At this year’s Brighton Yoga Festival, four of our teachers collaborated with OHMME, who specialise in a new range of men’s Yoga clothing. Created with the intention to bring more men to the mat, and to bring about a sense of community amongst male practitioners. While women seem to have endless options of colourful leggings, vests and clothing styles
to practice in, men are usually left to find the nearest top they don’t mind sweating in, and any old pair of running shorts. OHMME allows men to be included in the modern Yoga world, with subtle yet intelligently crafted clothing.
Founded by French-born Louis D’Origny, he was soon joined by Jonty Hikmet, and the two now have a team of ambassadors from all over the world sharing their practice and their stories.
Jonty from OHMME joined us at the Brighton Yoga Festival to meet our guys (Including BYF co-founder Davy Jones, Moving Stretch trainer David Croft, and Yoga teachers Jim Tarran and Jordan Paul) all sporting the range of understated and ultra comfortable material.
After navigating through the crowds of over 3000 people who came for a day of free yoga, therapies, meditation, music, goods to buy and healthy food and drink, Jonty answered some questions on the story behind the next big thing in men’s Yoga….
Q: Where did the idea to start a men’s Yoga clothing range come from? Do you have any background in retail?
Jonty: [It] wasn’t me who had the idea to start it, [it] was Louis. He wanted to provide a clothing range for men, who otherwise only had options of sportswear brands to wear during practice. I came in with the idea of generally encouraging men to do yoga with the brand.
Q: Explain the theory behind the name OHMME.
Jonty: Again, this is a clever thing Louis came up with; his native tongue is French, so he mixed the yoga mantra sound ‘AUM’ with the French word for man – ‘HOMME’ to make a brand which is yoga focused and solely for men.
Q: Do you practice Yoga yourself? And where do you practice?
Jonty: I practice myself in studios all over London, but primarily I have my own self-practice.
Q: Who is the most inspiring teacher you’ve met?
Jonty: Not sure I could just name one, most classes I go to give me snippets of inspiration. Jason Crandell is a great teacher as well as a great guy!
Q: There are lots of photos of guys in handstands and impressive arm-balances on the OHMME website – what’s the craziest posture you guys have ever seen?
Jonty: There’s a great teacher called Jani Jaatinen who does some crazy postures and makes up the names of the poses too! He may be hypermobile though… Davin Jones did a video with us called Yoga on the Edge which had him doing all kinds of arm balances on the edge of the White Cliffs of Dover. It’s a beautiful video but is crazy!
Q: Yoga, health & wellness are big business right now. Have you always been ‘healthy’?
Jonty: [In my] early 20s I started to align myself more with health, I had [all] the usual allergies and ailments as everyone else; Colds in the winter, hay fever in the summer and stomach issues as well. It all went away pretty suddenly when I started to be healthy, I rarely get sick if ever these days.
Q: What three things do you do every day to look after yourself and your health?
Jonty:
- Eat Well
- Sleep Well
- Smile
Q: What’s next for OHMME?
Jonty: Empower men who never considered yoga a part of their lives to give it a go. I really think that the modern men can soften in any way, the more we’ll create a harmony for humanity.
Q: Any favourite quotes for us?
Jonty: “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” – Jimi Hendrix
View the OHMME Yoga collection at www.ohmme.com and follow them for inspiration on Instagram at @OHMMEAPPARAL
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