This summer I’m participating in a new Gaiam.ca product review program! Mr Science and I have been practicing yoga several times a week since the spring, so this was especially timely.

Although I’ve been aware of Gaiam for quite some time, I hadn’t tried any of their products before this summer. It was fun to try some new items!

• Yoga mat and tie. I have a Pilates mat (which I generally use for practicing yoga), a regular yoga mat (which is now Mr Science’s), and a yoga mat that came with a Wii Fit (which I now use at the office when we do workplace yoga). This new yoga mat is by far the prettiest! And somehow that makes yoga even more fun. I like looking down at my mat and seeing a lovely colour and pattern. Besides that, it’s a very comfortable yoga mat to use. Since receiving it, it’s all I’ve been using for my yoga practice.

• Water bottle. Again, this water bottle is so pretty! AND it matches my yoga mat. I like that. All I really have for water bottles are Nalgenes, so it’s nice to mix it up and have an aluminum one too. The mouth of this water bottle is big enough to drop some ice cubes in there (I have a big thing for ice water), so that’s convenient – although it DOES sweat (like all aluminum bottles), so if you’re going to have ice cold liquid in there, you might want to wrap it in a towel before tossing it in your bag.

• Power Up Yoga DVD. I’m sad to say that I wasn’t a big fan of this DVD. There may be a few different reasons for that: first of all, Mr Science and I practice our yoga with podcasts, so we aren’t used to watching someone practice yoga and mimicking them. Second, the terms used in this video for the poses were different than the ones I’m used to, so that was a little confusing. And third, I found the movements were a little bit too rushed – I felt like I wasn’t entirely sure what was happening as I was doing it.

• Jillian Michaels Hard Body DVD. I’m a big fan of DVDs from Jillian Michaels, so this was exciting to try a new one! I’ve only tried Level One of this DVD so far (there are two levels, each 45 minutes long), but it was a lot of fun. I liked that it was a slower pace than most of her DVDs – it seemed to allow for more opportunities to learn the movements the first time through, and then speed it up the next time trying it out. I also enjoy how Jillian Michaels focuses on a variety of different muscles – it’s a good workout!

Want to try out some of these products for yourself? Get 15% off your purchase at Gaiam.ca with the code MB15SMRW and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Gaiam sent me these products free of charge. The opinions written here are entirely my own.