Hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was pretty laid back and lazy at times, but it was so nice to catch up on some sleep before heading into the work week. Anyway I wanted to share my yoga essentials as I will be doing yoga teacher training soon.
First and most importantly my wonderful Lululemon mat! It was an investment for me back in January 2013 when I did a 30 day yoga challenge at my gym. I absolutely love it and it’s one of the 3 items I own from Lululemon. Before this mat, I always had a problem, especially in downdog, where my hands would start sweating after holding it for a while and I would start sliding. Teachers would try to adjust me but I just didn’t have a grip on the mat. This mat keeps me from sliding. The downside is sometimes I see the sweat marks, which is kind of gross, but oh well. I love the cushion it provides and that it helps me actually build muscle since I’m not slipping in poses. You will also notice in the picture the strap that holds my mat so I can carry it easily. It is quite a heavy mat.
I recently purchased a yoga mat bag to carry my mat. I have yet to actually use it, but I know when I am carrying my mat on the train with me, I do not want my mat to touch the dirty train floor. It also has a large pocket to carry a workout outfit or whatever else I might need. This would be item 3 from Lululemon. I looked at other websites but the dimensions were a bit too snug for my mat.
For my at home practice, it is helpful to have blocks and a strap. I used to just have one block, but then I realized that some poses it is nice to have a block for each hand. The strap is nice for stretching and getting deeper into poses.
Another prop I have for home are yoga tune up balls. My favorite yoga teacher from my gym back home would bring in a bunch of these balls to the Friday class and teach us how to use them. It is similar to foam rolling except it digs in deeper and these balls really grip. One of my goals for the future is to go to a workshop training on these so that hopefully I can incorporate them into yoga classes when I teach. I have heard some people use tennis balls to do similar massages, but I find these balls grip better.
Lastly, one small complaint about my yoga mat is cleaning it. Cheap Gaiam yoga mats you can throw into the bathtub and clean it (or at least that is what I do when I really want to scrub it), but this mat shows every small spot of water and has to air dry. Also there is no way I would throw this into a bathtub. Some people use regular wipes, but I am afraid of all the chemicals wearing down the mat (though I have never tried them). I first tried a yoga mat spray but that just left my mat looking speckled till it dried and as I was wiping it down I felt the spots didn’t really spread. What I use are Kharma Khare wipes. They are made from bamboo which is a very renewable source if you know how fast bamboo grows. I was introduced to these at a yoga workshop and I had to buy a pack of them. Honestly I only wipe down my mat when I feel it is very dirty. These wipes do a great job of cleaning off the top layer of dirt on my mat and I don’t have to give it time to dry. There are 2 wipes per pack. I usually only need one and save the other one in a ziplock bag for the next day or something.
For any of you yogis out there, I hope this gives you some suggestions especially for at home practices. There are so many great yoga products out there and sometimes I wish I could try them all out, but these are definitely my favorite and what has worked for me.
Disclaimer: This post does not have any affiliate links. I just wanted to share my favorite products and all opinions are my own.
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I was in Target today and looking at foam rollers. Those roller balls are neat. I should probably start with a basic roller before moving onto the balls!
I have a foam roller as well! Foam rollers are great to start with especially when muscles are super sore, then the foam roller is enough pain haha