nytoday.com: Outfit Your Asanas
What to Wear and Use for a Successful Yoga Practice
VALERIE REISS
02/02/2001
Yoga is hard enough. There’s no need to drown in the folds of an XXL T-shirt or skid across the room on the wrong mat. Like any sport, what you wear and use in yoga determines the quality of your experience. Here are tips for a smooth road to yogic bliss.
clothing
“Loose or comfortable clothing is imperative to feeling relaxed, unrestricted, and secure,” says DeDe Lahman, certified hatha yoga instructor and founder of Emogo Clothing for Yoga. The idea is loose but fitted, soft yet snug.
Yoga Clothing Don’ts: Baggy T-shirts, huge sweatpants, jeans, tight bras, bras with metal back-hooks, socks. (Though at yoga centers with carpeted studios, such as Dharma Mittra’s, people tend to wear socks.) Slippery materials, tight elastic, dance leotards, distracting patterns or logos, anything that requires tugging or adjusting.
Yoga Clothing Do’s: Snug sweatpants; loose leggings, full-body unitards, fitted tank tops and T-shirts. Clothing that shows body contours (for checking out proper alignment), well-cut bras, cotton or cotton blends, bare feet.
props
Some yoga styles put more emphasis on props than others. Iyengar, for example, uses more straps than a Saturday night at The Vault, while Ashtanga rarely uses anything but sweat and breath to make postures flow.
Mats: “A sticky mat is great for standing poses, but a towel on top of carpet works just as well,” says Lahman. Most centers rent mats, but they can smell ripe between cleanings. Get your own — they cost around $30 and are a great investment—especially if you’re practicing at a New York Sports Club whose “yoga mats” could double as luge sleds.
Blocks: Beginners may want to hold off. “Blocks may be a little cumbersome and daunting at first — unless you have an instructor helping you adjust your positions,” says Lahman.
Straps: These are good for deepening postures—especially for people with stiff shoulders or tight hamstrings. Ask your teacher for tips.
Cushions and blankets: Perfect for any kind of yogi, these help keep the spine straight during meditation and bolster body parts during postures. Blankets are also ideal for the end-of-practice rest when body temperature dips.
Finally Lahman says, “Use your own judgment; just because your teacher says you should arch your back over a pile of blocks and blankets doesn’t mean it’s right for your body—or that moment. And if he or she stands over you with a strap, well, then, you should make sure you’ve entered the health club and not a venue for sado-masochists.”