Photo by Carl Barcelo on Unsplash

When it comes to health and wellbeing, Yoga takes a lot of beating.  It’s been around for over 5000 years and has seen off every fad exercise craze there is.  

What’s not to love about yoga? It can be practiced by people of any age and fitness level and has a list of benefits as long as your arm including: 

• Improved strength and muscle tone
• Improved flexibility
• Increased energy 
• Supports weight loss
• Protection and recovery from injury
• Improved sleep 
• Reduced anxiety and depression

So if you’re thinking of taking up yoga, you’ll be doing one of the very best things for your health.  The practice of yoga can also improve your performance in other sports and exercise.  

The good news is that you don’t need a lot of expensive equipment to practice yoga.   But if you are the kind of person that likes to have all the kit, read on: 

Yoga Mat 

Good yoga mats are essential to get the most out of your sessions. They provide a cushioned surface to make it a lot easier to get yourself into those poses, taking the pressure off your knees, back and hands.  

They also stop you getting dirty from anything that might be on the floor.  

Look for a well cushioned matt with a non slip backing.  You need to feel confident that it won’t slip out from under you, causing an injury. If you’re doing your classes at home, it will also protect your floor. 

If you’re attending classes, you’ll also want to look for a mat that comes with it’s own carry strap or bag.  If not, you can buy them separately.  

Yoga Block

You may have seen people use a rectangular foam block when doing yoga.  These foam blocks are great when you’re just starting out and aren’t particularly flexible.  They support your back and hips to settle into a strong pose, ensuring you get the maximum benefit from the stretch. 

Clothing

As you’ll be stretching and bending yourself into all sorts of positions, you’ll need to wear clothing that is comfortable and has a lot of stretch in it.  You don’t want to have to worry about splitting your clothes at the wrong time.  

Look for outfits that are not too tight, you don’t want things digging into your skin.  On the other hand, really baggy clothes won’t work either as all the extra material gets caught when moving from pose to pose.  You’ll also find yourself, staring down right down your own top when you do a move like a downward facing dog.  

So remember, keep it comfortable, stretchy and form fitting. 

Yoga Socks

Yoga is traditionally practiced in bare feet. Wearing trainers prevents you from being able to ground your feet properly during a pose and prevents you from aligning your body properly.  There might be a number of reasons you don’t want to go barefoot.  You might be at a yoga studio and don’t want to be walking around on a potentially dirty floor, you might have bad circulation or cold feet.  Or you might not like your feet.  Whatever the reason, a yoga sock is a great addition to your kit.  

There are a few different types you can buy,  some are like regular trainer socks with grips on the bottom but look for the type that have separate toes in them, so you are better able to feel your joints and the floor during your practice.