How do the materials effect your yoga practice?

Do materials which touch our skin matter?

Weather we are aware or not, everything what we come in contact with is influencing us. Every small thing is storing it’s energy, by touching it we take that energy into our world.

How does it matter to our yoga practice?

In yoga practice we are even more sensitive & receptive to whatever is coming to us. Therefore it is good idea to use natural materials which we can wash.

‘’Plastic era’’ of clothing came to us few decades back with industrialization.

We wanted to make a lot for no money and therefore a plastic, recycled plastic or microfiber materials came into clothing industry. Plastic & synthetic materials unfortunately came also to yoga world when yoga was moved to fitness centres. It is really hard for me to believe that people still use the mats which are available in fitness rooms in the yoga shalas. Not only that they are plastic, not cleaned regularly but they are used by many people each day.

Here I want to mention a part of the book: ‘’The sacred tradition of Yoga'' by Dr. Shankaranarayana Jois. Dr. Jois is well known Yoga & Ayurveda teacher and astrologer in Mysore. He built beautiful school in one of the remote area in Mysore called Bharati Yoga Dhama.

He is highly focused to teach yoga in its traditional way. He is teaching Indians mainly but also people from outside India one month per year. I had an honour to meet him and consult my Vedic astrologic chart with him. While explaining me the chart, he could really touch all the aspects and advise me some asanas as well as food I should avoid.

The part of the book where he explains how important is the material we wear and touch, and what our clothes should be made of...

‘’According to the observations of yogis, the type of clothing we wear is very important because the properties of the fabric have an effect in us. For example, cotton is a good choice for clothing. Though it absorbs the energy of another’s touch relatively easily, washing it removes all energetic influences. Hence, it is wise to launder cotton clothing between uses. Silk is more difficult to maintain, but it shields our system from impurities much better than other materials. When we wear silk, we can sit in a place where many others have previously sat and not experience much transfer of energy.

On the other hand, plastic and synthetic materials can be very disturbing to our body and should be avoided if possible. Today these materials appear everywhere, however, and often cannot be easily avoided. Nonetheless we should try to avoid direct contact if possible and minimize these articles in our wardrobe. This is because yogis have recently ascertained that plastic and synthetic articles block the flow of own body’s energy.

Moreover, plastic and synthetic materials have their own energy that is not harmonious with our own. Today, many people own household items or clothing made from leather or other animal skins. In general, we should avoid touching animal skins because they influence us adversely. We should bathe after we touch them.

There are some exceptions to this rule: animal skins such as those of deer, cow, and tiger may have beneficial qualities, depending upon how the animal died and how their skins were acquired. ‘’  

Dr. Shankaranarayana Jois

In Leela we are using the principles of ancient knowledge of Yoga

Yoga means a lot to us, it has changed the directions of our lives completely. On our journey, as we are traveling for teachings around India we wanna apply this knowledge to our day to day lives. ''We wanna bring cleaner materials to yoga practice so it will suport the practitioners. We are colaborating with small local manufacturers because we wanna support their livelihoods.

We wanna maintain the craftmenship.''

...because it all matters to us a to the final product as well. 

Be concious what you PRACTICE ON. 

As you now know what are all the aspects influencing the right choise of the materials reconsider your clothing & practicing surface. Leela is briking you all the aspecpts I have been talking about empodied in one.

Leela yoga rug for cleaner practice!

Leela yoga towel for healthier shavasana or cleaner shower!

Or both in practical Organic combo!

#practiceclean 

#showerclean

Where you can get the book? It is really worthed reading!

You can get clear and well explained information about how to use antient yoga knowledge in this modern era. If you are in Mysore you can get the book directly in his school Bharati yoga dhama or simply order it to your home from:

https://sadvidyafoundation.org/the-sacred-tradition-of-yoga/

https://www.shambhala.com/authors/g-n/dr-shankaranarayana-jois.html