Have you ever thought about eating your yoga pants? Sounds like a crazy question I know but there’s a good possibility that you might be eating your yoga pants without even realizing it. How is that possible you may ask. Well, it might be easier than you think. I know, I was surprised too! If you were eating your yoga pants you would know about it, right? Not necessarily.
Here’s the thing, it matters what kind of yoga pants you are wearing. Not the brand, but what your pants are made of. These days it’s pretty difficult to find a pair of yoga pants or any other yoga clothing, that is not made of synthetic fabric. So, how does that make me eat my yoga pants, you may wonder. Well, according to an article I read the other day [ https://articles.mercola.com/
The next question is if you are as mortified by this prospect as I am, how do you prevent ever eating your yoga clothing in the future? You could just stop eating fish. Many yogis adopt a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle anyway. That would solve the problem for you. But what about the other issues of having these tiny particles of plastic in our waterways? Aren’t we, as yogis, supposed to be mindfully caretaking all of the beings around us? Meaning, aren’t we supposed to take care of the water, the plants, the fish in the deep blue sea? In that case, changing our dietary habits would only take care of our own health but would not take care of the health of the fish, or the plants that the fish ate in the first place. It also wouldn’t take care of the precious water on our planet.
Hmmmm… So what is the solution to this conundrum? It is time to take a good hard look at the fashion industry. I am concerned about the negative impact the entire fashion industry has on our planet, but particularly I am concerned about the impact of yoga clothing. Why yoga clothing?. Because yoga is supposed to be a mindful practice that teaches us to take care of everyone and everything around us. Yoga has become such a big industry in the west. Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy that Yoga has become so popular. But, I think it is our responsibility to practice yoga off the mat as well as on the mat. That may mean looking at our clothing choices. If we are buying yoga clothing that is harming the environment, it is time we begin to demand something different. How can we practice our yoga asanas, chant all kinds of beautiful mantras, all the while wearing clothing that was made in sweatshops, with fabric that is harming the environment and polluting our waterways, colored with dye that is making the water undrinkable for many communities that are less fortunate than we are? That does not feel like yoga to me.
We all know by now that the best way to get the attention of big corporations is to refuse their products. When we begin to buy from smaller sources who are producing what we need in sustainable ways, eventually the big guys feel it in their pocketbook and they make a change.
So that is my challenge to you. The next time you are looking for new yoga clothing, not just pants, check out the labels, educate yourself about the fibers that you are buying and putting on your body. Not only will the water and the fish in the deep blue sea thank you, so will your body. You will be nurturing the planet and you at the same time. Trust me your body will thank you!
Namaste 🙏