WIRED requested the favored YouTube yoga instructor Sara Beth for her prime tips about shopping for the perfect yoga mat:
Thicker just isn’t higher. You continue to wish to assist your stability by having a agency connection to the bottom beneath you, so purpose for a 3 to five mm thickness. You may all the time add extra cushion in your knees within the middle, however an excessive amount of cushion below the back and front, the place your palms and ft go, can disrupt your stability.
Search for good grip. For decent yoga or sweaty folks, ensure that your mat will get grippier when moist. A washable design is extra hygienic. A microfiber-finished mat will be put within the washer (producers instruction suggested) or you may go for a “yoga towel” you cowl the mat with earlier than wiping down and washing after your session.
Take a journey mat. For holidays, a skinny, light-weight, 0.059-inch (1.5-mm) mat will be folded or rolled in your suitcase. They work nicely on resort room carpet, however should you want extra cushion you may all the time layer a towel the place your knees go. I’ve additionally practiced yoga in my resort room with simply the bathtub towel laid out like a mat.
Make it straightforward to exercise. If you happen to plan to make use of your mat like a gymnasium ground for Pilates, weights, yoga, and HIIT, then take into account investing in a jumbo 5- by 8-feet mat (like Gorilla mat), which should not transfer. These are sometimes a bit heavier and sturdier, which can assist it keep in place whilst you transfer.
