OK. I admit it. I have a yoga fashion addiction.
It started out innocently enough. I had enrolled in a teacher training course and was required to practice at least six times a week. So my two pair of ratty sweat pants and old T-shirt collection weren’t going to cut it. Although I hated to spend money on clothes to sweat in, I headed to Old Navy and picked up the cheapest pants and shirts I could find.
Now, nearly five years later, it’s a different story. I spend more money on yoga pants than I do on jeans. I have so many yoga tops, I can wear a new one every day for two weeks without having to do a load of laundry. I get excited when Lululemon or Zobha announces a new collection, and even more excited when something I like goes on sale.
For years, I told myself it was a good thing—well worth the expense as long as these clothes inspired me to unroll my mat. But focusing on the external parts of the practice is really just a distraction from the internal awareness I should have been working to cultivate. Yoga fashion is kind of an oxymoron when it hinders inner peace. And sitting in Lotus Pose dreaming of your next big splurge isn’t exactly the definition of aparigraha (non-grasping).
I love my yoga clothes because I drop into a yoga mindset as soon as I put them on, but is it really helping my practice? Probably not. And so, I must seek balance around my tendency to be a yoga fashionista . . . but I’m afraid I will never be able to pass up a great deal!
(BTW, the lovely shirt at the beginning of this post can be found at Beebliss.com and it’s my favorite shirt right now!)
In my past life I was a kid's shoe designer, so when I started my irregular yoga practice & needed a yoga mat etc, I needed to accessorise befittingly. Unfortunately or fortunately, there was nothing but crunchy granola low quality products available, yoga mats were either random royal blue or insipid lilac. So I had no choice but to develop my own product line, and Plank's Art on a Yoga Mat was born.
As a product designer first & foremost, I believe in the value that upgraded products can do to uplift & enhance the spirit. Good designers are truly mindful people, tangibly showcasing awareness to an audience. (Obviously if they have bosses, there can be limitations)So worrying about your yoga wardrobe doesn't resonate with me. It all depends on the intention of your purchase, if it's to keep up with the Jones's or Lulu's then maybe a look at balancing your inner yoga fashionista maybe called for. However, if it's part of your job, your lifestyle or simply a few items that help you feel more confident so once you're in class you can focus on your practice, then go for it. If a couple of added confidence boosting compliments from your buddies ensue, all the better, since self criticism probably wasn't far away.
As much as I love clothes, I don't participate in fashion per say, a)As a young biz strapped for cash, from a Plank re-launch, after suffering a factory fire, revenues to spend on "fashion" are slim b) I delight in clothes, similarly to product, as having the powerful ability to bring about an experience that uplifts the individual. I love to witness/discover, the use of different materials, perspectives & constructions to improve or enhance a product's/an item of clothing's fit, form & function. To me, a designer's awareness reveals mindfulness & resonates with me, more than chanting mindlessly in a language I do not understand. Not saying that I won't ever chant, but I'm uncomfortable with it until I understand the "why". Yoga has been put on a pedestal, in its own category, as a career, a consumable service with consumer products for yogis by yogis. As a result, the visual & verbal messaging has not shifted or evolved. I use yoga as a foundational tool, not as the end goal, to help me do what I do best. Yoga instructors spread their yoga message thru' their gift & passion for teaching. I like share my yoga perspective & spread yogauptake and participation thru' my gift & passion which is Product… (Spoiled Yoga, you asked me for my perspective, so here's just the beginning, but it's time the white noise, ubiquitous, yawn, yawn, yoga messaging got a makeover. That sound's pretty mindful to me, can i get an Ohmmmmm… or maybe an Ohhhhhh, really I didn't think about it like that… )
Doreen,
Thanks for your thoughtful response. You make some great points. I can totally see how designing products can be a mindfulness practice! But doesn't yoga teach us that we can find confidence within ourselves, not in the clothes we wear or the mats we practice on? I'm not saying we should stop buying products, just be mindful about our incentives.
And you definitely get an "Ohmmmm" and an "Ohhh" from me!
For me Yoga's a fantastic foundational tool, like fitness training is a tool that builds confidence; with confidence you can do whatever you want. I really don't care what people do with their new found confidence, as long as they are aware of their intentions. That is what I learn & try to practice from my yoga practice, having this business & other mentors, inspirators & teachers in my life…
My goal has always been to upgrade yoga lifestyle products to make them giftworthy for the practioner, be they a novice or longtime hard core yogi. Upgrading the mat & product line does make the yoga consumable giftworthy & (heaven forbid a business based around yoga products), however receiving them is an acknowledgement from a best friend, significant other or to self of an activity that is a priority to oneself. Don't get me wrong there are a lot of companies who are or try to get on the yoga band wagon, me included, because they see its profitable growth, & hell why not, but when the intention is not really there, they have failed. Since launching, 4 years ago, I've seen mat printing or Plank bag knocker off-ers, but their heart isn't in it and they've seen the item/category go by the wayside. Who really knows if a good looking bag or the perspective shifting imagery of a yoga mat will help you go to yoga more often. However my heart is & I know personally (plus a few testimonials) if I didn't own/make these products, I would be close to tears if my husband brought me a Plank mat. His doing so it, (if ever) would acknowledge my time for self, my interests, the time required for a practice, 3 hours, 2-3 times a week (a huge luxury for a mother). I believe a lot of mother's struggle with being able to carve out for themselves & how many can't even talk about it, without the un-initiated rolling their eyes & putting up a wall as soon as they hear the words "yoga".
My art & design background & genetic engineering always asks me to challenge perspective. Plank's product line is the vehicle for the message, which is about practicing yoga at any level, any where & in a very tangible accessible way. I am fortunate to witness & be able to visually or verbally document benefits of my yoga practice in the hope of inspiring more people to roll out their own mat. Ideally, a Plank mat would be helpful for the creditors, but really any mat will do. In the long run, the foundational benefits of yoga go beyond the yoga studio & a bit of flexibility…
Yoga can teach us many things & it's teachings and suggestions for ways of life are sound, relevant & even inspirational. It is not a religion unless you want it to be & that's great, if it works for you.
I'm not a yogi or intend to go on a teacher training course any time soon and I do think it's great that a lot of people are interested in taking their yoga practice further. Ironically enough, they don't know what to do with their new found knowledge, there are better, more inspired, articulate teachers with places & venues to learn more, which is great but recently I've met some born again, just off the boat instructors and they are lost. Awareness of intention is taught by many different establishments & organisation, including yoga, to me the irony of the awareness sought out, is the production of monochromatic sameness and un-enlightenment… and that goes for any religion, cult, sport or activity. I enjoy developing this product line from th inquisitive curiousity point of a novice & not from a preacher's, oops I mean teachers deep knowledge. I am glad that BKS Iyengar & guru what's his name, inspired a lot of people to go off to an ashram to bring back yoga to me. However, they didn't inspire me to start to take up a yoga practice, my inspiration was much more superficial, my superficial goals have been met & now far surpass my original intention. So I say bring it on but bring it on, with beautiful, mindful & thought provoking ways & let me know what inspires your yoga practice …
Hi.
I don't think what you wear makes any difference one way or another. I happen to practice Yoga every day at home on the carpet with no Yoga mat in whatever clothes I happen to have on at the time. But that doesn't make me more or less virtuous than the person who wears all the latest Yoga Gear and practices on the latest Yoga mat.
Whatever Yoga means to you, whether it's an exercise program or a deeply spiritual experience, I'm quite sure your clothes are irrelevant. Wear what you like. It doesn't make any difference. The value and meaning of any Yoga practice is always elsewhere.
Bob Weisenberg
http://YogaDemystified.com
Thanks Bob, as a recognised yoga authority, I think that could help this blogger somewhat & reinforces my long winded commentary.
The clothes, products, mats or even the yoga practice does not maketh the person. It's all about the intentions. Tools that help fulfil positive intentions shouldn't be frowned upon or dismissed as insignificant.
Doreen Hing,
http://www.plankdesigns.com
I couldn't agree more, Bob! (Thanks for your comment!) But I still love yoga clothes.. just need to check myself and not get too caught up in things that don't matter. 🙂
Agree completely with Bob that the clothes do not make the yogi… but, I hate when my yoga pants don't fit well, I hate stepping on the bottom of them and having a shirt that rides up at the bottom or widens at the top during down dog seriously shakes up my practice. Don't even get me started with how a twisted tank wrecks my bliss in revolved trikonasana (;-) )..
I'm a yoga clothes addict too, but that's primarily b/c it is the focus of most of my time and so i might as well be wearing what feels good. After all TKV Desikachar says you come to the mat with what you are and why not be comfortable in your own skin and that which you put on it.
Loving the blog E!
Has your question been answered SY, I still hear uncomforatbleness & justification in both yours & Nancy's comments for being yoga clothes addicts. From the sounds of things yoga is your life & business, so if you need attire for it then so be it, same as if you work in an office, you need office clothes.
My uncomfortableness with this topic, is that it is a topic. Why does Yoga's humbleness trump all other establishments rules & doctrines about a less materialistic life, so that those of in the design world, almost feel guilty about designing products that have beauty, value, uplift & enhance lives & quite frankly & most importantly help to introduce new perspectives & are instrumental in moving communities and societies forward. I love that the design community pushes boundaries for all industries, whether it be yoga gear, fashion, the iPhone or the internet…
I think more than anything, having a yoga practice has enabled me to see that I don't need excuses to defend my yoga accessories or attire…