Yogamalai Information
Written by Judy Hirsh and Saravanan Sampath

Yogamalai products are made by a group of  women and men living in Chennai, South India. The story started in 2001 when our
first mat bag was made by a lovely woman I met through a friend in a fishing community in Chennai. When I brought it back to the UK, all my students wanted one and I asked her to make 10 bags.      
 
Later the same year, we got our first wholesale order in the UK, and we came up with the idea for yogamalai (yoga mountain) - to give women work who had access to sewing machines and no other income. 

10 years later, we have 10 women and 2 men working for yogamalai, a bolster making family, a manager and quality controller. In return for their dedication and high quality work, we pay them directly, providing them with a  fair wage and flexible working hours - there is no factory and no boss paying them poor rates in poor working conditions, and taking all the profit. By buying a  .yogamalai.  product, you are directly supporting the welfare of families we know.                       
 
We are always adding new yogamalai products to our list as demand increases, so we now have soothing eye pillows, cotton bolsters, yoga belts, blankets, yoga kit bags, and handbags as well as the original yoga mat bags which got the whole thing started. 

We are very proud of our .yogamalai. yoga mat bags, now available in 100% Indian cotton with quality woven elephant border, as well as
the original water-resistant mat bags which got the whole thing started. Now we not only have yoga mat bags but have found people to make bolsters, bolster covers, and handbags too. They also source and buy silver jewellery, incense holders, meditation aids and other growing list of fantastic, fun and functional products from local people.   We can make any bag or item to your spec too so if you can’t find what you want, yogamalai will make it for you.