Next Week - Specialty Yoga Mats or More Ways to Spend Your Yoga Dollar

My new mat stinks.  My neighbor's mat stinks-is it OK to complain?  My sweaty hands keep slipping on my mat.  I practice on concrete and I need more padding.  Is my discarded mat going to add to the Texas-size, plastic flotsam and jetsam whirlpool hanging out in the Pacific Ocean?  Is it OK to use the community mats at yoga studios?  My mat's too sticky-I keep stubbing my toe.

These are all common and important comments. Yoga is a bazillion dollar industry and there're scads of opportunities to spend your hard earned dough on mats and mat toppers and towels, cleaners and fresheners, bags and totes.  There are mats silkscreened with images of Hawaii or your dog, Buster.  I equate a mat purchase to that of running shoes.  Whether you run 10 or 70 miles a week is going to influence whether you get the New Balance 580 on sale for $39.99 or the ECCO Biom B (made from yak leather) for $200.  Personally, I ran 10 miles and still got the pricey shoes. But, that's me.  I digress.

Yoga Journal Cover Model and yogini extraordinaire, Anne O'Brien, generously offered me her thoughts and opinions.  Just like the pro-tennis players, vendors send Anne mats to demo and she's seen her share. Like her cool, fancy shoes, she's got 20 to choose from, depending on the occasion, of course.  Thanks, Anne!  

Yoga mats are a recently addition to the yoga scene.  Legend has it that world-renowned yogini Angela Farmer's father actually came up with the idea from a piece of carpet padding.  If you suggest that students practice without one they'll look at you like you're nuts.  We've gotten so used to their sticky, padded surface, we feel we can't practice without them.  But, spend some time off your mat and see how much more your legs have to work to support your pose.  Like the new,ultra light and thin running shoes, I wonder if we will go back to our roots and shun the mat.   

What are your options?  Let me count the ways:  Length, material, stickiness (also referred to as tack), price, thickness, solid or prints, and purpose.  Then where do you get it:  the internet, Whole Foods, Bed, Bath & Beyond or your local yoga studio.  Daunting, I know.  For the average student who practices 2-3 times a week, this is TMI.  Most people just want a mat that doesn't off-gas more your nail salon, is not going to cut into your daily latte fund, is not too sticky yet sticky enough, and will last a bit longer than their last relationship. 

There are many, many brands and more arriving at every Yoga Journal Conference.  I will review four--Jade, Manduka, Gaiam, Hugger Mugger. There are more, believe me, just look on Amazon.

Jade.   I won't go into all the details-you can visit their site.  They've done a fine job advertising with the yoga bigwigs, like Baron Baptist, Cindy Lee, Shiva Rae and Sean Corn casually posing with their mats.  Jade says they are "committed to making the world's best performing, most environmentally-friendly yoga mats... made sustainably in the US from natural rubber... optimum grip and offer better cushion and more resilience than any other yoga mat".  Quite a claim, don't you think.  I've practiced on Jade mats and I like them.  They are sticky, but stretchy and won't hold up with a 6-days-a-week practice.   Anne uses her Jade for Iyengar-style classes where stickiness is a plus, but not so much for Ashtanga where you'll stub your toe.  "I recommend this mat to my students who struggle with balance as the surface is very solid," adds Anne.

Gaiam - Like Zappos, Gaiam has a sidebar to filter your mat needs from thickness to stickiness to price.  You can pretty much get what you need.  Most of their mats are very reasonable priced.  Their premium mats are on sale in the $40s and their most expensive, uber thick mat is only $71 (on sale).  Although I have never tried it, the Gaiam Sol Adara Rubber Yoga Mat (4mm) seems like a fine mat for $47.  Anne weighs in that "...for the price, Gaiam probably offers the best value."   

Hugger Mugger - Similar to Gaiam, the HM site has many mats to choose from from their US-made Tapas Original Yoga Mat ($29) to their pricey Ultimate Comfort Mat made from dense memory foam ($99.95).  They have a jute offering, if you like a good foot exfoliation while you practice.  Careful, I bet their low end mats will off-gas.    

Manduka -  Ah, the Manduka.  For some, it's considered the Cadillac (or is it Tesla or Rolls) of the mat world.  There is a bit of a mystic about the big, Black Pro.   It's pricey ($104) and heavy (7 lbs).  You can skip a couple of pushups as you'll get a workout just hauling it to class. And like Apple products, the followers are passionate.  The ProLite used to be Manduka's travel mat but please, 4 lbs?  Travel mat?  I wouldn't even call it "Lite".  But, compared to its cousin, the Pro at 7 lbs, I guess that's fair.  Note:  its hugeness will require an oversized mat bag.  These mats come with a lifetime guarantee, which is generous.  Those that use a Manduka tell me they have had them forever and that they hold up dedicated, sweaty Ashtanga practice with its requisite 473 jump throughs. That's impressive if you're a serious practitioner.   I currently use the ProLite and I'm happy with it.  At the rate it's holding up, I don't see another mat in the near future.  Manduka is Anne O'Brien overall favorite too for its "quality and longevity of usability".  She also uses the ProLite model. 

Wow, so much to say about yoga mats.  Tune in next week, I'll cover more about mats-specifically specialty mats.  This is fun. I hope you find it helpful!  And, as always, please write if you have any questions or comment.  I'd love to hear what you love (or not) about your mat.  

Did you want to read some of my past columns?  You can right here.