CHENNAI: Yoga was fashionable long before June 21 was set aside to celebrate it, but if International Yoga Day has done anything, it has led to a week long honeymoon period for dealers in Yoga Accessories. Sales of yoga-related gear have shot up in the city over the last week.
But first, what gear, you ask? What could possibly be needed to execute a series of exercises, or asanas, that are ideally performed barefoot? Ask hardcore yoga aficionados and you learn — quite a lot! From yoga mats, t-shirts and stretchy pants to yoga socks, candles and music — yoga practitioners, atleast the ones who can afford them, use all.
Akanksha Bhatia, an avid practioner of yoga for over a year, lists a few things she uses. “I buy some of my stuff online, like the mats and pants,” she pointed out. “I do my yoga at home. So I use some other things as well when doing the asanas. For example, music and scented candles — I pick these off the shelves from stores in Chennai,” she added.
She’s not the only one who uses a host of other paraphenilia to make yoga more personal. Gauthami Thakur, a corporate executive, also uses special headrests and pillows, while R Ravikumar, a sexagenarian practitioner, uses specially-made padded boards for strenous exercises. The normally niche market for these items though had suddenly exploded on the announcement of the nationwide celebration.
“Naturally, the items that have witnessed the largest increase have been the yoga mats. It is rather indispensable for most people since almost every asana requires people to get down on the floor, and mats are a must there,” said S Balaji of Dr Asasa Andiappan Yoga Centre. In fact, one distributor of mats to Chennai stores said that the last two weeks had seen sale of yoga mats jump nearly four fold.
“Schools have been the largest drivers. Suddenly, all these children want yoga mats for yoga. And since they are kids, they also want themed t-shirts, bright neon pants and tights, etc,” pointed out Pradeep Samuel, wholesale seller of mats and other sports accessories.
The big retail players have also jumped on the yoga bandwagon. Amazon, Snapdeal and Reebok, to mention a few, all have embarked on extensive Yoga Day offers and initiatives. Amazon, which launched a dedicated yoga store on June 20, said that they had seen an increase in all yoga gear rise by 400 per cent compared to a few months ago, and Snapdeal had several offers on yoga products starting from June 17. Even sales of self-help DVDs on Yoga have seen a marked rise.
The most clinching statement to the craze for yoga goods over the past week, however, came from a T-shirt dealer in T-Nagar’s Satya Bazaar. “I don’t know about these mats and other things, but people have been pestering me for bright ‘yoga’ shirts and pants for over a week now,” he said.
What to Wear?
Increase in sales of Yoga related gear: 400%
Mats: 4-fold increase
‘Yoga’ pants: 2-fold increase
What are people buying for yoga?
Yoga Mats: Rs 300 - Rs 1,500
Pants: Rs 500 onwards
Cotton socks (For when your gym AC is a little too cold): Rs 150 onwards
Scented Candles - Rs 100 onwards
Music DVDs - Rs 300 onwards
Head rests: Rs 300 onwards
Padded boards (To assist old practioners): Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,600
