Rolling out the woolly yoga mat

Just when you thought you had every piece of yoga kit you could ever require, there go Demi Moore and her boyfriend carrying sheepskin yoga mats over their shoulders.

It turns out that swathes of Londoners are using them and suddenly that natural rubber, super-sticky eco mat you bought for £65 is looking a bit sad.

But before you let your mat develop an inferiority complex, you should know the score.

Sheepskin mats are the preserve of practitioners of kundalini yoga — the style favoured by Moore as well as Russell Brand and Moore’s daughter Rumer Willis.

Kundalini is a meditative style of yoga and much of the practice is done in a seated position, holding postures for up to five minutes, often with the eyes closed.

“Sheepskin is seen as a way of protecting your energy from the energy of the earth but it’s also very practical as it has a lot of cushioning, which is what you want when you are in seated postures,” explains Natalie Wells, a kundalini teacher who runs Kundalini Yoga London and uses a sheepskin mat herself.

Traditionally kundalini yogis would use deer skins, which were said to help protect the practitioner from insect bites.

Wells has “definitely noticed that more and more people are interested in kundalini yoga,” and although she was not aware that Moore is a fan, she has attended a workshop at Triyoga with Brand in the past. “Kundalini has always been seen as a more spiritual style of yoga, so it has taken more time to catch on, but it is increasing in popularity because it is extremely useful for stress relief.” As a result, you’re bound to start seeing a lot more Londoners hefting around rolled up sheepskins on the Tube.

But I know what you’re thinking. Aren’t yogis supposed to stick to a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle? For example, those who are dedicated to the jivamukti style of yoga (Kate Moss’s favoured type) tend to avoid eating or wearing any animal products or by-products.

However, there is no rule against eating meat or using animal products in yoga and Yogi Bhajan, a spiritual leader who introduced kundalini to the US, swore by his sheepskin, saying the skins were just a by-product of the meat and that the sheep was helped to get to a higher place in its spiritual evolution when its skin was used for meditation.

Wells identifies with this. “Kundalini definitely recommends a vegetarian lifestyle,” she says, “but the skin is seen as a by-product of the meat industry where the sheep is not killed only for its skin.” She does add, however: “You would certainly want to buy your sheepskin from an ethical source.”

British sheepskin mats, £58.95 from yogatrading.co.uk. For information visit: kundaliniyogalondon.com. Kundalini yoga classes at Triyoga (triyoga.co.uk) and L!fe Shoreditch (lifeshoreditch.com).