Yoga Wear - our Winners!

Part - Two
by Maya T. and Lena Stefanovic

Yes !!! Our WINNERS are  Wellicious and LVR Fashion! Congratulations! Second is Athleta by Gap and third N---*. Bravo! Thanks to all our participants.

Wellicious

If you want to be hugged and comfortable but in a feminine and luxurious way then Wellicious is right Yoga
Wellicious is a London based lifestyle, eco-friendly brand founded by Yogista Heike Schnell in 2007, and is
Their apparel is on expensive side but  - it will last and you’ll be sure that after you bent over into a forward bend pose 50 times there is no that see-through factor that nobody likes to experience.
Wellicious use natural fabrics – cotton, Lyocell and cashmere – all easy to wear and easy to take care for. Their apparel is naturally breathable and soft against your skin.
Wellicious collection is casual, timeless and versatile thus can be used not just for Yoga but for everyday wear too.

Founder and her team are very proud that they are able to use sustainable materials ethically produced and packed in Europe.

What else one can ask for?

LVR Fashion

Again, another earth-friendly brand that is loved for their roomy and so, so soft tops as well as incredibly flattering bottoms with that convenient long fold that helps us hiding little problems areas around waist and tush.
LVR was founded in 2010 by Eric Clarke. It is Los Angeles based company and as Wellicious it is designed and produced in their own community using organically farmed materials. LVR yoga wear is colourful yet made from low-impact dyes and vintage washes so it is especially good for people with allergies to certain chemicals and fabrics (like me being allergic to all non wrinkle fabrics containing carcinogenic formaldehyde).
LVR yoga wear is playful, functional and flattering and again – so, so soft!

Athleta by GAP

GAP is well known company for their both casual and active lifestyle apparel. Athleta is newer to the GAP family and as expected always up-to-date.

There is not much I can say about Athleta that is not already known – we all love their light, breathable tops, their perfect blend of cotton and Lycra, their soft and at the same time strong sport bras, good quality bottoms, wide assortment of hoodies, jackets, and accessories…
Athleta is expression of simplicity, functionality and style.

Now, which brand would you use depend on you and your specific needs. I am sure that there are great companies out there that are unknown to me so please, feel free to comment bellow this post.
                                                               
                            * * * * *
Cute Quotes:
- It’s astounding how much one’s stress level goes down with a simple act of switching from skinny jeans to yoga pants.
- ‘Those yoga pants are hideous’. Said no one ever.
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*  Unfortunately I got an email on October 7,2014 from N--- company that they are not granting permission to use or modify their trademarks, logos, images, advertising or similar materials therefore I am not able to write about this great company.
I  removed  text and photos that I previously published. I assure our readers that Jazzy Traveller always ask for the permission to publish other company's name or photos and N--- was not an exemption. I apologize to N--- for briefly using their name and photos
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Yoga WEAR

Part - One

by Maya T. and Lena Stefanovic

Courtesy of Wellicious.com

I wanted to know what kind of yoga wear would make me feeling the best while doing my poses and I didn’t want to spend more money than necessary, thus Comfort and Price were my first criteria when I set myself into yoga wear buying mission!

Lena (our Stylist) and me, we started our research and we tried tons of yoga clothes.
After asking many yoga devotees (including me) what they want the most from yoga clothes we narrowed down 3 requests that almost everybody expressed when yoga wear is in Question: 

 - comfort,

 - fit and 

 - fabric that breathes.

However, more we did research more we were aware of the particularities that we need to check before we make a decision.

• We like comfort but we want to look stylish
• Fabric should ‘breathe’ and cool down while in asana but also keep us warm while in the relaxation!
• Yoga wear should fit but be loose too! 

• Then - we all want to avoid harming environment, mostly animals.
• We like Fair Trade certified clothes and equally we like to have clothes made in our own countries, employing our own people.
• We want to have clothes that are made from organic and natural fibers as well as from recycled materials.
• We want to have soft, flattering yoga clothes that hold shape during yoga class

Dedication Jacket by Athleta

We looked at many companies that are solely or partly involved in producing Yoga wear:

1. Some like N---*, Reebok, Calvin Klein or Gap are well known sport wear producers, with hundreds of stores all over the world. 

They are all equally good in how their yoga wear is made, their fit is great and, surprisingly, their prices are pretty equal and not as high as someone would think they could be.

In this group I like Gap and their ATHLETA. I like their tops for the simple reason that they fit my body but they are loose at the same time and mostly because fabric is so thin that feels great and dries so fast. Moreover, GAP has another line – Old Navy – inexpensive and quite good.

2. We were more drawn to this group of Yoga wear producers – smaller, younger yet firmly established companies such as:

Wellicious (from United Kingdom),  

Courtesy of Wellicious.com

LVR fashion ( USA), 

Oysho (Spain),  

Solow Sport,

Purusha People,

Prana ,  

NUX ,  

Lily Lotus ,  

Mika Yoga wear (all from USA),  

Lolë women,  

Lululemon 

Joe Fresh ( all from Canada)

(Joe Fresh - being the cheapest and not at all less stylish)

These companies are mostly focused on Yoga and Pilates, their production is smaller and definitely more oriented towards organic cotton, cashmere, recycled materials and they are able to adjust their clothing line faster.

After all, Lena did her research among her friends in Switzerland and France and me here in Canada and USA – and we got our winners: 

Wellicious and LVR Fashion from our second group and ATHLETA (GAP) and N--- from the first group of Yoga wear manufacturers.

Please read more about these companies in our next post.

Tee by Purusha People, USA

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* This name is removed due to company policy: "not grant permission to use or modify our trademarks, logos, images, advertising or similar materials."

YOGA and our HEALTH

The Benefits of Yoga
by Maya Toracki

Warning! Yoga has been known to cause health and happiness!

Meditation ( Bigstock Photo, Rights EpicStock Media)

If something lasts for thousands of years and has been proven to have a positive impact on people it has to be a – good thing! Don’t you think?
As an ancient spiritual practice Yoga has stood the test of time. Today it became a big business and premium life style which is – perfectly fine with me and I am sure - with thousands of people who already enjoy benefits of Yoga.
I had a chance to meet many women and men who went to Yoga in order to lose weight, or to reduce stress or to gain flexibility, yet, Yoga helped them in so many more ways than any of them expected at the beginning.



Who needs Yoga?
Everyone.  It’s good for kids, for seniors, pre/post natal moms, for athletes, corporate employees and it is beneficial for everyone with disabilities.

Yoga in the park...

Why would one do Yoga?

At the beginning it helps you getting more flexible and improves your sense of balance. Soon you are noticing that you lost some weight, and your muscles are toned and longer. And - it teaches discipline.

Later you became aware that you are calmer, more focused and more confident. Meditation is helping to increase level of Self Awareness; it teaches you to quiet your mind and with that stress level is reduced to minimum.

It is proven that Yoga is also helping to reduce neck and back pain, improves lung capacity with special breathing techniques; improves your sexual function, and helps you sleep better.

What Yoga Style would benefit you the most?

If you want gentle, slow and smooth movements, nevertheless powerful – choose Hatha Yoga.

Hatha Yoga is foundation for all yoga styles and although everywhere you’ll find that hatha is meant for beginners – I do not agree. Hatha Yoga is full rounded experience that includes discipline, physical postures (asana), breathing (pranayama) and meditation.

Ashtanga Yoga (Power Yoga) is very aggressive and athletic practice, with less approach to meditation. It is widely spread on the West.

Vinyasa/Flow Yoga is similar to Ashtanga  but enriched with rhythmical flow almost like dancing through postures, often accompanied with music. Classes are more meditative than in Ashtanga classes. 

Kundalini Yoga is focused on breathing, rapid movements, chanting and meditation. It is deeply spiritual.

Iyengar / restorative Yoga stress the importance

Yoga Props

of body alignment and balance. Poses are 

held longer, sometimes you work full hour

on just one pose aiming to get that perfect

pose. 

Iyengar students use yoga props such as blocks, straps, blankets. Focusing on perfect alignment is greatly helping clarity of your mind.

Bikram Yoga is practiced in heated room (105 F) with an intention to sweat, cleanse the body and loosen muscles. It consists of 26 postures repeated twice for 90 minutes.

Bikram/Hot Yoga

Clearly, everybody can choose what likes and needs the most. What we need to remember is that when we are at Yoga class we don’t need much – mat and ourselves, our body, breath and moves, and we are far from out phones, busy life style, noise, pressure. 

It is powerful and magical experience – giving ourselves time to heal!

Yoga is not a sport. 

It’s a philosophy and lifestyle.

So, Today is the day!