Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose) is a staple in my morning yoga classes. Years ago, several of my students made up unflattering names for it—Cow Pie, Mad Cow, etc.—because it was so challenging for them. Now those same Cow Face naysayers have turned into Cow Face converts. Some of them even give up a bit of their Savasana (Relaxation Pose) to do it if I don’t offer it in class. The Cow Face arm position is another story, however. It can be quite a challenge, but with a yoga strap, anyone can reap the benefits.

Gomukhasana is quite complex. It’s classified as a hip-opening pose, as it stretches all the glutes—maximus, medius and minimus—as well as the piriformis and the tensor fasciae latae. My students—the ones who like it—find it very grounding, making it helpful a helpful pose toward the end of a practice. (Note that the photo that accompanies this blog shows only the arm position, not the leg position. You can find a description of the leg position in the above “Gomukhasana” link.)

Cow Face Pose Isn’t Just About the Hips

Cow Face Pose also opens the shoulders. The classic arm position features one elbow pointing upward and the other hand wedged behind your shoulder blades. Said to look like one raised and one lowered ear on a cow’s head, it creates a strong triceps stretch in the upper arm and a strong biceps and deltoid stretch in the lower one.

While the leg and arm positions are traditionally practiced together, they can also be beneficial on their own if you’re interested in putting more attention into either your hips or shoulders.

Why Use a Yoga Strap?

Today’s blog will focus on the shoulders. The traditional position calls for connecting the hands of your upper and lower arms in the upper back. But many people’s shoulders just won’t allow this. There are many possible reasons for this, including the construction of the shoulder joints. Some people’s shoulders are formed for stability. They may not be able to reach their elbow straight up toward the sky because their humerus bones will “hit” the back of the scapula before the arm gets to vertical. This particular shoulder configuration is not a sign that you’re a “deficient” yogi! It is well within what’s considered to be normal range of motion.

Others will find that when their dominant arm is the lower one, that their hands can’t touch, even though they may connect when the dominant arm is the upper one. This may be due to increased strength and stability in the dominant arm’s biceps and deltoids, although there could be other reasons.

In any case, a yoga strap can help. It can bridge the gap between your hands, creating a connection. Connecting the hands is important for energizing the arms in Gomukhasana. Whether you connect the fingers or use a yoga strap to connect your hands, your Gomukhasana will be more dynamic if you can connect your hands.

How to Use a Yoga Strap in Gomukhasana

If your hands don’t connect in Gomukhasana, try this:

1. Extend your left arm out in front of you, turning your palm outward, internally rotating your shoulder. Swing your arm around behind your back. Bend your elbow and place the back of your hand on your low back. Now scoot your the back of your hand up your back any amount—anywhere from the lower ribcage to between the shoulder blades.
2. Hold a yoga strap in your right hand. Dangle it over your back. Turn your right palm to face inward, toward your head. Bend your elbow and find the yoga strap with your left hand. Walk your right and left hands toward each other. If you’d like to add some extra energy to your shoulder experience, “stretch” the strap, pulling upward with your right hand and downward with your left.
3. Stay for five to ten deep breaths. Let go and let your arms relax. Take five to ten deep breaths before practicing your other side.

If you’d like to see more uses for Yoga Straps, as well as how to use Hugger Mugger’s other premium props, please visit the Yoga Props Guide.

Round meditation cushions—zafus—are standard fare in most yoga and meditation spaces. For many people, these cushions do the job. They elevate the pelvis to make it easier to sit with a relaxed, straight spine. But for some, especially for those with hip joints that easily externally rotate, the contact point where your thighs hang off the edge of the cushion can get uncomfortable, especially in long sittings. That’s why Hugger Mugger designed the V-Shaped Meditation Cushion.

How do you know if you have hip joints that externally rotate easily? Sit cross-legged on a folded blanket (3-5 inches thick). Are your knees lower than your hip bones? If so, the V-Shaped Meditation Cushion is a good choice for you. If your knees are higher than your hip bones, the “legs” of the cushion won’t be able to support your legs and knees. Try a zafu or Zen cushion instead.

What Makes the V-Shaped Cushion So Comfortable?

• Adds height under your pelvis so that your spine can maintain its natural curves.
• The legs of the cushion give gentle, continuous support for your thighs.
• The zippered opening in the cushion allows you to customize the amount of organic buckwheat filling to your own sitting position.

The V-Shaped Cushions are covered in upholstery-grade fabrics in solid colors and prints. All are filled with organic buckwheat and include a convenient handle for transport. These cushions are handmade in our Salt Lake City-based manufacturing plant.

On a personal note, I bought my V-Shaped Meditation Cushion from Hugger Mugger in 1998 and have used it daily ever since. I’ve brought this along to many long meditation retreats and have always been very happy I did. These cushions are a great investment and will give you decades of comfort in your meditation practice.

Do you like to buy American? Truth be told, it’s not as easy as it once was. In the mid-20th century, manufacturing led the U.S. economy. In the past 50 years, companies have chosen to cut labor costs and move their facilities elsewhere. Fortunately, the current administration has begun the process of returning manufacturing jobs back to this country—800,000 jobs so far.

Manufacturing products in the U.S. not only provides American jobs: it’s also more sustainable for our environment. Foreign-made products have to travel a long way to get here. That travel starts with huge cargo ships that run on the cheapest diesel fuel available. These goods are then loaded onto heavy-polluting trucks and trains. All this adds up to a pretty major carbon footprint.

Where Do Your Yoga Props Come From?

The yoga industry is not a lot different from the rest of the manufacturing sector in this respect. Many of the yoga products we use every day come from halfway around the world. In many cases, this is necessary. For example, there are certain yoga products—especially those made with rubber and cork—that are easier to manufacture in places that are close to where the raw materials are harvested. There are other products too, including some types of yoga mats, that are just not available here in the U.S.

But there are plenty of yoga props that companies can easily make right here. At Hugger Mugger, we employ a full-time staff of dedicated professionals. These experts form the linchpin of our high-quality products. Making these products here, at our Salt Lake City-based facility, gives us the ability to ensure quality through every step of the process. In addition, we partner with U.S. companies that specialize in products we don’t make here on site.

Our American-Made Yoga Products

Here’s a list of products we make here at Hugger Mugger:

• Yoga Bolsters
• Yoga Clothing: Yogatards and Hugger Mugger Shorts
• Eye Pillows and Neck Pillows
• Meditation Cushions
• Yoga Sandbags

Here are a few more American-made yoga products manufactured by our partners:

• Wood Yoga Blocks
• Tapas Mats: Original and Ultra Mats
• PureMat Gear Wash

For a full list of our USA-made products visit this link.

In India, where Yoga began, squatting is a go-to pose for many of life’s daily tasks. Before there were chairs, counters and tables, women squatted on the ground to prepare and cook meals. Some still do. Malasana (Squatting Pose) supports apana, the downward-flowing energy that governs elimination. Apana energy grounds agitation, making Malasana a great counterpose for stress. Malasana also relieves constipation. In addition, it stretches the ankles, groins and lower legs, and tones the abdomen and pelvic floor.

Some people don’t enjoy Malasana because their heels don’t reach the floor, making the pose feel unstable. This is because every person’s skeletal structure is different. Most of the time placing your heels on the ground in Malasana has little to do with soft tissue flexibility. It usually depends instead on the range of motion in your ankle joints. If your ankle joints don’t naturally flex much past 90 degrees—which is well within the parameters of normal range of motion—elevating them on a Foam or Cork Yoga Wedge will allow you to ground your heels and feel more stable.

To find out more about Malasana’s origins, benefits and practice, read this post.

How to Practice Malasana

1. Gather your props: a Yoga Mat and Yoga Wedge.
2. Start by squatting on a Yoga Mat with your feet hips-width apart and parallel. Let your heels descend toward the floor. If they don’t reach, place a wedge under your heels so that they are evenly grounded.
3. Spread your heels, balls of your feet and your toes, grounding evenly across your feet.
4. Widen your legs so that your torso fits snugly in between your thighs.
5. Place your hands in Anjali Mudra (Prayer Position).
6. Take five to ten deep breaths to settle into the pose.
7. When you’re ready, you can leave the pose by straightening your legs into Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend). Take a few breaths here and then lift up into Tadasana (Mountain Pose).

For more ideas on how to use a Yoga Wedge, visit our Yoga Props Guide.

The yoga tradition has long encouraged respect for the world around us. This includes humans, other animals, plants and natural resources in general. The first of the Eight Limbs of Yoga is yama, a framework for how we interact with the world around us. Ahimsa (non-harming), asteya (not taking what isn’t offered), and aparigraha (non-greed) in particular, speak to yoga’s dedication to caring for our Earth. This Earth Day, we’re celebrating 37 years of providing tools for yoga practice, including a focus on sustainable yoga props. 

Hugger Mugger’s sustainable philosophy has two strands. First, we continue to develop newer, sturdier sustainable yoga props from non-toxic, renewable materials. Second, our quality is unassailable. Our products will last for years, if not decades, defying the “disposable culture” credo. 

What Is Earth Day?

The modern environment movement began on April 22, 1970. The very first Earth Day, conceived by then-Senator Gaylord Nelson, drew 20 million activists from all over the U.S. who took to streets, parks and university campuses to protest environmental degradation and advocate for environmental stewardship. Forty-eight years later millions of people in 192 countries all around the world celebrate Earth Day. 

The theme of this year’s Earth Day is “Invest in Our Planet.” According to the Earth Day website, this year’s festivities will take place online, making them accessible to just about everyone. Topics will include “climate restoration, regenerative agriculture, environment and social justice, supply chain resilience, plastic pollution, resource scarcity, food security, the green economy, biodiversity restoration, universal climate literacy, and more while panelists range from public and private sector leaders to activists, scientists, influencers and beyond.” You can find a full schedule on the site.

Building Blocks for Our Sustainable Yoga Props

At Hugger Mugger, we began exploring alternatives to plastics in our sustainable yoga props in the early 2000s. While we already made lots of products that don’t include any sort of plastics—including yoga bolsters and meditation cushions, wood blocks, and cotton and hemp straps—we’ve made it a priority to explore and develop sustainable materials for our other products too.

Natural Rubber Yoga Mats

Rubber: Native to South America, rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis) produce latex, the source material for all natural rubber products. While more than half the rubber used in manufacturing today is synthetic, from petroleum sources, we use only natural, tree-sourced, Malaysian rubber in our mats. Rubber is a long-lasting material—rubber tires generally last 50,000 miles or more. So you can plan on a Para Rubber Yoga Mat supporting you through many, many Downward Facing Dogs.

Our rubber-based yoga mats include:

• Para Rubber Yoga Mat
• Para Rubber Yoga Mat XL

Renewable Cork Products

Cork: Cork is solid, impermeable, stable and recyclable. Cork trees continue to grow even after their bark has been harvested and can live up to 200 years. The cork oak grows only in seven Mediterranean countries—Portugal, Italy, Spain, France, Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. The cork harvesting industry employs more than 100,000 people.

Our cork-based products include:

• Cork Yoga Blocks
• Cork Yoga Wedges

Sustainable Yoga Mats from TPE

Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE) is the base material for our Earth Elements Yoga Mats. TPE contains no PVC and uses no toxic materials in its production. TPE also has no rubber, meaning it’s perfectly safe for those with latex sensitivities. Thermoplastic Elastomer has a closed-cell structure, so liquids cannot penetrate it, making mold and mildew a non-issue. TPE requires less energy to produce than other mat materials and is fully biodegradable. Because they are biodegradable, these mats will eventually break down, but with proper care you can enjoy your Earth Elements Mat for many years. Because it’s designed to biodegrade, TPE will break down if you leave it exposed to the hot sun—for example, in your car for long periods of time. Storing it in a mat bag eliminates this problem.

Our TPE-based mat:

• Earth Elements 5mm

Jute Yoga Mats

Technically a grass, bamboo is considered to be the fastest growing plant on earth. Some species of bamboo have been recorded as growing four feet in 24 hours. A bamboo pole, once cut, can regenerate its mass in six months. In addition, bamboo is exceptionally strong, is water resistant and has natural antibacterial properties.

Nicknamed the “Golden Fibre,” Jute is a natural fiber plant grown primarily in India, Bangladesh and China. Highly versatile, jute combines breathability with high tensile strength. Jute is second only to cotton as the world’s most popular fiber for clothing, furniture coverings and other fabric uses. Jute has natural insulating, antistatic and antimicrobial properties and is completely biodegradable. And as a natural rain-fed crop, jute needs little to no fertilizers.

This product contains jute fiber:

• Sattva Jute Mat

Bamboo Yoga Blocks

Our Bamboo Yoga Blocks are constructed with a hollow core, making them both sturdy and lightweight.

Here’s a page that lists some of our favorite sustainable yoga props.

People sometimes chuckle when I tell them that sitting on a meditation cushion is physically rigorous. But it’s true. When you sit still and tune into your body for any length of time, you’re likely to become uncomfortable. And sitting for long periods in the same position will at some point start to make you antsy.

Even in my hour-long meditation class, people sometimes experience physical difficulties. That’s when I work with them to find the best sitting position. How comfortable you are when you’re practicing sitting meditation is largely determined by what you choose to sit on. Each person’s body is different, so I also help them find the right support for their individual body..

It’s All About Your Skeleton

Comfortable sitting depends on your spine’s ability to maintain its natural curves (see illustration). The human spine holds itself up naturally when its curves are in integrity. The position of your sacrum determines your spinal curves. The optimum position for the sacrum is an approximately 30-degree forward tilt. When the sacrum is in that position, the rest of the curves more easily fall into place.

In sitting meditation, because of the shape and structure of our hip joints, or because of inflexibility, the sacrum often ends up in a vertical position, instead of the 30-degree forward tilt. In some cases, the sacrum can even tilt backward instead of forward. When this happens, our lumbar curve has to straighten or even flex forward, causing us to have to use a whole lot of core strength to sit upright. When we spend a lot of energy just to sit upright, we get tired pretty quickly.

How You Sit Matters

While Sukhasana (Easy Cross-Legged Pose) is the traditional sitting position, not everyone can sit this way. Some people’s hip joints easily rotate externally, while others’ more easily rotate internally. If your knees are lower than your hip bones when you sit cross-legged on a meditation cushion, that means your hip joints rotate externally with ease. When your knees are lower than the hip bones, your sacrum will tilt forward, keeping your spinal curves intact. If your hip joints internally rotate more easily, your knees will rise to the level of the hip bones or higher. When your knees are higher than your hip bones, your sacrum will naturally tilt backward, making sitting for long periods uncomfortable.

We need to sit high enough on a meditation cushion or bench so that our sacrum, and therefore our pelvis, can tilt forward so that the spinal curves can fall into place. That is why meditation cushions are designed to give us extra height. Here are some tips on how to choose the best support for your body and your practice:

Zafu and Zen Meditation Cushions

Zafus are the traditional, round meditation cushion. At about five inches high, Zafus will be more than sufficient for comfortable sitting for most people.

Our Zen Cushions are similar in height to our Zafus, but rectangular and wider in shape. Whether you choose the Zafu or Zen is a matter of personal preference. Sitting on the wide side of the Zen Pillow will support the tops of your thighs more than the Zafu will. Some people prefer more thigh support, while others prefer that their upper thighs extend off the edge of their cushion. All in all, the support is very similar between the two of them.

If you’re thinking of trying a Zafu or Zen Cushion for cross-legged sitting, first try sitting on a 5-inch-high stack of firm blankets with your ankles on the floor in front of your blanket stack. Check where your knees land, and if you find that your knees are at hip bone level or higher, Sukhasana might not be your best meditation position.

The good news is that the Zafu and Zen are adaptable. If cross-legged sitting doesn’t work for you, you can turn your Zafu or Zen Cushion on its side. Place it between your thighs and sit on it with your knees bent, shins on the floor on either side of the cushion.

V-Shaped Meditation Cushion

Our V-Shaped Cushion is similar in height and purpose to the Zafu. But here’s what makes me love the V-Shaped Cushion: Because my hip joints externally rotate easily, my legs need more support than traditional cushions can give. The V-Shaped Cushion slants downward so that it supports your entire leg and encourages your pelvis to tilt forward—provided your hips externally rotate as described above.

As with the Zafus, you can check whether a V-Shaped Meditation Cushion is appropriate for you by sitting on a 5-inch stack of firm blankets and observing whether your legs are higher or lower than your pelvis. If your legs can’t rest on the “legs” of the cushion because they are high in the air, the V-Shaped Cushion won’t be comfortable. If you can use a Zafu in a cross-legged position, you will probably also find the V-Shaped Cushion to be comfortable.

All of Hugger Mugger’s meditation cushions are filled with organic buckwheat hulls. The zippered covers allow you to add or subtract filling as you like. Here’s an overview of all the choices.

Zabuton

A Zabuton is like a mini-futon. It’s a wide, rectangular, cotton-filled cushion with a removable cotton cover.

Placing a Zabuton under your meditation cushion or bench increases your comfort. Ankle bones, feet or knees pressing against a hard floor may feel okay at first. But over time, even 20 to 30 minutes, it’s likely to get pretty uncomfortable.

A Zabuton is a worthwhile investment if you’re going to commit to a meditation practice.

Sukasana Meditation Cushion

Hugger Mugger’s Sukasana Cushion is a much smaller, portable meditation cushion. While it doesn’t give as much hip support as our other meditation cushions, this small cushion is great for traveling or for taking with you to a yoga studio.

Comfort is Key

Whether you decide to use a Zafu, Zen Cushion, or V-Shaped Cushion is a matter of personal preference. Remember that whatever you choose should allow you to sit comfortably with all your spinal curves intact.

Check out our Meditation Cushion Guide for more info.

If you want to read in more detail about how to sit comfortably, or how to structure a yoga practice to support your sitting, pick up my book Yoga for Meditators. In it I devote several chapters to choosing the right sitting support and finding the optimum sitting position.

Zafuko® Cushions: A Lightweight Alternative

In the last few years, we added another alternative to our meditation cushion collection. Our Zafuko® Cushions are extremely light weight, a great alternative to the heavier meditation cushions and benches we offer. Here’s an article that explains all the options.

In the spring and summer, I have the good fortune to teach a weekly mindfulness class in Salt Lake City’s beautiful Red Butte Garden. Each week, my students and I get to enjoy the ever-changing landscape at the arboretum while we take the 7-minute walk to our meditation spot. Because I bring other paraphernalia with me—tingsha bells, notes and a camera with a macro lens—I need to be judicious about what I bring to sit on. Instead of my much-loved, but rather heavy, V-Shaped Meditation Cushion, I bring a Zafuko® Foldable Yoga and Meditation Cushion.

Whether your favorite practice involves yoga, meditation or both, practicing outside can be inspiring and invigorating. But the thought of transporting props can sometimes put a damper on your practice. The Zafuko® cushion I take to my mindfulness class weighs just 1.5 pounds. It’s perfect for the unpredictable outdoor surfaces we sometimes encounter in classes. (We sometimes have to move the class location, depending on what else is happening in the garden.)

Zafuko® is a relatively new product for Hugger Mugger. These firm, lightweight, kapok-filled cushions come in five different designs. Two of these designs offer two size options. Each design is crafted to allow you to use the cushion in different, often innovative, ways.

Zafuko®: Lots of Options

Here’s a breakdown of Zafuko® options:

Yoga & Meditation Cushion: This cushion is the simplest Zafuko® design. It’s a rectangular cushion that you can use for sitting meditation. But you can also use it in some of the ways you might use a Yoga Block. For example, you can place it under your hips for support in seated poses or under your hands in Lunge Poses (Anjaneyasana).

Rollable Yoga & Meditation Cushion: This rollable cushion is great for yoga practice, as well as meditation. Roll it up to place under your knees in Savasana (Relaxation Pose), or place it under your hips in Virasana (Hero’s Pose) to relieve knee pressure. Unroll it and use it to cushion your knees in Lunge Poses and Ustrasana (Camel Pose). This cushion comes in two sizes—regular and large.

Foldable Yoga & Meditation Cushion: This foldable cushion gives you a choice of two heights of support. Folded, it’s the same size as the Yoga & Meditation Cushion. Unfolded, it’s half the height, but twice the area. Use it for sitting meditation or for support under your hips in Setu Bandhasana (Bridge Pose) or Viparita Karani (Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose). This cushion also comes in regular or large sizes.

Double Foldable Meditation Cushion: This cushion is twice the size of the previous foldable cushion. This gives you more options for support. For example, if you need extra support to keep your spine in a healthy position, you can fold it to a height twice that of the above cushion. Or you can fold part of the cushion and lay the rest of it flat so that both your hips and legs are supported.

Three-Fold Thai Cushion: The Three-Fold Thai Cushion is the most elaborate of the Zafuko® choices. You can use the Three-Fold Thai Cushion as a reading wedge or as a knee support in Savasana. It’s great for reading, napping or just plain lounging.

Hugger Mugger’s Standard Yoga Bolsters have set the standard for yoga bolsters for decades. Echoing the description of yoga asana in the Sutras, they are the perfect combination of firmness and softness. Their inner firmness makes them stable and unbendable in their support. Their outer softness makes them comfortable for Restorative Yoga practice. The only thing left to improve was washability. Now we’ve tackled that conundrum as well. We’re excited to introduce our new EZ Clean Standard Yoga Bolster.

One of the things that makes our bolsters so exceptional is the way we stuff the filling into the covers. Our bolster experts stuff our bolsters really, really tight. That’s what makes them so firm. The tight-fitting cover allows them to maintain their structural integrity during your practice.

If you use your yoga bolster simply for your personal home practice, you may never need to deep clean or sanitize it. But if you own a studio or teach public classes where everyone shares the same bolsters, they may need periodic deep cleaning.

However, we don’t advise yoga teachers, practitioners or studio owners to remove the covers for laundering. It’s nearly impossible to get a bolster back into its cover once you take it off. This means it’s not practical to remove the cover for washing. All our bolsters can be spot cleaned, but if you want to deep clean and sanitize your bolsters, we’ve come up with a solution.

Enter the EZ Clean Standard Bolster

We cover our new EZ Clean Standard Bolster with a non-toxic, eco-vinyl fabric that you can easily wipe down and sanitize. Like all our other bolsters, this bolster is covered in high-quality, upholstery-grade fabric. So this bolster will last through many years of relaxing, Restorative yoga practice. Plus, like all the rest of Hugger Mugger’s bolster, our EZ Clean Standard Bolster is handmade in the U.S.A.

The EZ Clean Bolster is great for personal use, yoga teachers, studios, hot yoga practice, gyms, massage therapists, schools, healthcare facilities, spas, corporate yoga classes, and wellness centers.

There’s nothing easier than lying down on the floor for Savasana, right? In many cases, the answer is yes. But in some ways, Savasana demands more of us than yoga’s more active asanas. Other asanas can create a fair amount of sensation, making it easy for our minds to focus on the moment. Savasana, on the other hand, with its relative comfort factor, requires a bit more of our minds. Unless, of course, it isn’t actually comfortable. Using a Yoga Bolster, along with a few other props, can turn a squirmy Savasana into a heavenly one.

When I’m leading my classes through Savasana, I always stay vigilant of my students’ comfort. Most of the time, most students look pretty blissful lying on the floor. Sometimes, though, I see students bending their knees and placing their feet on the floor or sliding their hands or a folded blanket under their lumbar spine. When I see this, I understand that the weight of their legs, and perhaps a tautness in their iliopsoas muscles, may be pulling their backs into a higher-than-usual arch. Most of the time, extra support under their knees—which allows their femur bones to settle back into the sockets, softening the psoas—will alleviate their discomfort.

For some, a simple, rolled-up Yoga Blanket is enough support under the knees. For others, a blanket doesn’t provide enough height. That’s when I suggest they use a Yoga Bolster. There are several ways to use a Yoga Bolster for leg support in Savasana. This post will detail what I consider to be the “Cadillac” of Savasana support.

I learned this setup from Judith Hanson Lasater in a Restorative Yoga teacher training some years ago. I like the fact that the thighs are completely supported in this position, and that the ankles are also supported. Dangling ankles and feet can recreate the same low back discomfort that a student might experience without using support.

Set Up the Ultimate Savasana with a Yoga Bolster

1. Gather together your usual favorite Savasana props—Yoga Mat, Yoga Blankets and an Eye Pillow—along with a Standard Yoga Bolster, Yoga Block and Pranayama Yoga Bolster. (You can substitute a rolled-up blanket for this if you don’t have a Pranayama Bolster.)
2. At the “foot” end of your Yoga Mat, place your Pranayama Pillow or rolled-up blanket.
3. Place a Yoga Block, on its flat side, directly in front of your Pranayama Pillow.
4. Lean a Standard Yoga Bolster against the block so that rests at a slant.
5. Lie down in front of the Yoga Bolster and rest your legs over it. Make sure that the angle of the slant supports your entire thigh (as shown in the photo). You may need to adjust the slant to make it fit your own body.
6. Rest your ankles on your Pranayama Pillow.
7. Relax and enjoy.

Back before COVID-19 upended our lives, many of us took travel for granted. It was just part of what so many of us did in the summer, during holidays, etc. After a year of staying put, we’re antsy to get out and enjoy the bigger world. Maybe you’re planning a road trip. If so, you might be able to get away with bringing all your usual yoga practice essentials. But if you choose to fly somewhere, you need to pack more judiciously. Bulky items take up precious space in our roller bags. All too often, our yoga mat has to stay at home. Enter the Tapas Travel Mat.

What is the Tapas Travel Mat?

Back in the ’90s, some traveling yogis requested that Hugger Mugger Yoga Products design a packable yoga mat for travel. So we got to work on a mat that could fit easily into the average suitcase. Our Travel Mat is a scant 1/16-inch thick. You can roll it up thin and cinch it onto a backpack or fold it to the size of a medium-sized sweater and place it in your bag.

Our Tapas Travel Mats are made from latex-free polymer environmental resin (PER) which has been extracted from biodegradable plant secretions to produce a plastic-like material. It contains no heavy metals or phthalates. Like all our Tapas Yoga Mats, the Travel Mat has a nonskid surface.

In addition to traveling with your travel mat, you can use it in your regular practice. Its nonskid surface keeps your Yoga Practice Rug or Yoga Towel in place for a safer, more secure practice. At just below two pounds, it’s lightweight and easy to transport to the studio and back.

Here are the specs:

• Thickness: 1/16″
• Weight: 1.4 lb.
• Dimensions: 24″ x 68″
• Price: $24.95

Whether you’re off for a yoga workshop, retreat or vacation, or going on a sightseeing tour, it’s nice to have a familiar friend along for the journey. The Tapas Travel Mat is a great companion to share your next adventure, and many more to come!

Here’s a post that outlines three regenerating yoga poses for road trips.