A brief story composed with the help of books, web articles and discussions that focuses on the physiological changes caused by the shift in material use after the commercialisation of the yoga mat.
Disclaimer: This article has no intention whatsoever to imply or suggest anything against the contemporary yoga mat industry and its products. Equally, we are not looking at barefoot running as a better or healthier alternative to using running shoes, or raising any argument against the shoe industry as a whole. We simply try to investigate how the implementation of equipment is able up to a certain extent, affect the human body mechanics and our interaction with our bodies. Still lots of investigation and experimentation needs to be done in all concerned areas in order to come across solid results.
In ancient times, Yoga was practiced in India on kusha grass, on hard earth without any cover, or on a rug of deer or tiger skin, as specified in the Bhagavadgita[1] and the Shvetashvatara [2] Upanishad as suitable for attaining enlightenment [Mallinson et al, p 59]. Due to the scarcity and cost of such rugs [Swenson], they are now rarely used even in India.
With yoga's introduction in the West, many practitioners used towels or cotton mats [3] on wooden floors [4], with some of them [5] even using these types of mats till nowadays. Around the time Angela Farmer and her father, Richard, became the innovators and first retailers of what we nowadays refer to as “sticky mats” the yogic community composed mostly by hippie westerners on road trips around India, used to practice anywhere around the country.
Disclaimer: This article has no intention whatsoever to imply or suggest anything against the contemporary yoga mat industry and its products. Equally, we are not looking at barefoot running as a better or healthier alternative to using running shoes, or raising any argument against the shoe industry as a whole. We simply try to investigate how the implementation of equipment is able up to a certain extent, affect the human body mechanics and our interaction with our bodies. Still lots of investigation and experimentation needs to be done in all concerned areas in order to come across solid results.
In ancient times, Yoga was practiced in India on kusha grass, on hard earth without any cover, or on a rug of deer or tiger skin, as specified in the Bhagavadgita[1] and the Shvetashvatara [2] Upanishad as suitable for attaining enlightenment [Mallinson et al, p 59]. Due to the scarcity and cost of such rugs [Swenson], they are now rarely used even in India.
With yoga's introduction in the West, many practitioners used towels or cotton mats [3] on wooden floors [4], with some of them [5] even using these types of mats till nowadays. Around the time Angela Farmer and her father, Richard, became the innovators and first retailers of what we nowadays refer to as “sticky mats” the yogic community composed mostly by hippie westerners on road trips around India, used to practice anywhere around the country.
Although we have figured out that cork floors are suitable for yogis, concrete floors were the most common choice back then with cotton mats not just being philosophically legit, abiding to the rules of ahimsa (i.e. “non-violence”) but also practically advantageous (they were absorbing all the sweat while easily drying out under the hot sun) and economically affordable too. David Williams pointed out that during the early 1970’s some people including himself, used even straw mats, manufactured normally for beaches. It wasn’t until his trips to Mysore, India, when the cotton rug was introduced to deal with all the sweat produced during the Ashtanga Practice along with some cushioning effects during the constant jump throughs between the Asanas. “Feet tended to skid on these surfaces, requiring strength just to stand still in a pose like Trikonasana” [Hall], later forcing them to modify existing carpets by cutting them down to the correct dimensions.
“Krishnamacharya himself, had a handmade carpet of soft material, about a third of an inch in thickness” although according to one of his late students, Ganesh Mohan, standing postures with feet spread, cause the carpet to stretch and feet sliding apart, pretty similar to what is happening on a contemporary sweaty mat. Having difficulties in balancing he simply proceeded to practice the postures on the plain floor [Mohan, p 25]. The sliding feet could impact the engagement of the Mula Bandha up to a certain extend; especially since this action is opposing the desired effect of creating lifting sensation beginning from the feet all the way upwards through the pelvic floor. To enable this phenomenon, a sweeping tendency on the feet and legs has to be established (i.e. that is drawing the legs close to each other) [Maehle, p 42], an action which is unfortunately not encouraged by the current yoga mat construction technology.
The PVC-based yoga mats massively produced nowadays have been consistently violating the ethical rules of yoga, while massively affecting the way yoga is being practiced as well; Colin Hall, kinesiologists in the university of Virginia, USA, has already pointed out how much the material shift through massive yoga mat production came along with a shift in focus from strength building to stretch development.
“Krishnamacharya himself, had a handmade carpet of soft material, about a third of an inch in thickness” although according to one of his late students, Ganesh Mohan, standing postures with feet spread, cause the carpet to stretch and feet sliding apart, pretty similar to what is happening on a contemporary sweaty mat. Having difficulties in balancing he simply proceeded to practice the postures on the plain floor [Mohan, p 25]. The sliding feet could impact the engagement of the Mula Bandha up to a certain extend; especially since this action is opposing the desired effect of creating lifting sensation beginning from the feet all the way upwards through the pelvic floor. To enable this phenomenon, a sweeping tendency on the feet and legs has to be established (i.e. that is drawing the legs close to each other) [Maehle, p 42], an action which is unfortunately not encouraged by the current yoga mat construction technology.
The PVC-based yoga mats massively produced nowadays have been consistently violating the ethical rules of yoga, while massively affecting the way yoga is being practiced as well; Colin Hall, kinesiologists in the university of Virginia, USA, has already pointed out how much the material shift through massive yoga mat production came along with a shift in focus from strength building to stretch development.
A similar shift in the human physiological characteristics is also noticeable in another activity that, just like yoga, has been taking place on this planet since the dawn of humanity, i.e. running. The development of the running shoe has been proven to cause a massive change in the overall technique of the runner, allowing us to non-mindfully “hit” (or bump) the foot forcefully on the ground taking “advantage” of the shoe’s cushioning technology. The results are similar when bringing into our investigative eye the primitive cultures of our planet [McDougall]. The aforementioned action is naturally shortening the hamstrings and up to a certain degree causes inflammation at the ligaments and tendons of the knee (“runner’s knee”). Barefoot running is naturally forcing us to use the metatarsals and the toes to transfer our weight forward, living the heels of the feet intact .
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Sources:
01. Mallinson, J. Singleton, M. (2017) “Roots of Yoga”, Penguin Books.
02. Swenson, D. (1999). “Ashtanga Yoga - The Practice Manual”. Ashtanga Yoga Productions. 03. Maehle G. (2006). “Ashtanga Yoga Practice and Philosophy”, New World Library, Novato,
California.
04. Mohan, A. G. (2010), “Krishnamacharya: his Life and Teachings”, Shambhala
Publications Inc. Boston, MA.
05. McDougall, C. (2009). “Born to Run: The Hidden Tribe, the Ultra-Runners, and the Greatest
Race the World Has Ever Seen”, Vintage Books Editions, New York, NY.
06. Cler, Cameron. “Before Mats Were Modern”, Wanderlust. Retrieved 28 November 2019. 07. Hall, Colin. “Yoga Mats: Are They Really Necessary?”. Yoga International. Retrieved 28
November 2019.
08. Interview with David Williams and Danny Paradise on the 27th of November 2019
09. (web short doc) eu.liforme.com. Retrieved 28 November 2019 mostly for the environmental
concerns on the PVC based yoga mats that have conquered the world today.
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1. Bhagavadgita 6.11: In a clean place he should set up a firm seat for himself, neither too high nor too low, with a cloth, a deerskin and kusha grass on top.
2. Shvetashvatara Upanishad Chapter II “Seated in an easy posture, on a (deer or tiger) skin, placed on Kusha grass, worshipping Ganapati with fruits and sweetmeats, placing the right palm on the left, holding the throat and head in the same line, the lips closed and firm, facing the east or the north, the eyes fixed on the tip of the nose, avoiding too much food or fasting, the Nâdis should be purified, without which the practice will be fruitless”.3. According to Gregor Maehle [p 126], the presence and importance of the cotton cloth on top of a tiger or deer skin had to do with insulating the subtle yogic body (the energetical sphere) from the draining downward energy flow of the earth itself, resulting in the inversion of feet towards the sky in the meditation pose (i.e. Padmasana). It seems that cotton cloths had been around longer than we are estimating.
4. It is very easy to notice that in pictures with young David Williams practicing Ashtanga Yoga. Cler Cameron’s article on the history of yoga mats (see Source 03) is useful to look into the constrictions and hindrances that forced the change to take place gradually.
5. Including mostly the first generation of Ashtanga Yogis and Yoginis such as David Williams and Danny Paradise.
2. Shvetashvatara Upanishad Chapter II “Seated in an easy posture, on a (deer or tiger) skin, placed on Kusha grass, worshipping Ganapati with fruits and sweetmeats, placing the right palm on the left, holding the throat and head in the same line, the lips closed and firm, facing the east or the north, the eyes fixed on the tip of the nose, avoiding too much food or fasting, the Nâdis should be purified, without which the practice will be fruitless”.3. According to Gregor Maehle [p 126], the presence and importance of the cotton cloth on top of a tiger or deer skin had to do with insulating the subtle yogic body (the energetical sphere) from the draining downward energy flow of the earth itself, resulting in the inversion of feet towards the sky in the meditation pose (i.e. Padmasana). It seems that cotton cloths had been around longer than we are estimating.
4. It is very easy to notice that in pictures with young David Williams practicing Ashtanga Yoga. Cler Cameron’s article on the history of yoga mats (see Source 03) is useful to look into the constrictions and hindrances that forced the change to take place gradually.
5. Including mostly the first generation of Ashtanga Yogis and Yoginis such as David Williams and Danny Paradise.
Sources:
01. Mallinson, J. Singleton, M. (2017) “Roots of Yoga”, Penguin Books.
02. Swenson, D. (1999). “Ashtanga Yoga - The Practice Manual”. Ashtanga Yoga Productions. 03. Maehle G. (2006). “Ashtanga Yoga Practice and Philosophy”, New World Library, Novato,
California.
04. Mohan, A. G. (2010), “Krishnamacharya: his Life and Teachings”, Shambhala
Publications Inc. Boston, MA.
05. McDougall, C. (2009). “Born to Run: The Hidden Tribe, the Ultra-Runners, and the Greatest
Race the World Has Ever Seen”, Vintage Books Editions, New York, NY.
06. Cler, Cameron. “Before Mats Were Modern”, Wanderlust. Retrieved 28 November 2019. 07. Hall, Colin. “Yoga Mats: Are They Really Necessary?”. Yoga International. Retrieved 28
November 2019.
08. Interview with David Williams and Danny Paradise on the 27th of November 2019
09. (web short doc) eu.liforme.com. Retrieved 28 November 2019 mostly for the environmental
concerns on the PVC based yoga mats that have conquered the world today.
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