Toxic Enlightenment

Ask yourself - if you do yoga to decrease stress, get exercise, have a healthier body and mind, or for spiritual growth (overall, doing good for yourself) then isn't it counter-intuitive to use toxic products in the process?

Most mainstream yoga mats are made with plastics, PVC, and other chemicals and toxins that you inevitably inhale when you are mid-chaturanga. Even some "eco" yoga mats are deceptively marketed as being environmentally friendly when they are made with TEP. Eco Yogini has a whole post on this topic, and it is a topic that distracts me in yoga class.

My yoga studio is pretty eco-friendly - they rent out mats, many of which are eco friendly, they sell and promote truly eco friendly mats, they provide water for students but you have to bring your own bottle because they don't provide disposable cups (this is GOOD). And generally speaking, Yoga is more than just your physical practice. Every experience, every moment you have every day is Yoga. It is about being mentally, physically, and spiritually healthier and more in tune with the earth and the natural processes of the universe. It only makes sense to incorporate those principles into the products you use for yoga.

As yoga becomes more mainstream (and, ack, trendy) there are inevitably more choices for yoga mats, whether standard, 'eco' friendly, or truly healthy and environmentally safe. The mat that I use is natural rubber. I bought it at Lucy (they don't sell it anymore, and their clothing isn't particularly green). However, the mat is *made* by Natural Fitness and they still sell the mat that I bought at Lucy, albeit without the cutsy Lucy logo. Not only that, they have several versions so you can pick your comfort level. Not only is my mat made of natural rubber (something that occurs in nature, on its own), but it is reasonable to clean, long lasting, TOUGH, pretty skid proof during those really sweaty classes, and biodegradeable. Yes, I said it - biodegradeable.

I can't express in words how happy it makes me to know that when/if I wear out my mat, it can either be recycled or responsibly disposed of so that it can completely return to the earth.

I'm not a vigilante (though maybe I should be, since being green is so easy) and I won't go after anyone who wants their trendy conventional mat with the cool gradient batik design painted on. But it would be irresponsible not to at least share what I know.

If we all put a little more thought into the things we do every day, the products we use, the things we say, the decisions we make, we could make a huge difference in what the future looks like.