Face it, yoga is tough. Nothing else prepares you for yoga except more yoga. Cross-training is a wonderful concept that often falls short, and never so much as with this graceful practice. Whether you are a football linebacker, a Hooligan racer, or a shooting guard on a basketball team, yoga can help your performance. And while it’s good for your health, it’ll humble you first. Now, however, you can get a little assistance.
Founded in Sydney and now New York City-based, Wearable X‘s new Nadi X-activated yoga apparel can help you master poses by putting a little pulse in your pants. The full Nadi X solution includes three components: Yoga pants with embedded electronics, a small device called the Pulse that clips behind your upper left knee and controls the pulses in the pants, and a smartphone app.
The Pulse clip communicates with a smartphone in real time in both directions, sending data about your movements to the companion app, which then uses algorithms to identify the yoga pose you’re vying for. The app then sends instructions back to the Pulse that direct the speed and intensity of the vibrations in various parts of the pants. The promise is that you will recognize what needs to be moved where because once you get it right, the pulsing will minimize or cease.
Even experienced yoga students and instructors can benefit from the Nadi X yoga pants because it is easy to get a little lazy and it is also difficult to know if you are holding a posture correctly without mirrors all over the place or a coach.
“I was never really good at yoga and felt intimidated whenever I would explore a new pose,” says Wearable X CEO and co-founder Billie Whitehouse. “Throughout creating this product, we worked with over 50 yogis across three different continents to understand the importance of alignment in time and space. We are proud to redefine what it means to be a modern lifestyle brand by combining fashion and technology.”
Nadi X yoga pants come with a Pulse clip and can be purchased from the company website for $179 (considerably less than the $300 the pants were originally priced at). For $299, you can get a full year of yoga classes within the companion app — for $10 a month, that is considerably less than most boutique yoga studios will charge. So if you’re looking to start your new year with a new practice, these may be the yoga pants for you.
Update: Nadi X by Wearable X are now shipping.