Talk to me about how Jade Yoga was founded and could you provide an overview of Jade Yoga’s mission and core values?
The story of JadeYoga really starts over 100 years ago when founder Dean Jerrehian’s grandfather emigrated from Armenia to the United States in 1904 and began an oriental rug business, Jerrehian Brothers, at the age of 16. He quickly turned this business into one of the most well-known and well respected rug dealers in the country by focusing on quality and service. Dean’s father followed his grandfather into the business in the 1960s and founded Jade Industries in 1974 to solve a problem for oriental rug buyers around the world – there were no high quality rug pads to go under fine oriental rugs to provide cushion and prevent them from slipping. The solution to this problem was natural rubber and Jade began making natural rubber rug pads to go under area rugs.
In fact, the birth of JadeYoga really brought yoga mats full circle as one of the first known yoga mats was a rug pad. As the story goes, B.K.S. Iyengar was in the United States doing a demonstration on an oriental rug, but he was slipping – a student took away the rug – leaving the pad and the first yoga mat. Strangely, the yoga mat that became the norm from here was made with cheap, imitation plastic – or PVC. It was also annoyingly slippery – almost useless for most practices and likely toxic.
JadeYoga began in earnest in 2000 after Dean learned of the fundamental problem with most yoga mats on the market at that time – they were slippery. As Jade was already making natural rubber rug pads, they approached the problem from that angle and developed Harmony, the first natural rubber yoga mat. People had never seen anything like it and were thrilled to be able to get a yoga mat that actually gripped. In addition, natural rubber has better cushion and resilience, making it more comfortable. Finally, tapped from rubber trees, natural rubber is a renewable resource and our mats are made in the United States (with imported rubber) in compliance with U.S. environmental laws and contain no PVCs – making our mats the first “green” and non-toxic yoga mats.
Jade’s mission is to make the best performing, best quality, most eco-friendly yoga products and give back to the earth with each product sold.
Jade Yoga is known for using natural, sustainable materials in its products. Could you share insights into the materials used in your yoga mats and accessories, and the environmental benefits they offer compared to traditional alternatives?
Jade’s mats are made with natural rubber which is a rapidly renewable resource tapped, like maple syrup, from living rubber trees. Most other mats are made with PVC, TPE or EVA, petroleum based (non-renewable) plastics. Natural rubber also grips better, is more comfortable and is less toxic than plastics.
Jade’s cork block are made with pre-consumer recycled cork which is harvest sustainably from cork trees in Portugal. No trees are cut down, but after the tree reaches maturity at 25 years old, the bark of the tree is carefully removed. The bark will regenerate over the next 9 years, absorbing additional CO2 in the process, at which point the new bark will be harvested and the process will repeat.
It goes without saying that the majority of hotel visitors are looking for a restful and relaxing experience. How could a hotel elevate their guest experience by incorporating yoga into their spa and wellness offerings?
Adding yoga to spa and wellness offerings is almost mandatory at this point. So many people are practicing yoga at home or at their local studio on a daily basis, they will not want to miss it when they are traveling. Moreover, many people try new things when traveling, so even those who are not already practicing yoga might want to try while they are on vacation. Maybe most importantly, as many hotels & spas are already doing it (many even putting branded mats in rooms), it is important to offer this to your guests or they may stay somewhere else.
Explain to me a little bit more about your amazing initiative to plant a tree for every product sold and Jade Yoga’s reasons behind this.
Jade is committed to giving back to the earth with every product sold. We want to leave the earth a better place than when we found it. As Jade mats come from trees, we decided to give back by planting a tree for every mat sold. And since 2006, through our partnership with Trees for the Future, we have done just that, planting over two and one half million trees so far.
