Ethical With Ease – How to dress head to mat in yoga gear that does good!

There’s no denying that sports luxe is in. The aesthetics of yoga is unavoidable nowadays with pretzel-shaped yogis all over our social pages, and everyone trading in their skinny jeans for yoga tights.

I remember feeling a sense of pride when I purchased my first Lululemon mat to take with me to yoga teacher training. I absolutely loved it. Before I even had a chance to practice on my gorgeous new mat our teachers handed us a permanent marker and asked us to draw alignment marks ALL over our mats. I quickly had to learn that attaching to material items only causes misery.

Post teacher training, and since taking an overall haul of the products I consume, I’ve come to find that the purchases we make as yogis is quite a big responsibility. There are some very serious human and environmental consequences that go into every inch of our yoga gear’s fabric. From being produced in sweatshops, being unkind to animals, or having huge carbon footprints – there’s a lot of bad karma to take into your practice!

It is important that when we show up to our mat, the clothing and gear we wear are not in contradiction to our intentions and the values of yoga. To make sure we adhere to our Yamas (universal morality) we need to make sure we are not sacrificing substance for style.

Here’s our pick for dressing head to mat in ethical, practical and awesome yoga gear.

Dharma Bums

There is no need to sacrifice being the trendiest yogi in the studio with these funky leggings. Dharma Bums are here to offer true, sustainable style. Dharma Bums manage to maintain high-quality, on-trend and purposeful yoga gear that will really enhance your practice.

Their mission is to "provide you with yoga and active wear clothing to keep you comfortable, active and looking good whatever your Dharma, whilst ensuring we respect, honour and do not hinder the Dharma of others in this process.”

This is something we can definitely get behind! As a way to ensure they “Do No Harm” their products are all sourced locally and they pride themselves on a clean supply chain.

They’re a little on the expensive side, but that is the price you pay for locally sourced garments made with love. If you’re like me and struggle to find occasions where yoga pants aren’t appropriate, these are your perfect studio to street leggings. Next time you want to splash out on yoga tights – Dharma Bums is your go-to.

Yogeeks Apparel

I had never worn a slogan t-shirt before I started my yoga practice. Now I love finding new witty and moving phrases I can wear proud on my heart. Yogeeks Apparel have beautifully designed tanks that are 100% sweat shop free, vegan and eco-friendly.

Their products are affordable and they also have great package deals, so if you're in the market for some new tanks to go with your leggings or even your jeans, check them out.

And we can't support their slogan enough - “Compassion is always in Fashion”..YES!

Mukti Mats

Mukti Mats believe that each practice is an opportunity to deepen our connection to the Earth. Personally I love to practice outdoors as much as possible, and their Grounded Mat is gorgeous, lightweight and has an earthy design that I am proud to carry around.

Mukti Mats are completely sweatshop free and made from biodegradable, non-Amazon harvested, natural tree rubber, jute and cotton - they're the most natural mats for yoga you can get.

Also, if you’re a travelling yogi, Mukti Mats are able to adapt to all climates. Their slip-free, sturdy mats are made to ensure you can practice anywhere.