What to wear during Yoga Practice

It is important to know what to wear during a yoga practice. The clothes that you wear during yoga practice can either enhance or hinder your yoga session. Yoga is an ancient practice of aligning mind, body and soul. Yoga symbolizing the union of body and consciousness. Regular practice of yoga increases flexibility, enhances concentration, improves muscle strength, and reduces stress.

But before you could gain all these benefits, you need to understand the basics, particularly that the clothes that you wear during yoga practices should be right. Yes, what you wear during yoga practice is as significant as the exercise itself. 

You might be probably wondering what the right clothes for the practice are? And why do we need right clothes as such? 

Believe it or not, wearing inappropriate outfits during yoga practices not only hinders your limb movement, but also hampers your practice and do not let you have all the benefits of yoga.

Yoga is very different from other forms of exercises, which requires a lot of movement and flexibility. Also, while practicing yoga, you are more likely to do poses such as the downward-facing dog pose or other twisting poses that can make inappropriate clothing troublesome to handle. Moreover, yoga is a practice meant to increase and stabilize the flow of life energy or Prana in your body, that’s why it is crucial that you wear clothes that allow this energy to flow unrestrained. 

Here in this post, we discuss the right clothing that you should wear during yoga practice. 

Here we go…… 

Cloth material and texture for yoga practice

While practicing yoga it is crucial that you wear comfortable clothes that allow your skin to breathe and absorb sweat. Also, see that the material of the clothes is not stiff and allows you to move with ease. The material and the pattern of yoga clothing should be such that they allow unrestricted movements. Moreover, the material should be chosen in accordance with the climatic conditions. The material that is considered best for yoga clothing is – Cotton. Organic in nature, cotton clothes not only deck your energy, but also help you feel relaxed and abet in the all-round practice of yoga. Besides, cotton clothes are easy to wash and maintain, they are also cheap and help the environment. 

Comfortable Loose Clothing during yoga practice

Yeah, you must have heard people advising to wear loose clothes, as they allow free movements. Actually that’s not correct. Wearing too loose clothes might do you more harm than any good. Your clothes should be comfortably loose, neither too loose nor too tight. Your clothes should not get in the way when you are practicing yoga poses. Remember, yoga involves a lot of stretching and twisting; in some yoga poses you will require your upper body to face downwards, your legs to stretch wide and you might have to do a lot of squatting movements. And during all these movements you can’t have your top or shirt flopping over your head or your pants getting ripped. Besides, having to constantly get your clothes out of the way will break the zone you might be in while practicing yoga. Therefore, it is crucial that you wear clothes that are precisely fitting but not tight. Such as: 

Yoga Pants

Yoga pants are easily available in the markets. These pants are specifically meant for practicing yoga without any hindrance. Yoga pants make your movements easy because they include an elastic band that enables you to stretch and bend however you want to. Some people even wear jogging pants during yoga, however, jogging pants with a tie are not the right outfit for your yoga practice. 

The best is to go for yoga pants with an elastic waist. Because the tied pants do not let you stretch and there are certain yoga poses that require you to bend over, that can generate extra pressure on your lower stomach. Also, it is essential that your yoga pants are not too tight. In fact, your yoga pants should fit precisely around your hips and waist, and should not be constricting in any way. Wearing proper yoga pants provide for additional breathability. You can also choose to wear leggings. Leggings can help you stretch your legs without any bunching. 

Yoga Tops or shirts

Like your yoga pants, your yoga tops or shirts should also be made of cotton fabrics. Since yoga requires some challenging poses, make sure your top is tight around the chest. You can get sleeveless yoga tops, which include a racer back design for more support. 

Comfortable Inner Wears

It is crucial that you wear comfortable inner wears. Usually people focus on their outer wear during yoga, but tend to ignore their inner wears. Believe it or not, your underclothes are important too. Not only do your inner wears provide support, but also they help keep wardrobe malfunctions at bay. Females should choose wearing a sports bra rather wearing a regular bra. Sports bras are stretchable, larger than regular bras, made of good material, and provide good support. Make sure the bra that you wear is convenient, and not very tight. It should fit comfortably around your breasts, back, and shoulders and should not be compressing or constricting. 

As for the panties, they should wear cotton panties, as cotton panties covers your bottom well and does not bunch or chaff. While, males should wear underpants that support their genitals. 

What to avoid during yoga practice

Here is a list of things that you should avoid while practicing yoga: 

Jewelry, watch, and glasses. 

You don’t need to wear your watch, jewelry, and your glasses while doing yoga. Wearing these things can cause hindrance in your yoga practice. While practicing yoga your necklace can get in the way, or your earrings or your watch can hurt you while stretching or twisting. 

It’s better to carry a small bag or pouch in which you can put all these things while doing yoga. Also, avoid keeping it next to your mat, for they may get scratched, or get damaged.

Thick Fabrics

Avoid yoga pants made of thick fabrics, such as nylon and polyester. As, thick fabrics restrict the breathability and can make you feel uncomfortable. Thick fabrics have an inflexible weave compared to cotton, which restrict air and keep moisture. Thick fabrics do not absorb sweat, instead they retain sticky and wet clothes against your body, which can cause rashes. 

Socks and Shoes

You don’t require shoes and socks during yoga practice. No matter how tempted you are to buy shoes and socks for your yoga class, you will never need them. Whether you practice yoga at your home or join some yoga class, you’ll need to remove your shoes before you begin yoga. Also, wearing shoes or socks can impede your foot’s grasp on the yoga mat that can even lead to a miserable slip and fall. Moreover, practicing yoga bare feet allows your feet to make adjustments according to the floor and support you thoroughly.

Inelastic Tight Pants

Avoid wearing inelastic tight pants because such pants compresses and squeezes the body and restrict you do various yoga poses. In fact, some yoga poses and stretches are so difficult to pull off that they can even rip your pants.  So, it is important that you wear the right yoga pants. Also, make sure you try your yoga pants before attending the yoga session. It will help you determine if you feel discomfort or a pull wearing them.

To conclude……

Yoga is a form of exercise that demands a lot of stretching and twisting. Therefore, the clothes you wear during yoga practice should be comfortable, flexible, lightweight, right size, made of breathable fabric, and most importantly it should suit you. Wearing inappropriate outfit during yoga can make your practice a burden instead of making it a fun. 

Also, it is essential that you change your clothes before and after yoga session. Change of clothes ensure great yoga practice. Wearing the clothes that you intend to practice, into class, tend to collect dirt and dust from the outside and brings negative energy into the classroom. This in turn can harm your practice. Another good reason to carry a change of clothes is so that you can change into them after your class. There is no reason to wear sweaty clothes back home.

Pick your yoga outfits wisely and have wonderful yoga sessions.