HRRF SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES “STRETCH FOR A CAUSE” FAMILY-FRIENDLY YOGA EVENT AT THE HOUSTONIAN
HOUSTON, TX, October 19th, 2013 – The Holly Rose Ribbon Foundation (HRRF) is pleased to announce the successful launch of our First Annual Stretch for a Cause Yoga Festival at the Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa held on Sunday, October 13, 2013. The HRRF is a Houston-based non-profit organization serving uninsured and under-insured men, women, and children who cannot afford reconstructive surgery after undergoing cancer treatment.
“We wanted to bring in various yoga presenters and bring peace, joy and celebration to our very special event. This was a great opportunity to learn new things and leave inspired,” said Lily Paxson, HRRF Executive Director. The festival, held at The Houstonian, hosted 80 attendees on Sunday despite the rain and being moved indoors. Lily notes, “This wasn’t about one yoga studio or one teacher, this is about all people sharing a love of yoga coming together as a community to help survivors of cancer.”Many local yoga enthusiasts became involved to show their support. Even those new to yoga enjoyed this fun and educational event. Each presenter explored a different topic with their own unique spin.
The Holly Rose Ribbon Foundation invited the public to come and experience Arco-Yoga demonstrations with Marizol Cabrera and partner, chanting with Andrew Dugas, Multi-Level Yoga with Rie Congelio and seated meditation with Achim Fassbender at the Houstonian. Men, women and children enjoyed sipping on Snap Kitchen’s fresh pressed carrot ginger juice and sampling curry chicken salad. Raw food chef, Katalin “Kat” Axmann prepared an “El Cubano” pineapple, cucumber, lemon and fresh mint all pressed to create a refreshing and healthy thirst quencher. Guests also had the opportunity to shop with a variety of vendors. Elizabeth Irvine, founder of the Jewelry project designed beautiful serenity beaded necklaces “b-e-a-d-i-n-g Cancer.” Elizabeth Irvine donated 50% of her sales of the rose quartz serenity bead necklaces for the day. Carla Christoph Kaftans also donated a percentage of the day’s sales back to HHRF and donated a beautiful pink silk with 
gold embroidery Kaftan for the HRRF raffle. The Trellis SPA sold “by the minute” chair massages and donated 100% of the massages sold along with beautiful gold silk goodie bags stuffed with skin care products. Michael Bradley, owner of A Faerie Art Works read tarot cards and sampled his divine incense. Denise Welling of Body Mind and Soul, had a variety of handmade, silk scarves for sale from India and also donated a beautiful scarf embroidered with dragon flies for the raffle and Sunny the Clown created balloon sculptures and painted children’s faces. Adorable pink Holly Rose Ribbon Foundation yoga mats designed by Silhouette Artist Cindi Rose were available for purchase at the event and she also brought plenty of her signature lip balm for everyone, and the T-shirts were generously underwritten by Utopia MedSpa and Houston Plastic Surgeon Dr. Franklin Rose. Fun photos were taken at the photobooth by Phlash Phactory.
There was no need to be a member of the Houstonian to attend this special city-wide event, which was moved indoors and had around 80 in attendance despite the rain. Notable among the guests were founders Cindi and Dr. Franklin Rose, Executive Director Lily Paxson, Lori Freese, Beth Cassidy-Garcia, Shehla Rana, Susan Miller, Mina Mann, Constance Ruppert, Mehrnaz Gill, Clark and Merritt Reynolds, Kristen Cannon of Coquette, TJ Sloan and Liza Evans, Riyad Abu-Taha, Oscar Guevara, Robert Lazarri, and Jessica Alaine.
Jessica Alaine, featured on the cover
Photos by Herb Hochman
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