I got into yoga, rather fortuitously, about 10 years ago. I was looking at ways to decompress and destress from office life, when I came across a yoga app on my iPad. I downloaded the app and did my first 10 minute beginner’s yoga session.
What surprised me is that despite not running or lifting weights, I felt like I’d had a good workout and I felt loose. Coming from an athletic background, I’ve always been the accustomed to going to the gym, lifting weights and having physical workouts.
This is good and well when you’re young, but as I started to get into my late 30s, I noticed that lifting heavy weights impacted on my joints and I was no longer getting the desired benefits.
Yoga was the perfect replacement – within a few months I’d learned the basic poses and I was able to use yoga to completely replace my strenuous workouts. Not only was I able to extend my range of motion through stretching, I was building muscle mass, toning and raising my heart rate to get cardio workouts.
We then started our new sustainable life away from city four years ago and with the physical nature of our new lifestyle I stopped doing yoga. I have felt my range of motion shrink and my recovery times after workouts, like wheelbarrowing a few tonnes of compost, are getting longer.
So I was really pleased when we were contacted by Complete Unity Yoga to try out some of their products which would get me back into yoga. I find that setting up on a small patch of grass with the wind and birds chirping around you is the ideal setting for a session to get a good workout and to have moments of mindfulness.
When the winter comes, I’ll relocate into the studio to continue to my exercise.
Complete Unity Yoga Products
One of the most appealing things about yoga is that you don’t need loads of expensive equipment to get started. We received an eco friendly yoga matt, yoga strap and eco cork block from Complete Unity Yoga.
The most important piece of yoga equipment is a good matt. The one I now use from Complete Unity – the CompleteGrip – is eco friendly and comes in a variety of colours. The first thing you notice is that the matt has a bit of weight to it (2.4kg) and that’s because it’s 4mm thick. If you’re doing yoga (or even Pilates) on a hard floor, this matt is ideal because it provides ample cushioning and comfort to protect you knees and other joints.
The matt is made from a layer of comprised of jute fabric combined with sustainably harvested rubber and measures 183cm in length and 61cm wide.
I also got two eco cork blocks. These are quite handy because my stretching range has reduced, so there are certain poses where I can’t reach as far I could do, so the blocks help to provide balance. They are really helpful.
Lastly, I also got the yoga strap. If you’re not able to reach your toes this strap gives you the added length to simulate that and give you a better, deeper stretch.
All the products we received were well made and sustainable, and I’d recommend checking out their Essential Yoga Set Collection or their bestsellers collection.