How To Choose Yoga Mat?
For a long time, yoga has been praised for its positive impact on the body and mind. It can help to enhance strength and flexibility, relieve stress, improve overall physical and mental health for us.
Compared to other fitness activities, yoga sports only need minimal equipment to start. No matter where you practice, a suitable yoga mat is essential. Working on carpets, slippery towels, or overly soft fitness mats can cause injury. Having your own yoga mat may be a healthier and safer option. Although there are many options, the vast majority of yoga mats are suitable for any style of yoga. If you need to choose the most suitable yoga mat for yourself, you can combine different differences such as thickness, length, material, weight, and so on.
1. Thickness
The yoga mat thickness is an important factor. Thickness for yoga mat is usually 3-5mm, and there are also some lightweight yoga mats with a thickness of 1-2 mm. As for lightweight travel yoga mat and thickness yoga mats, thick yoga mats can help improve the stability of yoga style including more active or balanced, focused postures. Moreover, looking for textured yoga mats on the surface to maintain better grip when the posture becomes more challenging. In addition, lightweight yoga mat can also be called travel yoga mats.
If you have a yoga travel plan, you can find a special design for traveling yoga mat. Traveling yoga mats are very thin and can fold up smaller than traditional yoga mats, which is easy to carry in your luggage. But because of its light and thickness, some cushioning is lost with a travel pad.
In contrast, thickness yoga mat like 3-5mm are the most common. Because these kind of yoga pads can provide extra cushioning, they are best for more exercises. For example, if you prefer a yoga move with fewer poses and longer holds, a softer and more cushioned yoga mat may be better for you. Thicker mats are also more comfortable for forearms and kneeling postures, as well as for yoga practitioners with soft knees or joint pain. But they can be more difficult to balance in a standing position.
2. Material
Yoga mat materials are various and each material, quality, grip, durability features will affect the yoga mat price. Generally, the durability of high price anf thickness yoga mats will be more durable. On the other hand, durability has to do with the material the mat is made of.
PVC Yoga Mat
PVC is a plastic material. It is very durable, easy to clean and with excellent grip. However, PVC yoga mats don’t absorb water and become slippery when you sweat heavily. PVC material does not contain latex, which is a benefit for people with latex allergies. But it is not biodegradable and is not as environmentally friendly as other options. Moreover, another key point is that PVC yoga mats are relatively inexpensive.
TPE Yoga Mat
TPE is an artificial mixture typically composed of plastic and rubber polymers. This material is more environmentally friendly than PVC yoga mats. TPE yoga mats have the characteristics of moderate thickness, high resilience, wear resistance, low odor, good slip resistance, good grip, good bending resistance, easy cleaning and high cost-effectiveness. In addition, TPE mats are lightweight and easy to carry. It can make them very suitable for beginners to use.
PU Yoga Mat
PU yoga mat is a recyclable emerging organic polymer material. It is durable the same as natural rubber. PU yoga mats have lots of good features like strong durability, antibacterial properties, good grip, anti-slip, sweat absorbing, and good-looking. The surface can also be printed with exquisite patterns using color printing technology.
Suede Yoga Mat
Suede yoga mats are also a popular type of yoga mat nowadays. The front side is made of suede material, which is comfortable and beautiful and recyclable. Rubber has strong grip, good rebound and compression resistance, and good anti slip performance.
Cork Yoga Mat
Cork yoga mats are synthesized from native solid wood and natural rubber. Cork is an environmentally friendly material with a soft and tough texture. Doing yoga on a cork yoga mat makes you feel like you are in nature, which is also conducive to physical and mental relaxation. Yoga is a sport that is not limited by environmental conditions. Coupled with the powerful functional properties of cork yoga mats, it can increase your strength a lot.
Natural Rubber Yoga Mat
Natural rubber yoga mats not only are degradable, environmentally friendly, non-toxic and safe. It has other good features such as a wide hardness range, soft to the touch, weather-resistant, fatigue-resistant and temperature-resistant, and can be recycled. Natural rubber yoga mats effectively block the cold air on the ground. It has strong grip, outstanding resilience, flatness, anti-slip properties, and human skin affinity features.
Mesh Fabric Yoga Mat
Mesh yoga mat is a new type of yoga mat product. It is not as popular as TPE yoga mat and PU yoga mat. It uses mesh cloth material, which is very light, foldable, good ductility, non-slip, water-absorbent, not easy to be damaged, and looks very high-end.
If you are looking for a high-quality yoga mat, the mesh yoga mat is a good choice.
3. Grip
The grip of yoga mat plays a decisive role in yoga mat usage. A good yoga mat must have very good grip and fit well on the ground without slipping. If you are doing yoga and the mat slips because the mat is not firm, this will have a great negative impact on your daily practice, and your mood naturally will not be very happy. Therefore, you need to choose a yoga mat product with strong grip and strong fit such as a yoga mat with a high-quality rubber bottom.
Tips: If the bottom of the mat that has been used for a long time is not cleaned in time, the grip of the yoga mat will also be weakened.
4. Environmental Protection
With the global emphasis on environmental protection, consumers are increasingly concerned about their health, which has led to the rapid elimination of materials that are harmful to the human body and the environment in the market. Therefore, yoga mats, with made of environmentally friendly materials, are a popular choice for everyone. For example, environmentally friendly TPE materials, Cork materials, natural rubber materials and other types of yoga mats are suitable products. At the same time, everyone can also consider the use, budget, and appearance comprehensively.
5. Price
Price is one of the most important factors for users to buy yoga mats. Different materials lead to different prices for yoga mats. PVC yoga mats are relatively cheap, followed by yoga mats made of TPE. If you want high-end and high-quality yoga mats, you can consider PU, Suede, Cork, mesh and other yoga mats. These styles are relatively expensive and they are more comfortable to use.
6. Style
When you have considered factors such as thickness, material, grip, environmental protection and price, you also need to consider the style. Combine your own favorite style, choose your favorite pattern, color or print, and then tell your merchant to design your most unique and favorite yoga mat.
Finally, through this article about yoga mats, we hope you can find your favorite yoga mat.
