Toga, toga! Oops. I mean yoga, yoga.

Confession time. See that ad on the lower-right sidebar for Yoga Accessories?

I picked that ad because I liked the colors. (And, of course, because I had interest in the product.) Yes, colors totally manipulate motivate me.

I finally got around to ordering some merchandise from that company. The package was waiting for me when I got home from our trip to visit my in-laws.

So here's a review of three products I ordered.

1. Double-thickness yoga mat. $17
I was ready to replace my old mat, since it had begun to shred in the places where my heels dig in on Downward Dog. I was about to get the usual 1/8" mat ($15) until I saw that it also comes in 1/4" thickness.

As a bonus, the thicker mat is 4" longer -- 72" as opposed to 68" (sorry to all you metric folks.) That should keep me off the naked floor during Corpse Pose.

I got the purple one, naturally.

Thumbs up: it is nice to have a thicker mat, especially for the on-the-knee poses. And I love having that extra 4 inches in length. I didn't have to keep repositioning myself to avoid falling off.

Thumbs not up: as you would expect, it's a heavier mat to carry (but, after all, isn't exercise the point?).

2. Hand-size yoga towel. $20
Because my hands get sweaty during yoga, and to keep myself from slipping around the mat, I have always practiced yoga with a hand towel at the front of the mat. So I was very excited to find this skid-free hand towel (which also comes in two larger sizes).

Again, I ordered purple.

Thumbs up: the towel works great as a hand wiper. My hands slip less on the towel than on the mat.

Thumbs not up: why did they ruin a perfectly good purple towel with an obnoxious orange border? (No offense to you orange lovers.) And even though I love this towel, I think $20 is overpriced by about $5.

3. Magnetic yoga set. $12.
I often have the intent to do yoga at home on my own. But in my novice state, being mindful during my practice means I need the poses fed to me. So, my thinking is that I can build a workout ahead of time with my magnets.

And I have another reason. I would like to have a visual representation of the poses I know vs the poses I don't know. I think I might be motivated by moving the pieces around as I master -- or even dare to attempt -- certain asanas.

Thumbs up: I love the rainbow colors, and I appreciate seeing how poses should look. I currently have all the pieces on my refrigerator.

Thumbs down: I had expected the 63 pieces to show 63 poses. Instead, there are 60 poses, with 3 pieces being repeats. Small point, but I did notice.

Overall rating? Two thumbs up. The flaws are minor, and I am very pleased with my purchases from Yoga Accessories.
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I'm off to the BlogHer conference in San Francisco. On Saturday afternoon, I'll be speaking with Melissa and Pamela Jeanne on the Adoption, Infertility and Loss panel. I'll post on Weebles Wobblog if we find a way for you to follow along through live blogging, a podcast, or Second Life.

Ciao! And ommmm.

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