ll experience a new level of comfort while sitting on a balance ball! 


Say goodbye to uncomfortable wooden chairs and other unforgiving materials and hello to a flexible, responsive seat. The slight bounce that the ball provides allows you to make constant micro-adjustments instead of stagnating in the same position for hours at a time.

Although sitting in one single position may seem like it would be more comfortable, studies have proven that staying sedentary hour after hour (for example while working, watching TV, or scrolling through the internet) can lead to potentially lethal complications! Sitting on a yoga ball is a simple way to keep your body and life force energy moving.

2. It’s good for you!

We know, we know - we sound like your mother responding to child you when you asked her why you need to eat your vegetables! We’re not trying to dredge up old memories … but just like your mama we see the importance of looking out for your health and wellbeing!

Balancing on a yoga ball strengthens your core muscles. You know, the ones in your stomach, sides, and back that keep you moving around with ease (or not depending on the state of your core). Maintaining a strong core is very important to your overall balance and range of motion. So we’re big fans of anything that can be done to keep this part of the body toned.

3. A new perspective!

You probably know by now how passionate we are GGL are about gaining new perspectives - on everything from style to life. If you are desk-bound for a large part of the day then you could probably benefit from the change of perspective that replacing your desk chair with a balance ball will bring you.

Cobalt Geometric Cover

Changing your point of view can really transform your whole mindset and therefore your entire day! You can funnel your newfound energy and enthusiasm into more productivity and efficiency.

Style It

Naturally as a bohemian (i.e. individual with a strong sense of self and personal expression) you’ll want to explore the unique style opportunities that come along with using yoga balls as seating. Global Groove Life has so many options to transform your balance ball from blah to chic.

Plum Geometric Ball Cover

Want to use your ball as an accent piece? Choose a brightly colored or a boldly patterned yoga ball cover. Here are a few of our favorites below.

Orange Rhapsody cover

Tribal Sand Cover

Alternately, you may want to be able to use the balance ball as a chair in multiple rooms and as a workout tool in your studio. In that case you couldchoose a few different covers - or - go for a more neutral tone.

Black Flower of Life Cover

Olive Geometric Cover

We’re sure that you’ll find your perfect groove however you choose to use and decorate your balance balls. Send in photos of how you’re using your yoga ball in your space - we’d love to see it!

Amara Evans is a vibrational healer, collective consciousness-raiser, writer, and devotee of the Goddess. She loves to connect with her global community through writing and speaking about important topics like the environment, spirituality, and fair trade.

As the wheel of the year continues to roll on, we in the northern hemisphere are nesting and preparing for the darker months. Time to go within, connect with ancestors, and prepare for the coming of a new year. All of these things are much easier to do in a safe and sacred container. In this article Global Groove Life shares how you can incorporate ancient wisdom and herbal healing into your life via the use of incense to create a space of sacredness for yourself and your loved ones.

Sanctuary of Scents

Creating your dream home is totally possible! It’s important to keep in mind your style preferences and how you want to feel in your space. Energetics are just as important as visual aesthetics!

You can maintain your home sanctuary with traditional techniques - like burning incense to keep things just the way you like them. Stay true to your values and enjoy a more peaceful ambiance with all natural herbal incense. Global Groove Life (GGL) has a curated collection of hand crafted Tibetan and Nepalese incense for you to choose from to help you create a clean, conscious vibe in your home or office.

Home For The Holy Days

The months of October and September are noted as being special times of the year around the world. These are times when there is less separation between worlds than usual and when spirit communication is easier to perceive. Many groups celebrate holy days during this time of the year.

All Hallow’s Eve, for example, is the night when the dead can supposedly return to walk the Earth once more. Dia de los Meurtos is a celebration honoring those who have passed on and their return to this world. Samhain is a Pagan Sabbat (holy day) marking the end of the harvest and entrance into the dark time of year. It is a time to honor those who came before us and is recognized as the day when the veil between the worlds is the thinnest.

Across cultures these days are honored with a combination of group celebration and personal ritual. Purification and cleansing are important parts of both collective ceremony and individual practice. Smudging with the smoke of sacred herbs is a powerful way to purify yourself and your space. Sage is commonly used as a smudge or incense for cleansing and protection.

Space For The Sacred

Many cultures have a custom of ritual purification. Smoke from sacred herbs like sage and resins like frankincense cleanses impurities and removes negative energy - both from people and from spaces like your meditation room.

Including incense on your altar is a wonderful aesthetic addition and is also very practical. The incense can be used to purify the space and as a devotional offering to your ancestors and any deities you honor. In several traditions, smoke is believed to carry prayers up to the Divine!

Certain scents are particularly well known and celebrated for their spiritual purity and uplifting abilities. Frankincense releases powerful positive energy and creates space for spiritual growth, wisdom, and meditation. Another popular incense for your spiritual altar is sandalwood. Sandalwood has a rich scent that invites spiritual awareness, development of psychic abilities, and deep meditation.

What scents create a feeling of comfort and purity for you? Share in the comments and remember to order your favorites from GGL!

Amara Evans is a vibrational healer, collective consciousness-raiser, and devotee of the Goddess. She loves to connect with her global community through writing and speaking about important topics like the environment, spirituality, and fair trade.

Sustainability is a priority to most people in conscious circles so it makes perfect sense to support the expansion of your consciousness with practices and products that also support our planet and all our relations. Global Groove Life (GGL) is happy to share deeper insights with you about the materials we choose to use in our products - in this case our meditation cushions.

A Seat Above

Let’s face it, if you aren’t comfortable then your meditation practice will not be as focused or as beneficial for you. We’re often shown unrealistic images of people meditating in magazines and online. People are portrayed sitting in lotus or half-lotus position on the ground which is not a comfortable position for the body to be in for extended periods of time.

If you’re naturally very limber or have been practicing yoga for years then maybe these positions will work for you but for most folks these poses can feel uncomfortable or challenging. It’s much better for many bodies to sit with the hips elevated above the knees. Enter the zafu - a traditional seat used for meditation and more. The filler inside these cushions is a perfect combination of strong and malleable to support you in sitting for as long as you’d like to.

Organic, Roasted… Buckwheat

Nope, we’re not talking about coffee! The words organic and roasted are describing the buckwheat filler used in our meditation cushions! This buckwheat is grown without the use of pesticides - yay! - because it is a naturally pest-free crop. Not only is the buckwheat used in GGL’s zafus pesticide-free, it’s also synergistic to its environment. It actually enhances the soil it’s grown in!

After it’s harvested the hulls are roasted which cleans them and ensures the integrity of the husk. This allows for your meditation cushion to maintain its shape for much longer than hulls that have been processed by washing versus roasting - which means your zafu will support your meditation practice for a long time.

Sustainable Tree-sources

Global Groove Life is committed to bringing you high quality products that are sustainably sourced. The zafus we sell are no exception to these standards. Both the buckwheat hulls and kapok fiber used as filler for them are pesticide-free.

Kapok fiber is a durable and mold-resistant material, making it perfect for long term use. It’s a more sustainable filler option that cotton. Did you know that 25% of all pesticides used in the world are used on the cotton crop? Kapok is one of the few sustainable rainforest crops in the world.

Kapok trees produce thousands of seed pods each year. The seeds inside these pods are surrounded by the soft yellow fluff that’s been used for centuries as bedding. This silky material is used as part of the filler for Global Groove Life’s zafus to support you in a comfortable and sustainable meditation practice.

GGL’s goals are to provide our customers with well crafted, eco-friendly apparel and items that support you in living a balanced lifestyle, to support the artists who create our goods, and to create a thriving world for everyone! Offering meditation supplies made from materials that are grown without undue harm to the Earth feels good to us - we hope it feels good to you, too!

Amara Evans is a vibrational healer, collective consciousness-raiser, writer, and devotee of the Goddess. She loves to connect with her global community through writing and speaking about important topics like the environment, spirituality, and fair trade.

The lotus flower is beloved by people around the world. We at Global Groove Life love the lotus so much that we’ve included it in the GGL logo! It represents growth and rising above the muck to bloom and express - the same way that fair trade and fair business rise above the dirty, exploitative practices of traditional business to expand into a better way of interacting with the world and our human family. The GGL lotus is overlaid over a map of the world that we love so much. A perfect fit to represent our intention to uplift the planet!

Purification So Sweet

 Humanity has long revered the lotus as a floral representation of purification. The plant grows up through the mud and reveals the purity of its beautiful essence as it blooms. It shows us how we, too, can share our essential natures as we continue to purify ourselves and push our way beyond the sticky mud of the world.

No Mud No Lotus

 You may have heard this expression shared by Vietnamese Zen Buddhist Monk and world peace advocate Thich Nhat Hanh, “No mud, no lotus.” All humans are born into a world where there is suffering - represented by the mud. And each person incarnated in this world has the potential to become fully enlightened and fully self-aware - represented by a blossoming lotus flower.

 This quote reminds us that even our suffering serves us and helps us to feel gratitude for the entire experience of life. In this way the lotus is also a symbol of transcendence. What a great reminder of this powerful ability we have to overcome and rise above.

#LotusLove Tribe

 Global Groove Life is partnering with Global Party People! We’re a global community that supports respectful co-existence through peace, love, music, dance, and community. We operate on the vibration of love and trust and use art and music to make the world a better place. We believe that a smile is the same in every language. Come dance with us and join our Global Community.

 Do you want to join our Global Tribe? During the month of September GGL is offering you a FREE #LotusLove decal in the color of your choice! Global Party People is offering a FREE music download, too! Just sign up here to join us on our journey and to receive these free gifts!

 Color Therapy

 The #LotusLove decals are available in an assortment of colors - the chakra colors to be exact. So which color - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or violet - are you resonating with today? Or what aspect of your life do you want to reinvigorate?

 Global Groove Life chose to print the stickers in the chakra colors because often folks are attracted to colors which represent different things that are going on in their lives and/or physical bodies. Learn more about each chakra associated color below.

Chakra Power

 Choose red to empower and clear your root chakra, muladhara, which will have you feeling secure and grounded. The orange decal will assist you in balancing your sacral chakra, svadhisthana, so you can freely express yourself. Go with the yellow lotus to heal your solar plexus chakra, manipura, to be confident and feel in control with a healthy sense of self esteem.

 A green lotus decal will assist you in clearing your heart chakra, anahata, and feeling compassion in loving relationships. Choose the light blue sticker to balance your throat chakra, vishuddha, which will support you in expressing yourself openly and freely. A dark blue lotus will help you with your third eye chakra, ajna, the center of intuition. Choose the purple lotus to clear and balance your crown chakra, sahasrara, so you can have a clear view of the world and your connection with it. Even if you’re not aware of what you’d like to work on just let your intuition guide you to choose whatever color lotus decal you’re drawn to.

 Which #LotusLove decal are you most drawn to? Get yours today!

Amara Evans is a vibrational healer, collective consciousness-raiser, and devotee of the Goddess. She loves to connect with her global   community through writing about important topics like the environment, spirituality, and fair trade.

Recently things here in Chiang Mai have been a flurry of activity. There have been shopping trips, deliveries, team sewing days, shipping expeditions and more.

There have been baskets and purses and scarves and pipes, tassels and bracelets and hats.

While we’re often busy and spend a lot of time with our suppliers, things have really stepped up a notch. And it’s not just because it’s time to restock the online store. Nope, we’ve got something even more exciting in the works, and we’re so excited it’s time to finally share it with you.

So what’s all this hustle and bustle for? To prepare for our very first Pop-Up Store!

Set to open in Santa Rosa Plaza, Sonoma County in California on November 15th, we’re beyond excited to be heading back to our old stomping ground, bringing that Global Groove magic with us.

Tassles tassles tassles! Greg loaded up with the tassel order for the Tree in Santa Rosa Plaza - opening Nov 15!

Opening a pop-up store is a very cool opportunity for us. Not only will we get to connect with a bunch of interesting people in Sonoma County, but we’ll be able to really give people a tangible sense of the impact of their spending choices over the holidays.

We’ll be able to tangibly showcase the beautiful handiwork of our Thai and Nepali artisans, and help people to become truly involved with where their goods come from.

The pop-up store is going to be a hub of activity in Santa Rosa Plaza. On top of doing a bustling trade leading up to holidays, we’ll be running yoga classes and connecting with yoga teachers in the area for training.

The store will be full of our gorgeous products, with the perfect give for everyone on one of our shelves. We’ll be doing giveaways and social media contests, and inviting people from the mall and local community to get involved. 

Now, we’re going to be keeping everyone up to date about how the pop-up space is coming along via our Facebook and Instagram accounts. We’ll be adding new pics each week of what we’ve been up to and what’s happening on the ground, so make sure you’re following us at www.facebook.com/globalgroovelife and www.instagram.com/globalgroovelife too.

As the opening date draws closer, we’ll be releasing more details about our hours and all the activities that will be going on in-store, along with these photo updates. If you’ve got questions, comments or ideas about the store, just pop a comment on any of the photos & we will get back to you.

We hope you’re as excited as we are & we’re so looking forward to seeing all you Californians when we hit the ground!

Your body and mind are two parts of a complex, wonderful whole. Balancing them and making sure that every part of your being is working smoothly and in harmony with the rest is vital to your ongoing health and happiness.

This is where your chakras come in. Now, you might be very experienced with balancing your chakras, or you might be new to the concept and dismiss it as being totally ‘woo-woo.’

Well, either way - keep an open mind and read on. You might learn something that could change your life.

What are the chakras?

Chakras are energy centres in your body. Each of the seven draw and emit energy, and each one plays a different role in the body and mind’s interactions, and how you interact with the world around you.

When your chakras are balanced, each energy centre is performing at the optimum output - but if one or more is underactive or overactive, you can run into health problems and have difficulty functioning in the world as you want to.

The Root Chakra:

Based at the bottom of your spine in the tailbone area, the root chakra is responsible for our sense of grounding and ability to be present.

If your root chakra is underactive, you will likely feel uncomfortable in your own skin and in social situations. If it’s overactive, you can become obsessed with controlling everything around you.

The Root Chakra is represented by a deep garnet color.

The Sacral Chakra:

Based in your lower abdomen, your Sacral Chakra is responsible for your ability to connect with others, with your sexuality and ability to experience joy and pleasure.

When the Sacral Chakra is underactive, you can seem emotionally unavailable and shut off. When it’s overactive, though, you can might be overly emotional or prone to being overtly sexual.

The Sacral Chakra is represented by a bright carnelian or orange color.

The Naval Chakra (also known as the Solar Plexus Chakra):

The Naval or Solar Plexus Chakra is located in your upper abdomen, near your stomach. This one is responsible for our sense of self-confidence, self-esteem, and ability to direct our lives as we want them to go.

When this chakra is underactive, you will be nervous, easily thrown into indecision and easily unsettled. It is this chakra that is affected when something happens that you perceive as ‘a kick in the guts’. When your Naval Chakra is overactive, though, you will likely be aggressive and overbearing.

The Naval Chakra is represented by vibrant, Tiger’s Eye yellow.

The Heart Chakra:

The Heart Chakra is responsible for our ability to love, and to show kindness and affection. It is located in the centre of your chest, just above your heart.

When your Heart Chakra is underactive, you will have trouble feeling and expressing love or affection, even to those closest to you.

If your Heart Chakra is overactive, your love can become overwhelming for the people receiving it, and may reflect your own need for love more than a pure desire to give love.

The Heart Chakra is represented by a rich Malachite green.

The Throat Chakra:

The Throat Chakra is responsible for our ability to communicate. When it is balanced you will be able to express yourself clearly and be honest in all situations. The Throat Chakra is located in your throat, near your voice box and vocal cords.

When the Throat Chakra is underactive, you are likely to be very quiet, and to avoid expressing yourself - you will become introverted and closed off.

When the Throat Chakra is overactive, though, you will be more like a motormouth! Talking too much and listening too little.

The Throat Chakra is represented by pure Sapphire blue.

The Third Eye Chakra:

The Third Eye Chakra is responsible for our ability to imagine and conceptualize the big picture. Also known as the Brow Chakra, the Third Eye Chakra is located in your forehead, between your eyes.

If your Third Eye Chakra is underactive, you might have trouble thinking outside the box, and will get stuck following the rules without thinking about them.

If your Third Eye Chakra is overactive, you can become too much of a dreamer, never focusing on the reality at hand.

The Third Eye Chakra is represented by mystical Amethyst purple.

The Crown Chakra:

The Crown Chakra is responsible for our spirituality and ability to connect with the Universe. It is located at the very top of your head - the crown.

If your Crown Chakra is underactive, you will likely struggle to develop a meaningful spiritual life, or may just not be aware of spirituality.

If it is overactive, you run the risk of overdoing it - favouring all things spiritual at the cost of your body’s needs and your involvement in the physical world.

So. Now you have a clear understanding of each Chakra, and what they’re responsible for.

If you’ve got an imbalance in your life -  an area where things are not going to plan, or where you’re dissatisfied, maybe you need to look at balancing the relevant Chakra.

To help you do that, we’ve created a beautiful line of Chakra Tassle Bracelets. Every Chakra now has its own balancing bracelet, to help you realign and free up any blocked up Chakras:

Get one or a combo to focus on unlocking a specific Chakra. Or if you want to ensure that all your Chakras are perfectly balanced and aligned for improved health and happiness, maybe the Chakra Om Wrap Bracelet would be the one for you:

To bring vibrancy and new energy to your Chakras, the Himalayan Seed Bracelets are a beautiful choice:

Or to simply remind yourself to pay attention to your Chakras and the balance in your life, the Tassle & Stone Charm Silk Bracelets combine the Chakra colors with precious stones:

Yoga ball covers are starting to become a really popular item here at Global Groove Life. We’ve been making them for a while now, but people are really starting to catch on to how much they can transform a room! 

See, we’re big fans of sitting on yoga balls to work. We have them in our home office, and there are a couple around the house that are used for extra seating (when they’re not being used as a yoga tool).

Yoga balls (or balance balls or exercise balls, depending on what you call them) are extremely functional. They are very versatile to use around the home, and they can really improve your body mechanics over time.

There’s just one problem.

They’re so. Damn. Ugly.

And sticky. It’s one of life’s great mysteries how the things end up with that weird tacky feeling all over them, no matter how hard you try to keep them clean.

So when we started creating yoga ball covers, it was really for us. We wanted our yoga balls to look and feel lovely every time you came across one. And as it turns out, lots of other people were in the same boat.

Since we started getting so much interest, we’ve extended our line of Fair Trade yoga ball covers significantly. They range from teen-friendly prints, to whacky patterns, to subtle and subdued - all the way up to our new luxe range.

These new luxe covers are handcrafted from Burma Silk.

We head out to Wararot Kad Luang Market and meet our long-time supplier. We chat as she measures out the hand-spun silk in 2-yard sections. It takes several of these large pieces to create one cover, and there’s a long process ahead before the final product reaches us.

Once we’ve purchased yards and yards of the Burma Silk, we carefully transport them to a village just outside Chiang Mai. We arrive at our tailor’s home and hand over the huge folds of material, which she and her team members will cut by hand into small pieces a few inches in diameter. 

Cutting completed, the Burma Silk is loaded into another truck and dispatched to even smaller villages that are even further out of Chiang Mai. There is no industry in these areas, so the arrival of the silk is an event. The tailors hustle around the truck, collecting their portion of the silk to whisk away to their sewing rooms. Ensconced by hundreds of yards of silk, they get to work, twisting each little piece of silk into a bow-shape.

After about two days of work shaping the silk, it’s time for the cover to take shape. The tailors sew up a ball cover, and then begin the long process of attaching each bow to the cover. The silk is delicate, so this process is handled with tender care, and will take the next two days.

Four days after they receive the raw Burma Silk, the tailors have each created one Burma Silk Yoga Ball Cover.

It’s a long, intensive process, and by the time that cover is dispatched back to us, they are due for a well-earned break before tackling the next cover. 

However, the cover each tailor has produced is gorgeous. They are the very top of the line in ball covers, and they are quickly snapped up by our style-conscious customers.

Do you have a yoga ball that is ruining the look of a room in your home? We’ve got plenty of new cover options available, all Fair Trade and handcrafted, and they are so varied that there will certainly be good fit for your style and decor. Check them out here!