Minimalist, eco-friendly Looxa Yoga Workbooks are genius! The Yoga Workbooks come in four different yoga modalities: Yin, Ashtanga Primary Series, Ashtanga Intermediate Series, and Vinyasa. These notebook-style booklets are fabulous learning and review tools for yoga students/practitioners, yoga teachers, bodyworkers, and especially for those taking yoga teacher trainings (YTT).
It makes sense. How many of us struggled during our YTTs, trying to sketch stick-people doing asanas and ending up with something looking like exploded isometric drawings all over the page? When you are learning about the poses, and learning to teach the poses, a book with the poses seems like a no-brainer. Why hasn’t anyone thought of this before?!?
Lucky for us, the good people at Looxa have our backs. These A5 sized notebooks are made from recycled paper and are hand-bound with eco-friendly thread. So when you know your yoga poses well enough that you can throw the book away (not that you would want to), you won’t have to worry about filling up landfills in the name of yoga. A small blossoming company, Looxa products are made in Croatia by family businesses.
It is clear these books are made for yogis, by yogis. The left-hand page features a simple and accurate sketch of a faceless human doing a yoga pose, while the right-hand page is blank for your own notes and observations. There is also a table of contents – BRILLIANT – so you can easily lookup any given pose when you want to come back to review it. Yoga teachers out there – check out these books for your students. Using a workbook like this will give YTT students more time to absorb valuable information instead of scrambling to sketch a pose.
The Yoga Workbooks are not just for YTT students. They would be lovely as a yoga journal, review workbook for teachers, or as a tool for an eager yoga newbie wanting to get deeper into the practice. Recently while creating a workshop combining Yin postures and self-massage, the Yin Yoga Workbook came in as a handy tool to review and re-assemble information from both Yin trainings and RMT education. You can see from the pictures that the Looxa Yin Yoga Workbook is WAY more effective than the ‘Before Looxa Workbooks’ blank-page-attempt at capturing the nuances of Child’s Pose (Balasana).
It is worth mentioning that the recycled aspect of the material gives the Yoga Workbooks a utilitarian feel. At first glance and touch, the pages seemed like they might be a little flimsy and see-through so we tested them by using a felt-tip pen. While the ink did leave a little bit of an impression on the back of the page, it was not enough to cause confusion to the eye. Sometimes we can overlook minor imperfections for the sake of not devastating the planet. Looxa’s commitment to sustainability is backed by its association with Ecolabel, FSC and Der Blau Angel. When asked about the plastic wrap that the books where shipped in, a Looxa representative explained that some books had been damaged by moisture in shipping previously so they needed better protection – and that they are searching for options that will keep the books affordable for yogis, yet be a move towards zero-waste. Looxa has accepted the challenge to balance zero-waste practices with attainability.
“No progress should ever take sustainability as a hostage or dismiss it as collateral damage.” – Looxa website.
While it’s easier to find a retail location selling the workbooks in Europe, hopefully soon we will see more places in North America where they are available for purchase. In the meantime, you can purchase them online. It’s a fabulous gift for any yoga practitioner, teacher or student. At about $15-$18 CAD, the price-point is reasonable for an educational tool. The shipping is expensive though, about $15 for up to 1 kg which is about 4 workbooks. Looxa also offers wholesale accounts to qualified studios and bookstores.
Overall, Looxa Yoga Workbooks have a lot to love about them. A great idea, simply executed. To overcome challenges inherent in online shopping/shipping from Europe, it might be an idea to get a group of friends (or a class) together to make one bigger order. Otherwise, keep checking the retail location list on the Looxa website to see if a retail location near you begins to carry them.
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