The best yoga mats, equipment, bolsters, balls and other accessories for effective home workouts

Yoga is one of the most popular exercises for both keeping both body and mind healthy, and the good news is that it comes in a variety of options, like bikram yoga, hatha yoga, ashtanga yoga, and even hot yoga, where people exercise under humid conditions. Yoga can help your flexibility, as well as helping you burn calories and lose weight.

It’s a new year and many people will be looking to keep fit in alternative ways to joining a gym, including exercises than can be taken up from the comfort of your own home, or the great outdoors.

So where do you start with yoga? Typically people would head to a local class with a professional instructor or even take part in yoga with goats, but with group exercise currently banned it’s time to find your zen at home.

You don’t have to fork out on expensive yoga outfits, just wear something that feels comfortable with a vest or sports bra and shorts or leggings typically recommended. There are lots of affordable items in the yoga sections on both ASOS and Amazon or if you want something on the higher end of the scale, then Nike has a big yoga section, including tools on building your expertise.

Then you’ll need something to do the downward-facing dog, tree pose and warrior poses on. A popular choice on Amazon is this £17.99 yoga mat, which comes in a choice of colours and is 10mm thick, giving users some comfort while exercising.

If you want to up your game, you can get a yoga starter set. It includes a soft pilates ball, yoga block, stretching band, resistance loop band, and cotton strap for £14.59 on Amazon.

There also books and guides available to buy, but it’s probably easier to follow a free class online on the likes of Amazon Prime or YouTube. Popular YouTube channels include Yoga with Adriene and Yoga with Kassandra. Meanwhile if you’re an Amazon Prime member you can watch a number of yoga tutorials for free on Amazon Prime Video.

If you’re not a Prime member then you can sign up for a free 30-day trial and take advantage of other benefits including film and TV show streaming and next-day delivery.

We’ve also put together a guide of activities you can do during lockdown to keep busy and creative, from cross stitch to jigsaw puzzles and adult colouring books and how to get them.

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