where the blueboots go

This week, the day after summer solstice was International Yoga Day. I practiced in the Boston Public Gardens, sponsored by Athleta Newbury Street and my friends at Organic Bath who provided full-size delicious sugar scrubs which I am already enjoying in RefreshMint and Java Jolt. They also brought ample tropical coconut water, sparkling water, and curate bars (perfect because I was starving afterwards!).

This special event was led by Sara DiVello, the sweetest and fun yoga instructor who also wrote best-selling Where in the OM am I? We met for the first time at the W.E.L.L. Summit 2015 in Boston in November, which was a life-changing experience, a gathering of wellness-minded individuals to share and support one another in our bright futures. Since  then, I’ve run into Sara at a couple of yoga events and I love, love, love my #wellsummittribe (follow along this hashtag on Instagram!). (Curious about the W.E.L.L. Summit? 2016 is happening in NYC in October – see here to sign up and I’ll see you there! )

For International Yoga Day, people all over the world gathered to practice together at sunset and pass the baton, to the next city with a sunset🌆. It was a beautiful thought and a beautiful experience to be under the sky, letting go of tension and bad energy with some “spring cleaning” and letting the fresh, first day of summer breeze carry the old away and bring in new inspiration. I was under a tree, with many layers of overlapping branches and just truly enjoyed looking up at my personal skylight between the branches.

Sara talks about taking knowledge you gain about yourself and what you’re holding onto ON the mat, and how that affects you OFF the mat – in your day-to-day. That’s something to think about.

Yoga on the mind….. on to the D.I.Y.! 

Tired of carrying your yoga mat hastily rolled up and balanced mostly hanging out of your gym bag or tote??

Don’t have sewing skills or the time to make a drawstring bag?

I didn’t have anything to carry my mat in, and as a result, the T-riding, picture-taking, overall maneuvering around was awkward and I resolved to do something about it and try to see if I could make a carrier for myself and not drop $$ on it.

This took me 15 minutes to make, requiring only a few quick hand-sewing stitches, about a yard of (in my case, leftover wedding decor in my favorite color) scrap ribbon, and the two cloth handles of a j.crew shopping bag.

 

This is the hardest part of the process. Ready?

Take your yard+ of ribbon and start at one end. Fold over about 6 inches and at the fold, sew a few stitches securely about half – 2/3 of the width of the shopping bag ribbon away from the creased fold. You can use shopping bag ribbon, or whatever you may choose to recycle to use to be in contact with the mat – I used these scraps because I like repurposing, but also because it has a bit more grab than a silky satin ribbon I used for the rest of the sling. The black shopping bag handle scrap will eventually go through this loop to allow for adjustability of the sling to hold the mat more snugly. 

Next, take the free end of the ribbon (about 5 inches from the loop) and tie two simple knots with the ribbon and the black handle. 

Loop the single free end of the black handle through the loop you sewed. Then, tie a knot (far right of this photo) between the ribbon and the black handle ABOVE the sewed loop. This knot will be one you may untie in the future once you test out the fit with your mat – you may need it looser or more snug, so don’t tie it TOO tightly until you’re sure. Don’t worry about knots coming undone – the balance and symmetry of the weight of the mat should keep everything in line nicely. 

Now, roll your mat and slide it through. 

Now you can see if you need to tighten the knots which you made just a moment ago above the sewed loops that you threaded the black handles through.

 

Final step: use remainder of scrap to tie a connector between the mat-holding loops for extra security. 

I made my sling longer but you can shorten it to your liking. You can carry it flat across, or sling it over your shoulder more like a one shoulder backpack. The cloth of the shopping bag handles fits snugly against the yoga mat and the extra connector ribbon keeps it together.

I like the style of this sling – it has lots of ends and lines that I find to be attractive-like wisps of thoughts. Pick your favorite color and run with it!

That is it, my friends! I hope you find this useful and let me know if you have any questions!

Have a great weekend!

BlueBoots