During yoga class the other night, I heard the tell-tale sounds of cold and flu season - a sniffly-snuffly nose clearing here, a barely concealed cough there, a surprising sneeze interrupting savasana.

Yoga studios can be close, sweaty quarters. Mats are spread on the wood floors only inches apart. An extended-leg pose can find your toes just under the nose of your neighbouring yogini.

You share bathrooms, tightly packed cubby holes, as well as props like blocks, bolsters, blankets, straps, and sometimes eye pillows. Some people even stow their yoga mats on a stacked mountain of mats so they don’t have to carry them back and forth from home to studio.

It doesn’t take a stretch of the imagination to realize that a yoga class is a potential germ zone. And with H1N1 added into the seasonal cold and flu stew, it was a relief when I received a preventative reminder from my yoga studio the very next morning!

I thought I’d share some tips I gleaned from Breathe Yoga Studio in Toronto:

- Make sure to clean your mat and the floor around your mat after class. Consider all the sweat and bodily fluids that can be dripped or flung onto the floor and you’ll know why this is just the courteous and hygienic thing to do! It’s kind of like wiping down the machines at the gym after you use them.

- You can make your own effective mat cleaning solution by mixing ¼ of a cup of rubbing alcohol with ¾ cup of water and a few drops of your preferred essential oil. Breathe recommends lavender oil, perhaps because it’s soothing. But I’d also try something invigorating, like ginger, peppermint, or lemon, to boost your energy when you’re ready to give up on upward dog.

+ here’s some insight into keeping those sticky mats sticky…