I've been blessed that my passion for storytelling allowed me to explore our planet from the icy Himalayas to the deserts of Afghanistan. I've wandered ancient mosques that Rumi prayed in, searched for possibly extinct woodpeckers, berthed with Great White Shark taggers off of South Africa, been shot at in Iraq and got seasick on the Bering sea. Along the way, I picked up accolades, including an emmy -but it's the people I met in my travels and our impossibly beautiful planet, that inspire me daily.

How does all this circle back to yoga? Everytime I packed my lunchbox to head off on a new adventure, I brought my yoga mat. Gyms and exercise studios were few and far between; but there was always a 24" x 72" spot on the deck of a boat or the floor of a tent, where I could unroll my yoga mat and start a flow. Since my mat was ever-present, it became my muse and started me wondering a series of why's: Why was my mat made with harmful PVC material? Why are most yoga straps polyester? And why was my yoga towel made from a blend of plastic microfibers and silicon nubs so synthetic that I could feel the oil from the petro-chemicals on my skin?

Could these everyday yoga products be re-imagined?

In 2020, Covid hit, the world stopped and we were all taken out of our "normal" lives and into the unknown of our own human potential. I knew in my heart that I could either fall into isolation and despair; or free myself by manifesting a dream. First, I designed a hand-dyed yoga strap made from 100 % hemp -a naturally anti-microbial fabric that strikes a nice balance between tautness and stretch. Next up, were yoga mats. Those took more than a year of mind-numbing sourcing -but we eventually tracked down the advanced grip, recyclable yoga mats we offer today. At a glance, we offer only blue and green, but we spent more than a month color testing and comparing swatches until we found the deep, rich hues we were looking for. Did you know that each color has 100's of RGB variations to choose from? Neither did we, and we hope the manufacturer forgives us for being the annoying customer at an ice cream shop who needs to try every flavor before ordering. Following the mats, my Kinshē partner, Ashley, took on Mat refresh sprays. Working with a little factory at the foot of the Canadian escarpment she custom blended pure essential oils from forest and flowers to create two subtle scents: "Yin" to calm and "Kindle" to energize. From Istanbul, we sourced premium Turkish cotton yoga towels in nature-inspired colors. And, just in time for Christmas, we're launching "The Ridgemat"; the world's first yoga mat with three dimensional elements to stabilize poses and acupressure ridges to get the endorphins flowing before your very first pose.

As I learned from my travels, the earth isn't flat -why should our yoga mat be?

Yoga Different,

Ethan