Two Trips, Two Yoga Mats, Two Tales.

I bet you all were anxiously waiting for the second tale and thought I forgot! Ha ha, not to worry—my problem is that I have too many tales to tell about my awesome experiences at the NY Yoga Journal Conference and Tadasana Festival and not enough time to get them all written down (which is a good problem to have).

For my trek out for my first taste of West Coast yoga, I didn’t want to lug a yoga mat through the airport. This time there were no worries about that because I had made arrangements to pick up a new lightweight Studio Vernice Vita (VV) yoga mat from my good yogini friend Racheal Ennis.

Vernice Vita translates to "Paint Life" and at Tadasana Festival there were incredible artists painting life through the inspiration of the yoga community.

Racheal is the genius behind the ultra-comfortable Vernice Vita yoga mats that have a patented layer of memory foam to give your wrists, ankles, and all the joints in your body the support and cushion they need. I have been a long-time fan of the Cadillac version of her mats, which is wider and longer than a conventional yoga mat. This mat has done so much to help relieve pressure points during yoga postures and to assist me in improving my balance postures. I really wanted to take this extra comfort along for the marathon three days of classes that is Tadasana Festival, but rolled up, this mat is not going to make me a lot of friends as I try to carry it onto a crowded plane across the country.

I knew the new studio version of the VV yoga mat would be ¼” thinner (the size of a conventional yoga mat), lightweight, and easy to pop into my yoga bag for the stroll down the Venice Beach walkway to my yoga-filled days of adventure at Tadasana Festival.

I think the rule of thumb when you buy a new car is to take it easy on excessive use and speeds for at least the first 500 miles. It’s a good thing there are no guidelines like that for yoga mats, because I put that Studio VV mat through one hell of a test drive over the course of my Tadasana Festival three-day weekend.

I have to admit that when I signed up for the festival, I was wondering how my body was going to handle three 2+ hour classes for three straight days. Plus, being the yoga festival geek that I am, I dropped in to one or two extra classes per day. That’s a lot of chattarangas, downward dogs, and standing asanas for any yoga body. Could my wrists handle it, could my thighs power through it, would my knees be screaming at me, and could I let go of all that mental chatter to fully embrace the experience?

I've got happy wrists and knees in Sara Ivanhoe's class at Tadasana Festival!

Yes, Yes, and Yes – thanks in big part to my super supportive Studio Vernice Vita yoga mat. I was amazed at how great I felt all three days of the festival. Yeah, a lot of it was the abundance of energy, love, and community that was present everywhere, coupled with the fact that I was practicing yoga with some of the best instructors on the planet. But, a big part of it was due to the added comfort and support that my mat provided me.

If you ever get the chance to go to a yoga festival – go for it! The energy of practicing yoga with a few hundred people is one of the coolest experiences I’ve had. If you can’t imagine what it feels like, here is the view off my VV mat for a class with Tadasana Festival co-founder Tommy Rosen and his lovely wife Kia Miller.

The last chapter of my tale is that, quite simply, you must try savasana on a Vernice Vita yoga mat. The phrase “let yourself just melt into the mat” takes on a whole new meaning, transforming savasana into savasanaaaaahhhhh!

The name “Vernice Vita” (which is “Paint Life” in Italian) is a positive approach to how much more you can add to the world and the people around you when you’re at one with your own mind, body, and spirit. Your mat is your canvas, so how will you paint your practice and your life?

Vernice Vita yoga mats are perfect for beginners as well as advanced yoga students and are suitable for all types of yoga including Vinyasa Flow, Power, Bikram, Hot Yoga, Ashtanga, Iyengar, Gentle, Kundalini, Yin, and Pre/Post-Natal Yoga. Whatever type of yoga you practice, Racheal has generously offered a special deal for Daily Downward Dog readers – $10 off the purchase of any Vernice Vita yoga mat! You can order by selecting which size Vernice Vita mat you want to purchase and clicking on the Buy Now button below, or visit VerniceVita.com and use offer code MARIE10 when you purchase to pick up the savings.

 

Vernice Vita Yoga Mats

 

 

The pricing for shipping and handling that is applied in the PayPal transaction is only for standard shipping within the United States. If you live outside the United States or need expedited shipping and would like to order a Vernice Vita Mat, please contact me, and I’ll provide a quote to handle your order.

Need more info…please read my reviews of the Cadillac and Studio Vernice Vita Yoga Mats!