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Sticking to Yoga

© Joanne Eglash

I've taken yoga classes for many years on surfaces ranging from gym floors to exercise mats to a grass field. (Warning to those who like outdoors exercises: bare feet and unmowed grass in which dogs have roamed are not a good combination.)

I'd often wondered about those yoga "sticky" mats. Did it really make a difference? My yoga teacher claimed that using a sticky mat would improve my ability to hold postures because it would prevent slipping. I decided to test it for myself.

What a difference a sticky mat makes! It may not look like much (it's a simple, rectangular mat with a non-slip surface) but as I performed the sun salutation, I noticed how my feet were able to grasp the mat surface. Cool!

What about those days when you can't get to a yoga class -- and you really need to unwind? The answer: pick up a copy of Life Is a Stretch: Easy Yoga,Anytime, Anywhere.

This easy-to-follow guide contains photographs and instructions on simple yoga stretches that can be done at your desk, on a plane or during one of those too-tempting commercials for Sara Lee cheesecake.

Included are routines for relieving computer-related tension in your wrists and back and for strengthening your lower back. (When I took this book to my work, several of my office colleagues wanted to borrow the guide and study this section.)

There's also an excellent section on stretching for sports.

Life Is a Stretch: Easy Yoga, Anytime, Anywhere
By Carol Blackman and Elise Browning Miller
Llewellyn Publications; 1999; $17.95; 224 pages ISBN 1567180671

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