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I've joined a new studio which teaches iyengar yoga and I've noticed that we have to take shoes off when we go into a yoga school and I was wondering if there is a reason behind this apart from wanting to keep the floor/carpet clean? I never take my shoes off inside (apart from when I go to yoga) so it feels a bit wierd walking round in my socks out side . I getit when you are in the room itself, but why outside?

its symbolic of leaving the outside world behind... your shoes are the bit of you which touches the outside world the most, the bit that's dragged through the muck & the mire, and by leaving them at the door of the sacred space you are entering to practice you keep it sacred.

Hi Reuben

Welcome to YogaTalk, great to have you with us!

I totally agree with you. Taking your shoes off shows that you're respecting the space that you're walking into, and also help to keep the space it clean and tidy. I recently read another reason for removing shoes, which is that the soles absorb 'impurities of the road' therefore are not allowed in a sacred space.

Timmy, in the Hindu tradition when you enter a temple you are asked to take off your shoes (this is because most shoes are made of leather from dead animals which is considered impure), so I guess initially it came from that.

Hope this helps to answer your question!

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