For National Yoga Month and this week’s Founders Unfiltered, I had the incredible opportunity to sit down with Ksenia Voropaeva, former Wall Street careerwoman turned founder of Ananday, a sustainable, plastic-free, planet-kind, and non-toxic yoga mat brand. I’m so excited to share this special interview with you. We talk about what brought her to the mat, her yoga journey to date, and what it’s really like running Ananday while staying true to her values.

I found yoga while working on Wall Street, struggling with overwhelming stress and anxiety. Initially I went to yoga simply to catch my breath. But the more I practiced, the more curious I became. Yoga and meditation opened the door to my inner world and became a profound source of healing and transformation in my life. That curiosity eventually led me to complete multiple teacher trainings, and I went on to teach at studios around NYC. What began as a way to just feel better became a lifelong practice of coming back to myself, and ultimately, the inspiration behind Ananday.

Ananda means bliss in Sanskrit, our highest, most joyful state of being. Ananday is a play on that word: a reminder to connect to our bliss every day.

At its core, the brand is all about connection. To ourselves, our practice, and our planet. I believe that when we take better care of ourselves, that care naturally ripples outward.

Sustainability is the reason Ananday exists. When I first started teaching, I got so frustrated endlessly searching for safe, eco-friendly products for myself and my students. Because as it turns out, most yoga (and fitness) gear is made from toxic plastics and synthetics, wrapped in even more plastic, that harms us and our planet. Eventually I went down the rabbit hole of researching better, plant-based alternatives, and the first prototype of the Ananday mat was born. Every product since has prioritized natural, non-toxic, renewable materials and minimizing waste throughout production and packaging. We also plant trees with every order and offset more than 100% of our carbon footprint. My goal has always been to give back more than we take.

The biggest challenge is probably the same thing that makes Ananday unique: refusing to take the easy route. Working with natural materials, small production runs, and uncompromising sustainability standards can make everything slower and more complicated. The greatest joy is seeing something that started from my heart become part of someone else’s practice. Hearing from people who use their Ananday pieces every day to hold space for deeper presence, growth, and whatever they may be moving through still feels incredibly special.

I love a challenging asana practice. It pushes me toward my edges, toward expansion. Postures like inversions and deep backbends have a way of bringing the mind into single-pointed focus. It’s the best way I’ve found to completely clear my thoughts and be fully present, even if just for a few breaths. But what I love most is how the practice carries off the mat into everyday life. It’s taught me to find a little more space between external ups and downs and my internal response, to connect deeply to my energy and intuition, and ultimately, to know myself. It’s a constant reminder that everything we’re searching for outside of ourselves is already within us.

My first recommendation is always to use what you already have for as long as you can. The most sustainable product is the one that doesn’t need to be replaced.

But when you are ready for a new mat, I think it’s worth considering what you’re bringing into such close contact with your body and where that product will eventually end up. Your mat is something you touch, breathe over, and sweat on every day. Choosing materials that are safe for you and kinder to the planet is one small way to care for both. Most conventional mats are made from PVC and other toxic plastics that can expose us to harmful chemicals and linger in our environment for generations.

At the heart of yoga is union, a reminder that we’re not separate from one another or the world around us. And when we take care of ourselves, even in the smallest ways, that care extends outward to our communities and our planet.

I believe less is more. I’ve always envisioned Ananday as a small, highly curated collection of beautiful, functional, sustainable essentials designed to hold space for all the ways we practice, at home or in the studio.

Looking ahead, I see Ananday expanding beyond physical products into community experiences. I’ve been stepping back into teaching, which I’ve missed so much while being head-down building a brand, and that’s felt so aligned. It seems like we’re all craving deeper connection right now, myself included.

Ananday has never really been about the products anyway. They’re simply tools to support something bigger. Connection, growth, expansion. Creating more opportunities for that, both individually and together, is what I’m most drawn to.

Something I always remind myself is to soften around what yoga is supposed to look like. The poses are simply tools to bring us into a deeper state of inner alignment, so it’s never really been about what they look like on the outside, but what they help us access within: breath, awareness, presence.

The reality is that we’re in these bodies for a blink of an eye. They’re always changing and evolving, so inevitably, what we’re physically capable of will change as well. But what remains is our connection to our true selves. One of my teachers used to say that as long as you can take a breath, you can practice yoga. And that’s what I love most. Yoga is a lifelong practice of coming back to ourselves, over and over, through every version of who we’re becoming.

Discover Ananday and check out their IG @heyananday to follow their journey and Ksenia’s yoga tutorials.