“Some practice Yoga, some indulge in pleasures; some live in spiritual wisdom, some live in meditation. Some are bearers of the staff.”- Atharva Veda
The perfect yoga clothes will make your whole exercise more enjoyable and comfortable, don’t miss out by wearing inferior clothing. Yoga is a sublime and deeply beneficial system of movements using the whole of your body’s muscle system in combination with breathing to achieve improved wellness, through various static and dynamic body poses. The natural question, is which clothing is best?
There are no certainties as to what type of Yoga Clothing is best – but science and individual preference should prevail and steer you in the right direction. You should wear something which provides superior comfort, and above all it should be stylish and increasingly offer eco-benefits and/or be ethically produced, so you will need to research your suppliers ethical policy and whether they have a recycling or green commitment.
You need as a minimum to wear something which does not restrict your body and allows you freedom of position for all parts of your torso, arms and legs, you are targetting a combination of elasticity with firmness. The fabric should be robust and have tensile strength , but not excessive tension that pulls your limbs back when you are really going for it! Shirts should be breathable and wickable, and ideally like bamboo they should be thermo regulating, to allow for variations in temperature whilst you are training, if you are too hot then you one cannot relax and breathe freely, too cold and you could suffer a muscle strain. As yoga involves natural gentle movements you are not going to need super high tensile strength or snapback properties nor will you require the protective fabrics worn by alpine skiers, so you can ditch synthetic fibres like nylon and polyester. Loose-fitting natural clothing may suit you if you are just a beginner of need to lose weight, they meet also allow for the correct breathing techniques. In addition if you have eczema or psoriasis you should avoid all synthetics, bamboo or merino are the best for sensitive skins.
Comfort is all in the eyes of the beholder! But I think we can agree that that merino, cashmere, silk and bamboo are feel very comfortable, of the four, bamboo is the most breathable and can be produced organically in some instances (but check your supplier, they should be certified by Oekotex in the case of bamboo), cashmere can be woven with organic cotton and this is a beautiful material for yoga but difficult to get hold of, merino is unfortunately too hot for all most indoor sessions, but if you are training outdoors or in cold temperatures it is fabulous, you can find merino yoga pants from www.hiddenisland.co.nz who can ship from New Zealand. Silk yoga tops are not popular in the west but very popular in the orient, I am not sure why but silk yoga tops and leggings are hard to find in the west! If you are not comfortable It can very well affect our experience due to discomfort and so it is a false economy to buy pants or tops where the fabric is not comfortable- so treat yourself!
If shopping for the right items is hard for you, I have done the research already for you, can find great items at the following stores:-
www.lululemon.com Attractive, well designed apparel for yoga, sometimes expensive!
www.biiofit.com Organic Bamboo, ethical retailer (UK based), breathable.
www.prana.com Mostly organic cotton with spandex, uses green energy.
Before you purchase clothing, please make certain you read Richard Win’s excellent treatise on yoga clothing and how to purchase organic clothing ideal for yoga.