Helping yourself, easier said than done. So, how does it actually work? Often, we’re hoping for someone else to fix things. People like friends, family, our partner or of course, our pet. Most of the times that is perfectly alright and leaves us feeling supporttet and safe. But right now, in times of a pandemic, […] weiterlesen
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A yoga block made out of flip-flops
This yoga block looks like a little piece of art, don’t you think? It actually is a piece of art – it is a handmade yoga block out of flip-flops – flip-flops collected on the coasts of Kenya. We offer these yoga blocks as a special and limited edition. The organisation behind these yoga blocks […] weiterlesen
Yoga for hearing-impaired – Inclusion in the Yoga World
Have you ever been to a yoga class that actively included hearing-impaired people? A question you don’t ask yourself if you’re hearing. But inclusion remains a topic that we would like to deal with further, especially in relation to yoga, which literally means unity in Sanskrit. So is unity between hearing and hearing-impaired people possible? […] weiterlesen
hejhej-mats experience – that’s how the hejhej experience really is
Maybe you’re just at the beginning of your yoga practice or your old yoga mat is coming to an end. We know that the search for a sustainable yoga mat can be very tiring and long. Our hejhej-mat was created out of this need, so to speak. The mat fulfills all criteria that are important […] weiterlesen
Non-slip yoga mat – a look at the surface of the hejhej-mat
One of the criteria that is often considered when buying a new yoga mat is slip resistance. If you have ever slipped on your yoga mat during a nice flow with wet hands or feet, you probably know what we are talking about. In yoga you should be able to concentrate on your practice, your […] weiterlesen
The yoga philosophy & sustainability – An interpretation of the Yamas
Let’s look at the yoga from a sustainability perspective to see how the yoga philosophy and sustainability are connected. Beginning this article we need to add a little side note about what we refer to as the yoga philosophy – because the yoga philosophy is a wide field. So we are referring to the Yoga […] weiterlesen
Yoga and nutrition: How you can support your yoga practice with your nutrition
The Yoga practice is all about the full breath and the physical strength should be able to be used up to your personal limits. Therefore it is very important that your body can concentrate on the practice and, for example, do not have to engage an intensive digestive activity. At the same time, you should […] weiterlesen
The best yoga hotels to switch off
The main purpose of a holiday is to switch off and completely relax. Sun is definitely a factor on vacation that allows the feeling of relaxation to arrive quicker but also that is not always guaranteed. Luckily there is also yoga and a careful selection of the best yoga hotels following in this article. Yoga […] weiterlesen
Yoga strap made of hemp
A yoga strap can be very helpful for your yoga practice. Not only beginners but also experienced yogis can dive deeper into the practice with the strap. For us, it often depends on the day how we feel during the yoga, so the strap can be used just when we are a little uncertain or […] weiterlesen
5 Tips from the Ayurveda philosophy that support your yoga practice
What do Yoga and Ayurveda have in common? Both are Vedic traditions. The vedic religion is the oldest religion of India that can be found in written documents. In India, Ayurveda and Yoga have been integrated into the health system for a very long time and are seen parallel to western/traditional medicine. The Ayurvedic philosophy […] weiterlesen
hejhej’s impact report No. 1: how much waste did we save? how many children did we support in South Africa? and how many trees did we plant?
A sustainability report is not only for big companies but also for small companies to transparently report about its sustainability actions. Yet, we mostly know impact reports from big corporations. They use this report to present itself as the most sustainable company, reporting about all the little things they do. In reality, most of them […] weiterlesen
The first yoga mat test with sustainability criteria
Yoga mats – hardly any other piece of sports equipment needs to fulfill so many demands and that is why you can find a lot of yoga mat tests and reviews on the world wide web. In the first place, a yoga mat needs to be slip-resistant to give good support during a downward-facing dog. […] weiterlesen
How does a sustainable production of a yoga mat work? A check list with 5 criteria.
Nowadays, quite a lot of companies claim to be sustainable. We recently, for example, have seen one of the biggest fast fashion companies advertising to sell sustainable products. So sadly, we can’t just trust companies anymore but we need to understand what it means to produce sustainable products. That’s why we want to explain to […] weiterlesen
Happy World Down Syndrome Day to all of you!
Today is the 21st of March and it’s World Down Syndrome Day. Today should be about thinking about each other, acting for the community and the individuals. World Down Syndrome Day now exists for 14 years. It was not coincidentally placed on the 21st of March. The number 21 symbolizes the characteristic of Down Syndrome […] weiterlesen
Yoga at home – a guide for a strengthening practice
We rush through our everyday life – both corporate and private. It’s full of appointments and we sometimes just forget to take some time in between for ourselves. Then there are suddenly times, where we are forced to stay home. Yoga is a great way to make the best out of it. A regular Yoga […] weiterlesen
The circular economy: examples from the yoga industry
We recently had the opportunity to talk to the 7th grade of a Montessori school about sustainability and examples of the circular economy. This day gave us incredibly valuable new food for thought because we were able to see the world of sustainability and yoga for a few moments from a child’s perspective. On the […] weiterlesen
The first recycled yoga mat – we all have to change
It has never been more important to think about your own buying decisions. Everyone has power to make a change – every individual consumer, every tiny or huge company, every institution, and all our politics. Our start-up hejhej and the first recycled yoga mat is our contribution.
Being a mum and founder – 5 questions for WOMOM
We did not reach gender equality in professional life yet and women are also underrepresented as entrepreneurs. Being a mum and and a founder: more and more mothers see entrepreneurship as an opportunity to combine family- and work-life. Unfortunately, it is often difficult for mothers to fully develop their professional lives. Kita places have long […] weiterlesen
The chakras – yoga is more than physical exercises
Chakras are another part of the ancient Indian knowledge about yoga. The word chakra from Sanskrit can be translated as wheel or disc. Chakras are centers of consciousness and life energy in the body, whereby the original teaching describes seven main energy centers. Of course, there are still many tributaries of the life force in your body, but these seven act as nodal points that concentrate and distribute the most.
What is Circular Monday all about?
Wir wollen dir die Strategien der Kreislaufwirtschaft an die Hand geben, um ganzheitliche Entscheidungen zu den materiellen Dingen in deinem Leben zu ermöglichen. That’s why Circular Monday is the Monday before Black Friday. We want to step in before the day of mass consumption to remind you of alternative options and to spread the message reuse, repair, and rent. Let yourself be inspired and discover holistic and exciting new concepts to manufacture, make available, and maintain the lifespan of goods.
A sustainable yoga mat bag – the hejhej-bag
Sustainability is simply inevitable. The circular economy is the most healthy way to consume and that is why we created the most sustainable yoga mat bag in a circular way.
Crowdfunding campaign hejhej-bag – why we do it again
Crowdfunding enables truly sustainable product innovation as society decides whether or not a new product will appear on the market. That’s why the hejhej-bag is only launched if the crowdfunding campaign is successful.
Sufficiency strategy – what does it actually mean?
Do I really need this product? This simple question sums up the sufficiency strategy. All other sustainability approaches are solely powerless and need the sufficiency strategy on its side. This is why, we integrated the strategy in our personal as well as in our corporate life. It is a key part of hejhej although it totally goes against the classic economy. We tell people to only buy a new yoga mat if a new one is really needed. We don’t want to promote consumption, we want to make a change.
First closed-loop yoga mat – the hejhej-mat
Why are there so few sustainable companies and products? Why does a closed-loop yoga mat so far not exist? Those were exactly the questions that led us to the decision to make a difference and to develop the first closed-loop yoga mat. In this blog article, we want to explain what the term closed-loop means and why it’s the most sustainable way to produce and consume new products.
Holistic health – you are more than just your body
It is a lingering movement but luckily we are becoming more and more mindful and more aware of our planet. Just as we are more attentive to our environment, we should also consider holistically our own health – and that not only affects the body, but also mind and soul. A holistic approach to health should also pay attention to the ecosystem in which we move: our earth.
Sustainable traveling tips – mindful vacation
The mindfulness of your yoga practice can also be taken with you while traveling. We are sharing our 3 best sustainable traveling tips plus our top 7 reasons why everyone should travel outside in nature once.
The ethical production of a yoga mat
The story of a hejhej-mat – an ethical production of yoga mats. We want to communicate really transparent about how our hejhej-mats are produced. We consciously decided to produce in Germany in order to act as socially and ethically as possible and in order to keep the transportation ways as short as possible.
Who made my yoga mat? – we did that!
As you know, we are usually no huge fans of trends as they normally go together with unnecessary consumption. However, there is always an exception to the rule. One great one is Fashion Revolution. The global movement of fighting for fair working conditions for our garment producers is getting bigger. It gains more awareness on […] weiterlesen
Social sustainability: you buy a yoga mat, we donate one.
We want to use this blog article to inform you about our current social hejhej-special. From the 15th of April till the 15th of May, for every yoga mat bought we will donate one yoga mat to two social initiatives for people with a handicap. Read more about why social sustainability is so important for […] weiterlesen
Sustainable fasting – Our three favorite alternatives
Fasting is about refreshment and reflection. Forgoing for a while the familiar is more than an old tradition. Fasting actually has its roots in religion and should prepare us for the festive easter days. As well as in the old days as today it should be a period about reflection and consciousness. So also if […] weiterlesen
Donate yoga mats – why we donate to the homeless
Who would really need a mat? Especially for homeless people blankets and mats are really helpful. We wanted to extend the product life cycle of some of our mats from the development phase and at the same time support a social initiative. That’s why we decided to donate the yoga mats to a institutions for homeless people. Homelessness is not a topic in our society, we want to give you tips of how to support and interact with homeless people.
A cheap yoga mat – what is the true cost?
If you make a good deal it often comes to the cost of another person or our nature. Unfortunately, someone else is probably paying the price for your cheap yoga mat.
Sustainable Valentine’s Day presents – ideas
There are a lot commercial festive days, Valentine’s Day is one example. Especially on these days, it is important to not consume without thinking and to not support unethical companies but to show our economy and everybody out there that you care for sustainability.
Buy a yoga mat for 129€, is this a lot of money? Let’s compare it to your last buying decision
129€ is a lot of money. BUT we want to make you think about whether it is really a lot of money for a fully sustainable, high-quality yoga mat made in Germany? We want to encourage you to think about the products you buy and consume. Let’s all try to consume consciously and fair!
Sustainable Christmas gifts for yoga – thoughtful ideas
Yoginis and yogis love meaningful and thoughtful presents. A lot of them are into the topic of sustainability since yoga is not only about mindfulness towards themselves but also about mindfulness towards the planet. We are sharing four of our favorite sustainable gifts for yoga in our recent blog article with you.
Sustainable Christmas gifts – ideas for a sustainable Christmas
6 tips to make this year’s Christmas more sustainable than your last ones. We should all try to consume mindfully – also during Christmas time. Sustainable Christmas gifts are a great way to start.
A premium yoga mat – connecting mindfulness towards yourself the planet?
In theory mindfulness towards yourself and towards the planet work really well together. BUT: Why do we yogis then practice yoga on a harmful plastic mat? Our sustainable and premium yoga mats enable other yogis to consume mindfully. Mindful consumption questions whether you really need a product since most of the products people buy are not really necessary.
Social yoga can offer support along a therapy
Yoga has beneficial features for your overall wellbeing. Did you know that social yoga can also be supportive for people suffering from mental illnesses? Yoga für alle e.v. is a great NGO that makes yoga available for people who would otherwise not have the chance to participate in yoga.
A circular yoga mat – why you should return it
A circular yoga mat only becomes fully closed-looped if you return it. So one of the most important success factors of the circular economy is the consumer because it is in the consumer’s power to return a product and to make it available for a new production. However, to achieve a sustainable circular product it is essential to be aware of the intention of reaching a more sustainable planet with the circular economy.
Social start-up – our cooperation with a workplace for people with a handicap
hejhej-mats is not only about developing a yoga mat, we are aiming to become an environmental friendly and social start-up. We wanted to cooperate with a social organization for sewing the logos on top of our sustainable yoga mats. This is why we are cooperating with a workplace for people with disabilities. We want to share with you our experiences and reveal to you why this makes us so so happy.
The variety of yoga
Yoga not only offers a variety of yoga styles but also various yoga poses and so many places where you can practice yoga. People are nowadays chasing through their life without resting. Yoga is just about yourself and your practice on your mat – so it is a great way of slowing life down. For us it is certainly part of our daily life and we want to share with you some of our favorite yoga poses, places and styles.
The best yoga mat requires a lot of effort
The product development of hejhej-mats always had the aim to develop the best yoga at the market. Now it is finished and our hejhej-mats will be launched soon. What we experienced is the most expensive sustainability criteria is to solely manufacture a product in Germany, which is why we have to raise our sales price from 119€ to 129€. However, we are happy and proud to offer you a fully sustainable yoga mat made in Germany.
A cool yoga mat through emotions in our corporate life
Emotions are mostly not perceived positively although they are so important both in our personal life as well when starting up a business. We want to show that it is good to be emotional and tell you more about our experiences during the development of our sustainable and cool yoga mat.
A good yoga mat in Germany – what does that mean
Consumerism is part of our daily life and is even growing and growing so that there is a real overconsumption happening on our planet. hejhej-mats is not running its business in order to drive consumerism even more but just because we want to offer a sustainable and good yoga mat in Germany. All of us should ask ourselves the question of “Do you really need this product?” before making a buying decision.
A successful crowdfunding campaign – our key learnings
A successful crowdfunding campaign can also be quite tricky and it requires a lot of work. As our crowdfunding campaign helped us a lot with the further actions of our business, we would like to give you some insights on what we learned from our campaign and share with you our 5 key findings for a successful crowdfunding campaign.
A sustainable lifestyle – you could start from here
The amount of plastic waste on our planet is higher than ever before. All of us should start living a more sustainable lifestyle. We want to show you that some things are so easy but still so meaningful to change.
Women in entrepreneurship – experiences and hopes
Unfortunately, we have to experience ourselves that there are very little women in entrepreneurship. And the women who start their own businesses face difficulties men do not.
Recycled yoga mat out of foam off-cuts
The amount of plastic waste on our planet is steadily rising. hejhej-mats creates recycled yoga mats by using offcuts occurring in the foaming production.
High-quality yoga mat through customer co-creation
People always talk about high-quality yoga mats. But what actually is a high-quality yoga mat and how to design such product? hejhej-mats used an innovative tool called customer co-creation to create their own sustainable and high-quality yoga mat.
Eco-friendly yoga mat – we are more than that
We started hejhej-mats as we were disappointed by the current offer of yoga mats on the market. We did not find a mat, that could fulfill our sustainability expectations. So we started hejhej-mats and developed an eco-friendly yoga mat out of recycled materials which is also closed-loop. However, with one eco-friendly yoga mat, we can not call ourselves a sustainable start-up – but this is what we aim for! Sustainability is a fancy buzz word, but as some of you might already know, it is more…
Natural rubber yoga mats – we decided not to create them
The planet already has enough valuable resources in abundance. It is not necessary to take new natural materials, like natural rubber, to produce new products, such as natural rubber yoga mats.
Sustainable development goals – hejhejs contribution
hejhej-mats is making a contribution to the UN sustainable development goals. More specifically, to goal number 12. Read more about goal number 12 and how hejhej-mats contributes to achieving the goals.
The benefits of yoga and why you should try yoga now
The benefits of yoga are many. Yoga not only influences your body strength and flexibility positively, it is also beneficial for your mental strength. Read more about why everyone should try yoga at least once.
A closed-loop yoga mat – it’s time for a sustainable yoga mat
Seeking to achieve a sustainable planet that allows future generations to live a lifestyle similar to ours right now, we need to rethink waste as a resource. The current linear “take-make-dispose” approach is reaching the physical limits of the planet. A circular economy, with closed-loop products, such as a closed-loop yoga mat, can be one solution.
Sustainability – our inspiration and motivation
What actually motivates us to put all our time, money and heart into the development of a closed-loop yoga mat? We are driven by the vision of a sustainable future – but there are more factors that motivate us! We want to share our motivation with you in this blog post.