When I was in the US,  my friend convinced me to go to a yoga class. I was shocked when she showed me a difficult yoga gesture.

So, I decided to go to a store to find a beautiful yoga mat. I was thinking it would become my inseparable friend, that I would take it with me everywhere, and that it would be the symbol of my practice.

I spent a few months researching. Turns out there are a variety of yoga mat options on the Internet. I am gonna tell you the details, which is a lot of fun.

What’s important is that I finally decided on a gorgeous one. It was also pretty expensive—I was thinking I wouldn't regret it considering that it was a worthy investment. You know, yoga can improve our health.

What happened after I got it?

It ruined my experience of yoga.

I became obsessed with my mat.

Because it was expensive, I was really careful with it when using the yoga mat. I wanted to make sure I didn’t damage a single corner of it.

During my classes, I tried to keep it clean, and made sure that there was not a single speck of dust on it. Trust me, it would bug me and distract me from my practice during the whole class.

It was kinda annoying because it’s heavy.

It took up so much space in my small bedroom.

It is not convenient. If I brought it to the yoga class, I had to take it back home before I went to another place. 

Gosh, why did I do that to myself?

Stuff = Stress

Thankfully, I was able to return it. The experience led me to this conclusion.

Stuff = Stress

I got really surprised by how much anxiety an object I had been wanting so badly had caused. I was hoping that the yoga practice would make me more persistent, acceptant, and calm on things.

It had turned into a source of pure stress and distraction.

I had cues of this earlier on. I was jealous of some friends who owned cars, only to realize how much trouble they faced with maintenance.

When I first moved away from home, I was eager to take everything with me. Yet I faced the painful challenge of my nomadic lifestyle and moving everything again, and again, and again.

So, I arrived in California with one big suitcase, and one small, I had been carrying them around for the whole year.

I have very few clothes, and don’t feel like I need more.

I used to buy useless little things, now I hate that.

Keeping my room tidy and a clutter of stuffs gives me a bad mood.

For the record, I did end up buying a EVA foam yoga mat again.

Why ? Because I have been practicing a lot and it has been proved that it is useful.

This time is different tho. I made it a personal point to not get too attached to it. I take it to the beach, get it dirty, clean it whenever needed, and that’s pretty much it.

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