You’ll know you’ve discovered the perfect yoga mat on your apply when it retains you so snug and regular in your toes that you simply barely discover it. Sliding on sweaty arms? By no means. Curling up on the ends? Not a factor.
Your mat is the spine of your yoga routine, whether or not you like courses at dwelling or at an area studio, so we consulted consultants about find out how to discover a tremendous one. Amongst our high picks are editor favorites, together with a number of SELF Residence Health Award winners. And when you discover a mat that works for you, think about including yoga blocks and different useful props to your apply.
Our high picks
- Finest General: Manduka Professional Yoga Mat, $138
- Finest for Scorching Yoga: Lululemon The Mat, $98
- Finest for Asana Yoga: Alo Yoga Chakra Warrior Mat, $138
- Finest for Taller and Larger Our bodies: JadeYoga XW Fusion, $200
- Finest for At-Residence Use: Bala The Play Mat, $99
- Finest Funds Decide: All in Movement Premium Health Mat, $30
On this article
Store the perfect yoga mats
Our picks had been made that will help you drift.
Finest General: Manduka Professional Yoga Mat
This Residence Health Award–profitable yoga mat comes advisable by a number of instructors for its superior consolation and additional cushioning. Holly Perkins, CSCS, calls it the Rolls Royce of yoga mats: “I like that it feels so substantial and doesn’t transfer on the ground—it stays caught! It’s thicker than most yoga mats, so it’s [also] nice for energy workouts, however not so thick that your toes stick in and are unstable,” she provides.
Jackie Skinner, a yoga teacher in NYC, and Jake Panasevich, a yoga teacher and health-science journalist in Philadelphia, additionally love the Professional mat’s thickness and stability. They each level out that it’s on the heavier facet, although, so it’s higher for those who drive to a category or apply at dwelling. That mentioned, I’ve owned this mat for 5 years—it nonetheless feels model new, by the best way—and I depend on the Manduka’s Yoga Commuter Mat Provider to sling it over my shoulder, which works like a allure.
Measurement: 71 x 26 in | Thickness: 6 mm | Weight: 7.5 lbs
Finest for Scorching Yoga: Lululemon The Mat
Lululemon’s rubber yoga mat is reversible, with a clean facet and a grippier, textured one which’ll stop your arms from sliding in sweat, even once you’re training in a sauna-like studio. Panasevich bought a number of years of use—in indoor and outside courses—out of his, and he’s fast to suggest it. “It offers robust grip, so that you don’t slide, and ample padding,” he tells SELF. “It’s a lot huge for these with broader shoulders and taller of us, but not awkwardly cumbersome.”
Our Residence Health Awards tester sang this mat’s praises after testing it for at-home Pilates and barre exercises. “The tough, textural design and grippy floor allowed me to leap up and down for burpees and transition from standing to sitting exercises,” she mentioned. “Even with leaping jacks, the mat by no means slipped, which I skilled with many low-quality mats.”
Measurement: 71 x 26 in | Thickness: 5 mm | Weight: 5 lbs
Finest for Asana Yoga: Alo Yoga Chakra Warrior Mat
The design on this mat isn’t only for ornament—it has an asana grid etched into it, so you possibly can examine your alignment all through class. Plus, the floor texture is good for more durable flows: “It offers a non-slip floor, which implies if I take a sweaty scorching yoga class, I don’t want to fret about slipping round on my mat,” Kylan Fischer, founding father of Flexible Babes and a yoga teacher in Sundown Seaside, California, tells SELF.
Measurement: 74 x 26 in | Thickness: 5 mm | Weight: 8 lbs
Finest for Taller and Larger Our bodies: JadeYoga XW Fusion
Jessamyn Stanley, an award-winning yoga teacher, writer of Each Physique Yoga, and founding father of The Underbelly yoga app, beforehand advised SELF that this extra-long XW Fusion mat from JadeYoga is her go-to. “I can’t suggest it extremely sufficient—it’s costly, however price each penny,” she mentioned. Because the model’s widest, thickest, and longest mat, it’s designed to suit and assist of us with bigger and taller our bodies.
Measurement: 80 x 28 in | Thickness: 8 mm | Weight: 9 lbs
Finest for At-Residence Use: Bala The Play Mat
Cute and curvy, the Play Mat is price contemplating for anybody with annoying aches. “Common yoga mats typically depart my wrists in ache as a result of they’re simply too skinny and do not shield my joints from the ground practically sufficient,” SELF’s senior commerce editor, Sarah Felbin, says. “My Bala mat, nevertheless, is so thick that I can do downward canine and solar salutations with out lacking a beat. It has simply the correct quantity of cushioning, however would not really feel squishy, both.”
It’s on the heavier facet, so we suggest protecting it at dwelling—fortunately, it’s fairly sufficient to go away out. However if you wish to roll it up and take it on the go, SELF’s commerce director, Shanna Shipin, is a fan of the matching scrunchie that retains it from unfurling.
Measurement: 71 x 26.5 in | Thickness: 5 mm | Weight: 8 lbs
Finest Funds Decide: All In Movement Premium Health Mat 15mm
When you’re not an enormous yoga particular person however nonetheless want a mat for Pilates, think about the Residence Health Award–profitable All In Movement Premium Health Mat. It’s made particularly for floor-based exercises, with additional cushioning (15 milliliters!) for delicate joints. Our tester, who used it outdoors and indoors for quite a lot of exercises, confirmed this, saying it prevents strain from build up in her arms, knees, and toes.
The textured floor offers sufficient stability for a lot of workouts, though the mat’s in all probability too thick for balance-heavy exercises. The included carrying strap makes it simple to tote round too.
Measurement: 72 x 24 in | Thickness: 15 mm | Weight: 3 lbs
How we picked the perfect yoga mats
A fantastic yoga expertise begins together with your mat. To ensure we’re solely recommending top-tier choices, we requested yoga and health instructors which mats they personally use and which actions they’re greatest for. Plus, SELF workers examined a number of choices for months (some even gained Residence Health Awards!) to crown our closing winners.
What to contemplate when selecting a yoga mat
A thicker mat is good for those who’re training on hardwood or primarily utilizing it for flooring poses and stretching. With sufficient supportive cushioning, you possibly can focus in your yoga apply, quite than on uncomfortable strain factors.
However, some folks might discover it simpler to stability and stream extra dynamically on a thinner mat (usually beneath 4 millimeters). “Take heed to your physique: A thicker mat would possibly really feel far more snug on your delicate knees, otherwise you would possibly discover that you simply’re sinking an excessive amount of and wish one thing flatter,” Annie Strikes, a registered yoga teacher at Alo Strikes, tells SELF.
Most traditional yoga mats are 71 or 72 inches lengthy, however you will discover choices which are each shorter (68 inches) and longer (80 inches). When you’re on the taller facet, it could be price in search of out an extended mat that’ll accommodate your physique, since many yoga poses contain a large stance (assume warrior II, downward canine, and goddess pose).
When you sweat loads or regularly go to scorching yoga courses, utilizing a mat with a non-slip floor may also help hold you from sliding round. Search for choices made with open-celled supplies like polyurethane foam, which is additional absorbent. (You’ll nonetheless need to frequently clear your mat to forestall micro organism buildup.) Bringing a yoga towel is one other method to keep away from training in sweat puddles.
There are additionally textured yoga mats, which characteristic grippy nubs alongside the highest that can provide you extra stability. “You too can get mats with twin surfaces, that includes a clean floor on one facet and textured grip on the opposite,” Chelsea Jackson Roberts, a yoga teacher at Peloton in NYC, tells SELF. When you apply each scorching, fast-paced yoga and slower flows, a extra versatile possibility is perhaps your best option.
A thinner, light-weight mat is good for those who typically take your mat on the go as a result of it could pack away simply. Thinner mats ought to be capable to slot in carrying straps, roll up into your yoga mat or gymnasium bag, and even fold down into compact squares.
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