Showing posts with label Yoga General Interest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yoga General Interest. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
A brief history of the humble Yoga Mat
While working on another blog post here at DownDog Boutique I became interested to learn about the origins of the Yoga Mat that many of us practice on.
After a little digging around I came across this post by Steve
at the http://theconfluencecountdown.com it seems to cover the topic nicely and briefly therefore no need to reinvent the wheel (or that mat) so here is the story:
Famously, ancient yogis practiced on tiger skins, if they were highfalutin, or deer skins, if they were closer to the 99% than the 1%. If you were near the bottom of the 99%, chances are you practiced on bare ground.
As yoga — speaking in terms of asana, now — got popular, newer practitioners began bringing along towels or cotton mats. As we all know, just putting a towel down on a wood floor is a recipe for yogic disaster.
Enter Angela Farmer. She seems to be credited with being the first person to grab a piece of “carpet underlay” — you know, that multi-colored squishy material — and cut it down to size. She did so when teaching in Germany in 1982, and when she returned home to England, the idea caught on in her local yoga scene. Her father then worked with the German manufacturer, and voila! The first yoga sticky mat (apparently in white) was born.
Hugger Mugger gets the nod for being the first mass producer or yoga mats, sometime in the early 1990s. In other words, 30 years ago.
But back to the rug. According to Nancy, you shouldn’t be taking time out in the middle of your practice to roll it out, or squirt it with water or anything else that draws away your focus and your breath. And being able to stay balanced on the rug is the point, and will help you build strength.
Check out a full range of Yoga Mats at www.downdogboutique.com
After a little digging around I came across this post by Steve
at the http://theconfluencecountdown.com it seems to cover the topic nicely and briefly therefore no need to reinvent the wheel (or that mat) so here is the story:
Famously, ancient yogis practiced on tiger skins, if they were highfalutin, or deer skins, if they were closer to the 99% than the 1%. If you were near the bottom of the 99%, chances are you practiced on bare ground.
As yoga — speaking in terms of asana, now — got popular, newer practitioners began bringing along towels or cotton mats. As we all know, just putting a towel down on a wood floor is a recipe for yogic disaster.
Enter Angela Farmer. She seems to be credited with being the first person to grab a piece of “carpet underlay” — you know, that multi-colored squishy material — and cut it down to size. She did so when teaching in Germany in 1982, and when she returned home to England, the idea caught on in her local yoga scene. Her father then worked with the German manufacturer, and voila! The first yoga sticky mat (apparently in white) was born.
Hugger Mugger gets the nod for being the first mass producer or yoga mats, sometime in the early 1990s. In other words, 30 years ago.
But back to the rug. According to Nancy, you shouldn’t be taking time out in the middle of your practice to roll it out, or squirt it with water or anything else that draws away your focus and your breath. And being able to stay balanced on the rug is the point, and will help you build strength.
Check out a full range of Yoga Mats at www.downdogboutique.com
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Joseph Pilates
I recently was followed on Pinterest by the Joseph Pilates Pinterest page from New York and discovered some great vintage photo's of Joseph and his methods (which I of course immediately pinned to our
Vintage Yoga Pinterest board.)
I had read a little about the great man and his work but this prompted me to look up his biography and reprint it here with some of the great photo's. Bio is courtesy of Wikipedia.
Joseph H. Pilates was born in 1883 in Mönchengladbach, Germany. His father was a prize-winning gymnast of Greek ancestry, and his mother worked as a naturopath. His father's family originally spelled its surname in the Greek manner as "Pilatu" but changed to "Pilates" upon immigration to Germany.[citation needed] The new spelling caused Joseph Pilates much grief as a child because older boys taunted him calling him "Pontius Pilate, killer of Christ".
Pilates was a sickly child and suffered from asthma, rickets, and rheumatic fever, and he dedicated his entire life to improving his physical strength. Besides skiing frequently, he began studying body-building, yoga, "kung fu" (probably what is now known as qigong), and gymnastics. By the age of 14, he was fit enough to pose for anatomical charts. Pilates came to believe that the "modern" life-style, bad posture, and inefficient breathing lay at the roots of poor health. He ultimately devised a series of exercises and training-techniques and engineered all the equipment, specifications, and tuning required to teach his methods properly.
Pilates was originally a gymnast, diver, and bodybuilder, but when he moved to England in 1912, he earned a living as a professional boxer, circus-performer, and self-defensetrainer at police schools and Scotland Yard. Nevertheless, the British authorities interned him during World War I along with other German citizens in an internment camp, first inLancaster Castle where he taught wrestling and self-defence, boasting that his students would emerge stronger than they were before their internment. It was here that he began refining and teaching his minimal equipment system of mat exercises that later became "Contrology". He was then transferred to another internment camp on the Isle of Man. During this involuntary break, he began to intensively develop his concept of an integrated, comprehensive system of physical exercise, which he himself called "Contrology." He studied yoga and the movements of animals and trained his fellow inmates in fitness and exercises. It is said that these inmates survived the 1918 flu pandemic due to their good physical shape.
After the war (WWI), he returned to Germany and collaborated with important experts in dance and physical exercise such as Rudolf Laban. In Hamburg, he also trained police officers. When he was pressured to train members of the German army, he left his native country, disappointed with its political and social conditions, and emigrated to the United States.
The year 1925 is the approximate time when Pilates migrated to the United States. On the ship to America, he met his future wife Clara. The couple founded a studio in New York City and directly taught and supervised their students well into the 1960s. His method, which he and Clara originally called "Contrology," related to encouraging the use of the mind to control muscles. It focuses attention on core postural muscles that help keep the human body balanced and provide support for the spine. In particular, Pilates exercises teach awareness of breath and of alignment of the spine, and strengthen the deep torso and abdominal muscles.
Joseph and Clara Pilates soon established a devout following in the local dance and the performing-arts community of New York. Well-known dancers such as George Balanchine, who arrived in the United States in 1933, and Martha Graham, who had come to New York in 1923, became devotees and regularly sent their students to the Pilates for training and rehabilitation.
Joseph Pilates wrote several books, including Return to Life through Contrology and Your Health, and he was also a prolific inventor, with over 26 patents cited.[4] Joe and Clara had a number of disciples who continued to teach variations of his method or, in some cases, focused exclusively on preserving the method, and the instructor-training techniques, they had learned during their studies with Joe and Clara.
Joseph Pilates died in 1967 at the age of 83 in New York.
Vintage Yoga Pinterest board.)
I had read a little about the great man and his work but this prompted me to look up his biography and reprint it here with some of the great photo's. Bio is courtesy of Wikipedia.
Pictured above is Pilates in 1937 at age 57
Joseph H. Pilates was born in 1883 in Mönchengladbach, Germany. His father was a prize-winning gymnast of Greek ancestry, and his mother worked as a naturopath. His father's family originally spelled its surname in the Greek manner as "Pilatu" but changed to "Pilates" upon immigration to Germany.[citation needed] The new spelling caused Joseph Pilates much grief as a child because older boys taunted him calling him "Pontius Pilate, killer of Christ".
Pilates was a sickly child and suffered from asthma, rickets, and rheumatic fever, and he dedicated his entire life to improving his physical strength. Besides skiing frequently, he began studying body-building, yoga, "kung fu" (probably what is now known as qigong), and gymnastics. By the age of 14, he was fit enough to pose for anatomical charts. Pilates came to believe that the "modern" life-style, bad posture, and inefficient breathing lay at the roots of poor health. He ultimately devised a series of exercises and training-techniques and engineered all the equipment, specifications, and tuning required to teach his methods properly.
Pilates was originally a gymnast, diver, and bodybuilder, but when he moved to England in 1912, he earned a living as a professional boxer, circus-performer, and self-defensetrainer at police schools and Scotland Yard. Nevertheless, the British authorities interned him during World War I along with other German citizens in an internment camp, first inLancaster Castle where he taught wrestling and self-defence, boasting that his students would emerge stronger than they were before their internment. It was here that he began refining and teaching his minimal equipment system of mat exercises that later became "Contrology". He was then transferred to another internment camp on the Isle of Man. During this involuntary break, he began to intensively develop his concept of an integrated, comprehensive system of physical exercise, which he himself called "Contrology." He studied yoga and the movements of animals and trained his fellow inmates in fitness and exercises. It is said that these inmates survived the 1918 flu pandemic due to their good physical shape.
After the war (WWI), he returned to Germany and collaborated with important experts in dance and physical exercise such as Rudolf Laban. In Hamburg, he also trained police officers. When he was pressured to train members of the German army, he left his native country, disappointed with its political and social conditions, and emigrated to the United States.
Pilates Own Studio
The year 1925 is the approximate time when Pilates migrated to the United States. On the ship to America, he met his future wife Clara. The couple founded a studio in New York City and directly taught and supervised their students well into the 1960s. His method, which he and Clara originally called "Contrology," related to encouraging the use of the mind to control muscles. It focuses attention on core postural muscles that help keep the human body balanced and provide support for the spine. In particular, Pilates exercises teach awareness of breath and of alignment of the spine, and strengthen the deep torso and abdominal muscles.
Joseph and Clara Pilates soon established a devout following in the local dance and the performing-arts community of New York. Well-known dancers such as George Balanchine, who arrived in the United States in 1933, and Martha Graham, who had come to New York in 1923, became devotees and regularly sent their students to the Pilates for training and rehabilitation.
Joseph Pilates with Opera Singer Roberta Peters 1951
Joseph Pilates wrote several books, including Return to Life through Contrology and Your Health, and he was also a prolific inventor, with over 26 patents cited.[4] Joe and Clara had a number of disciples who continued to teach variations of his method or, in some cases, focused exclusively on preserving the method, and the instructor-training techniques, they had learned during their studies with Joe and Clara.
Joseph Pilates died in 1967 at the age of 83 in New York.
To see more great Vintage Photo's see our Vintage Yoga Pinterest board here: Vintage Yoga
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Yoga Clothes
DownDog Boutique.com was founded in 2012 to provide an online outlet for smaller and unique Yoga Clothes manufacturers to offer an alternative to the mass produced Yoga Clothes of the giant corporations like Lululemon and Lucy.
At www.downdogboutique.com you can now find over 30 brands of Women's and Men's Yoga Clothes each with their own showcase. Many offer Organic Yoga Clothing and are often made in the USA by small workshops or individuals.
In addition to brand showcases our Yoga Clothes are grouped together to make certain types of Yoga clothing easier to find:
All Women's Yoga Tops
All Women's Yoga Pants
All Women's Yoga Dresses
All Women's Yoga Hoodies and Jackets
All Men's Yoga Shirts
All Men's Yoga Pants
At www.downdogboutique.com you can now find over 30 brands of Women's and Men's Yoga Clothes each with their own showcase. Many offer Organic Yoga Clothing and are often made in the USA by small workshops or individuals.
In addition to brand showcases our Yoga Clothes are grouped together to make certain types of Yoga clothing easier to find:
All Women's Yoga Tops
All Women's Yoga Pants
All Women's Yoga Dresses
All Women's Yoga Hoodies and Jackets
All Men's Yoga Shirts
All Men's Yoga Pants
Here are direct links to some of our most popular Yoga brands:
Women’s Yoga Clothing
Men’s Yoga Clothing
Chakras by Didi Men’s BelaBela by Bela Roogta Men’s Champion Sports Jala Clothing Men's
Eagle Warrior Mens Anjali Mens Minawear Mens
Eagle Warrior Mens Anjali Mens Minawear Mens
We welcome any comments questions or feedback
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Bamboo Yoga Clothing: Green or Green washed?
Bamboo Yoga Clothing: Green or Green washed?
We have had quite a bit of
feedback in recent weeks to our creation of an Organic Yoga Clothing category
on our website www.DownDogBoutique.com
Some of the feedback
addresses the questions about how environmentally friendly Organic Yoga
clothing really is. We decided to carry out some research on the subject and
put together a couple of blog posts with our findings.
Yoga Clothing can mainly
be broken down in to four types of fabrics. Almost all require some form of
stretchy material to be blended in such as Spandex or other synthetics. Spandex
is made basically from petroleum as are nearly all stretchy clothing
substances. There may be some Organic versions on the horizon in the near
future but for now all stretchy Yoga clothes including Organic ones include
some form of synthetics. Most Organic Yoga clothes limit the amount of
synthetic materials to no more than 10% of the overall content.
So the four types are:
- Non-Organic Cotton
- Organic Cotton
- Bamboo (All of which seems to be Organic in
the Yoga market at least)
- Synthetic
To make the subject more
manageable and not to make the blog posts too long we will tackle each type in
a different post. This first post will look at Bamboo as that is the one that
is generally being accused of being “Green washed”.
Green washing for anyone
not familiar with the term means that companies are taking a product that is
not really environmentally friendly and claiming it is for the purposes of
marketing that product as “Green”.
The case against bamboo
clothing is pretty simple. No one really disputes that bamboo is one of the
fastest growing plants on the planet, uses very little chemicals and
fertilizers to make it grow and uses a fraction of the water compared to all
forms of cotton.
This Wikipedia page
summarizes the benefits of bamboo as a crop for fabric production very well: wikipedia
The case against bamboo is
based on the production of turning that Bamboo into fabric.
There are two ways to do this.
One is mechanical where they pulp and
squeeze the bamboo with no chemicals. This
is fairly easy on the environment but produces quite rough fabric that people,
and in particular people planning to exercise in the clothing, tend to find
uncomfortable.
The second and more common
method involves the use of Sodium Hydroxide also known as caustic soda to break
down the pulp and help turn in it to the soft cashmere like fabric that is
favored by most designers and wearers of bamboo clothing.
I have to say that having
read many of the blogs and “news stories” that claim that bamboo production
using this method is being green washed I really see little or no evidence for
this view being produced. The claim is made that caustic soda is bad for the
environment. This is clearly true, however what really matters is not what
“could” happen to any chemical but what actually does happen. Let’s try and
clear up some facts.
- Bamboo fabric is pretty much all made in
- There
are few companies that convert bamboo to fabric and even fewer that then
make the fabric into Yoga clothes.
- Sodium Hydroxide (Caustic soda) is a nasty
substance if left untreated. Besides clothing though, it is used in the
production of paper in the food industry and in the home as a cleaner. Treated properly it is relatively
harmless.
It would seem therefore,
that if the treatment of the waste products that are used to produce the bamboo
fabric are handled properly then bamboo is probably the greenest of all the
materials used to manufacture Yoga clothing.
I asked our partner
(Organic) manufacturers that we represent in our boutique to comment on what
kind of systems are in use for the production of the fabric and the handling of
the chemicals.
Here is what Cristofer
Smith the owner of Green Apple Organics had to say: “After 22 years of manufacturing textiles and garments for
athletes, we own our own operation. We do our own knitting all the way through
to what you receive. Then our patent process uses the Viscose method- an
encapsulated method where nothing escapes from the drum except to be recycled
or used again. Most evaporates so there is little left over if any.”
Bonnie Siefers, the owner of Jonano Organic Clothing, provided us with
access to a statement by the Chinese manufacturer of Organic Bamboo fabric used
mainly in their clothing. The fabric manufacturer, clearly responding to the Green
wash criticism, issued a very detailed statement citing many third party
verifications of its fabrics and processes. A lot of it is quite technical but
here is the most relevant section to the core questions:
“One of the most important
parts of the process is all recyclable. We process in a hermetic container
where 100% of the chemicals that are used are trapped and contained - not
released into our factory, environment or atmosphere. 73% of CS2’s are
recycled, 26% are recycled into H2SO4. So those chemicals do not pollute any
part of the environment.
Each step of the process is
watched for many reasons: Company policy, brand commitment, and China
We do not claim the entire
process is “green”, but we do strive to be as eco-friendly as possible and are
accountable for our process and recycling of these chemicals. Tanboocel bamboo
fiber also has passed OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 which is another leader when it
comes to testing for harmful substances. We have passed these OEKO TEX
STANDARDS 3 years in a row. The bamboo we use and process is certified by
(OCIA) Organic Crops Improvement Association International which is certifies
our bamboo is organic bamboo under “wild crops” and certified organic under
“organic farms”. Our vision and commitment has always been to be as
eco-friendly as possible and has not changed in any part of our processing from
start to finish.”
In conclusion, after
having weighed up the issue we believe that at the very least the manufacturers
offering Organic Bamboo clothing in our boutique (www.downdogboutique.com) do meet the
criteria for labeling their products “green” or environmentally friendly.
Clearly bamboo is a much better raw material and we believe that every effort
is being made to process the bamboo into fabric in what are called “closed
loop” systems where little or no harmful byproducts escape.
We will be examining what
goes into the other three types of fabrics used in Yoga clothing manufacture
and will devote a similar blog post to each type, however for now we believe
that bamboo is the greenest of the options currently available.
We welcome feedback and
opinions. If anyone has any actual
evidence that bamboo fabric production is causing harm to the environment
rather than it “could” cause harm we would be happy to review it.
Namaste,
DownDog Boutique
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Sunday, December 2, 2012
Britain's oldest supermodel Daphne Self
On November 20th 2012 Jenice Gaddis one of our Brand Ambassadors posted this picture of Daphne Selfe simply because she was inspired by the image and how elegantly beautiful Daphne looked in her pose.
Here is what Jenice said:
"This beautiful 83 year old woman is my inspiration. She proves that yoga is ageless, it is our Youth Serum, its strenth, its power, its beauty incarnate. ~JG"
I did some extra digging to find out more about Daphne who is indeed 83 and still working as a model and living in England.
I found a couple of newspaper articles from the UK which give a deal of her life story. Daphne describes herself as "Britains oldest Supermodel"
Here is the first story from London's Daily Mail:
Daily Mail
The second story is from three years ago but gives more information so is worth a read:
The Independent
To sign up for our weekly newsletter and get more stories like Daphne's sign up here:
Newsletter
www.downdogboutique.com
DownDog Boutique is an online boutique of Yoga Clothes, Jewelry, Mats & More run by Yoga lovers who enjoy sharing stories and all things Yoga.
 |
Here is what Jenice said:
"This beautiful 83 year old woman is my inspiration. She proves that yoga is ageless, it is our Youth Serum, its strenth, its power, its beauty incarnate. ~JG"
I did some extra digging to find out more about Daphne who is indeed 83 and still working as a model and living in England.
I found a couple of newspaper articles from the UK which give a deal of her life story. Daphne describes herself as "Britains oldest Supermodel"
Here is the first story from London's Daily Mail:Daily Mail
The second story is from three years ago but gives more information so is worth a read:
The Independent
To sign up for our weekly newsletter and get more stories like Daphne's sign up here:
Newsletter
www.downdogboutique.com
DownDog Boutique is an online boutique of Yoga Clothes, Jewelry, Mats & More run by Yoga lovers who enjoy sharing stories and all things Yoga.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Do plus size women want Yoga Clothes?
It is a pretty simple question: Do plus size women want Yoga Clothes? (I am quite sure that size 14 model Lizzie Miller shown here would look just fine in hers.)
The answers as always are a little more complex than you might think.
We have been looking at each of our Yoga manufacturers as they bring us their collections and most appear to stop at Large size or in a few cases Extra Large. Plus size appears to be defined as size 14 and above.
We have asked a few of the manufacturers why no plus sizes? The answer appears to come down to a few main issues:
1. The manufacturers think that making plus sizes may represent a risk. Retailers who will buy the clothing hopefully in volume are risk averse by nature and usually want to do what has worked before. Plus size Yoga clothing is fairly unusual so has little track record of sales. Catch 22.
2. The way clothing is made requires careful control of waste and materials. Quality Yoga clothes in particular use expensive "stretchy" cloth. Sizes are ganged together to maximize yield so small sizes are cut with large etc. When you get to plus sizes you use more of the expensive material so the pricing needs to be higher at both wholesale and retail. Will plus size consumers pay more for the larger sizes or will they feel ripped off?
3. Will larger people who are exercising (Yoga clothing denotes some form of exercise) pay a high price for an item of clothing when they may well lose weight doing the exercise? Are they more likely to buy cheaper plus sized sweat pants (we discovered during research for this post that Champion one of our suppliers carries plus size sweat pants so we plan on adding them to our site soon)
We got into detailed discussion with one particular manufacturer who makes Yoga Clothes in the USA. As he doesn't need to bring over container loads of inventory from China he may be willing to create a plus sized Yoga line if the market is there and he can sell at least reasonable volume.
So we have set out to answer the simple question: Will plus sized women buy Yoga Clothes?
Please give us feedback at our website or on Facebook where we plan to post this story too, if you are sized 14 or above and have an opinion.
http://downdogboutique.com/contact.htm
The answers as always are a little more complex than you might think.
We have been looking at each of our Yoga manufacturers as they bring us their collections and most appear to stop at Large size or in a few cases Extra Large. Plus size appears to be defined as size 14 and above.
We have asked a few of the manufacturers why no plus sizes? The answer appears to come down to a few main issues:
1. The manufacturers think that making plus sizes may represent a risk. Retailers who will buy the clothing hopefully in volume are risk averse by nature and usually want to do what has worked before. Plus size Yoga clothing is fairly unusual so has little track record of sales. Catch 22.
2. The way clothing is made requires careful control of waste and materials. Quality Yoga clothes in particular use expensive "stretchy" cloth. Sizes are ganged together to maximize yield so small sizes are cut with large etc. When you get to plus sizes you use more of the expensive material so the pricing needs to be higher at both wholesale and retail. Will plus size consumers pay more for the larger sizes or will they feel ripped off?
3. Will larger people who are exercising (Yoga clothing denotes some form of exercise) pay a high price for an item of clothing when they may well lose weight doing the exercise? Are they more likely to buy cheaper plus sized sweat pants (we discovered during research for this post that Champion one of our suppliers carries plus size sweat pants so we plan on adding them to our site soon)
We got into detailed discussion with one particular manufacturer who makes Yoga Clothes in the USA. As he doesn't need to bring over container loads of inventory from China he may be willing to create a plus sized Yoga line if the market is there and he can sell at least reasonable volume.
So we have set out to answer the simple question: Will plus sized women buy Yoga Clothes?
Please give us feedback at our website or on Facebook where we plan to post this story too, if you are sized 14 or above and have an opinion.
http://downdogboutique.com/contact.htm
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