Under The Mat

Dear Yogis.

Today (November 18th) is the exciting day that the back-to-back classes start at Eden Fitness. It might be time to invest in a mat topper to put over the gym mat which are rarely cleaned and, in any case, weren’t intended for yoga! The last time I wrote about mats was in August, but that was about normal mats. Mat toppers (I think they are generally known as 'travel mats') are thin and light so easy to travel with and, in a gym, will give you a grip that the gym mat wasn’t designed for.

Yoga Mats

Here are a few suggestions. My first mat topper was the Lulu Lemon Un Mat (1.5mm thick ) which is super thin and  inspired many people who come to my classes to get their own. There is grip on one side and a smooth side for practicing jump-throughs. I’ll bring one to class if you want to have a go. Let me know.

The provided mats at the Yoga Show this year were so extraordinarily slippy and anti-practice that I was forced to by a mat. The cheapest I could find was the prAna Mat (1.5mm thick - probably last season’s design on sale) and it wasn’t bad as well as being a jolly design. In the wide-leg forward fold, though, I felt the dreaded slip. Try it if you come to my Home Studio.

Also at the Yoga Show also, the Milochie Mat (3mm thick) really caught my eye. It’s just so lovely, made from rubber, ethically sourced and is foldable. (I have folded my Lulu Lemon mat but a crease is left.) It’s not as thin, but the blue one that caught my eye has a pattern that promises to help with alignment – that pesky 45 degree-angle foot in the standing poses. I spoke at length with the designer who is the daughter of a yoga teacher. She says she would like to offer my readers an exclusive discount code offering 20% off any product across our entire range valid until 31st December. She says: ‘Please use code: goodtimesyoga’. It might make a nice present now that we’re entering the season of presents.

Please send me a review of your mat if you think yours is the best. Look here at the Yoga Studio for a 20% discount.

Training

I will be spending most of this weekend in workshops with David Swenson, my Ashtanga teacher and guru. He's a wonderful teacher who makes clear again and again that yoga is not for an elite club of athletes and that it is our responsibility as yoga teachers to teach anyone of any ability or disability. ‘It is our duty as teachers to figure out how anyone interested can participate’. I agree with this wholeheartedly. See if you can get a place.

Home Studio

Most classes are booked next week but there are spaces left. Quite unlike the summer when the classes are pretty Bikram, now the heater is on and the blind hides the rain outside. I have all kinds of mats for you to try here and plenty of time and equipment to help you achieve those illusive postures.

Enjoy your weekend.