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How to Choose the Correct Yoga Mat - Thickness, Texture, and Eco-Factors

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How to Choose the Right Yoga Mat - Thickness, Texture, and Eco-Factors

by: Kate Hanley

Fifteen years ago, there was only one basic type of yoga mat — fabricated of PVC and noted for its stickiness — and your only choice was whether to buy purple or blueish. Now, in that location'south a yoga mat to arrange every priority and preference.

Beyond a colour and design that suits your style, your yoga mat needs to go on you lot stable in your poses; it needs to be storable and portable, even so comfy and cushy. You may also want your mat to be environmentally friendly. These aspects of your mat'southward personality are all affected by how the mat is fabricated: how thick it is, what it's made of, and its surface texture.

Use this guide to assistance y'all discover a yoga mat you tin can be blissfully happy with — 1 that suits your practice, priorities, lifestyle, values, and budget. No thing what the stores tell you,that'due south the best yoga mat for you!

1. Thickness

Why it'south important: The thickness of your yoga mat has a lot to do with how comfortable it is — as well thin, and your human knee may get banged up during crescent lunge. The tradeoff is that thick yoga mats (some every bit thick every bit 1/4 inch) tin can make information technology harder for you to feel a stiff connection to the floor, making you more than wobbly in Tree Pose, for case.

Options: A standard yoga mat is about i/8 inch thick, while the thickest are well-nigh 1/4 inch. In that location are also wafer-sparse yoga mats, often billed every bit "travel yoga mats," that are a mere ane/sixteen inch thick. They fold hands and don't counterbalance much, making them a cinch to fit in a suitcase.

Basic buying guide: Consider how much room you accept to stow your yoga mat, how important portability is, and where your sweet spot is on condolement versus beingness able to feel a directly connection to the floor. If you're short on storage space, have a long schlep to the studio, and like the experience of just alittle padding, opt for a standard-depth mat, in the 1/8 inch range.

If you lot don't mind carrying and storing a little more than heft for the sake of more cushioning, consider a premium yoga mat that's nigh ane/4 inch thick. And if you absolutely must be able to pack your yoga mat in a suitcase or carry-on, get yourself a foldable travel yoga mat in the i/16 inch range.

ii. Material

Why it's important: The material your yoga mat is made of dictates its texture, stickiness, eco-friendliness, and sponginess (how much information technology yields to pressure), and how it wears over time.

Options: Most standard yoga mats are made of PVC, otherwise known equally vinyl. Newer, more earth-friendly options include natural and recycled rubber, jute, and organic cotton or natural cotton (which means the fabric is not treated with synthetic finishes during manufacturing).

Basic buying guidelines: If you're allergic to latex, avoid yoga mats made of natural rubber. If you want to stick with the tried and true sticky mat, choose a yoga mat fabricated out of PVC, which tin can endure your employ and abuse for more than a decade. Sponginess can vary widely with different blends of materials, simply in general, PVC has the virtually "requite" of whatever yoga mat cloth; jute and cotton wool have the least.

Beyond these fundamentals, read on and permit your other priorities — texture, stickiness, and eco-friendliness — be your guides.

3. Texture

Why information technology's important: The texture of your yoga mat dictates how much traction it provides. Like stickiness, texture affects how much slipping and sliding yous practice. It provides physical barriers to sliding (whereas stickiness relies on suction). And because texture affects the way a yoga mat feels, it'due south also a component of overall condolement.

If you're a Princess-and-the-Pea type, any bumpy texture will likely aggravate you lot in savasana. Texture tin be either man-made (a blueprint of raised bumps, for example) or dictated by the materials — jute yoga mats have an organic roughness to them, while PVC yoga mats, though slightly textured, have a softer feel.

Options: There's a yoga mat texture to arrange every whim — from completely polish to downright rough.

Bones ownership guidelines: If you're looking for a yoga mat that prevents slipping and you'd like to avoid PVC mats (the traditional viscid yoga mats), wait for a rubber, jute, or cotton yoga mat that has a raised, tactile blueprint. The added grip the raised texture provides can help you stay put no affair how sweaty or vigorous your practice gets.

If smoothness is of prime importance to yous, a PVC yoga mat is the manner to go. And if you enjoy stickiness but are curious most the newer, more earth-friendly options, test bulldoze a few earlier y'all buy. Some eco-friendly yoga mats may surprise you with how much traction they provide fifty-fifty though they don't have the traditional "sticky" feel.

4. Stickiness

Why it's important: A sticky yoga mat keeps you from sliding all over the identify and helps you maintain your alignment every bit you lot move from one pose to another, as well every bit when yous concur poses for several seconds.

Options: PVC yoga mats have the highest sticky factor.

Basic buying guide: If yous need help staying put in your poses but you bristle at the thought of practicing on a yoga mat with a raised texture, a PVC yoga mat is probably your best bet. Just recall that these yoga mats are simply sticky when they are make clean, and then brand sure you care for your yoga mat properly. If you purchase a PVC yoga mat, wash information technology before you lot use information technology and utilise a handy yoga wash cleaner whenever you notice your hands sliding frontward in downwardly canis familiaris.

five. Eco-friendliness

Why it'southward important: Equally yogis, we concord dear the tenet ofahimsa, or non-violence. That makes practicing on a yoga mat that will ultimately finish up clogging a landfill for decades to come troublesome.

Options: Earth-friendly yoga mats are typically fabricated from natural or recycled rubber. These yoga mats may also include natural materials, such as jute or organic cotton.

Basic buying guide: If eco-friendliness is important to you, avoid yoga mats fabricated of PVC (the traditional sticky mat), which does not break down in landfills and is difficult and plush to recycle. Rubber, jute and, cotton yoga mats, while available in a range of thicknesses, tend to exist thicker and slicker than PVC mats. You tin get a yoga mat that's eco-friendly, has a thickness that meets your needs for comfort and portability, and has a texture (such every bit a raised geometric pattern) that prevents slippage.

half dozen. Price range

Typically, a basic one/8 inch thick, plain solid-color PVC sticky yoga mat will exist toward the low cease of the price range. From there you may pay more for patterns, designs or logos; premium thickness; antimicrobial treatments; and cool textures, especially raised tactile patterns. Eco-friendly yoga mats tend to be toward the loftier terminate of the price range.

seven. Fashion

Once you've narrowed your choices downwardly by thickness, material, texture, stickiness, eco-friendliness, and toll, there's just i factor left: fashion! So go alee and selection your favorite color, pattern, or print. Later on all, you'll be seeing a lot of it in downward dog. Happy shopping!

Take all you've learned, and shop all our yoga mats to find your perfect fit!

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