BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Yoga Your Favorite Yoga Mat

What yoga mat do you use? This is the one I just got in today -



It is "extra thick" and it got a lot of great reviews from people who praise its cushion. I got it in light lavender.

So I've never had a yoga mat before, but I'm going to go unroll it in front of the tv and see what it's like ... hold on a moment ...

OK this may sound silly but does the bumpy side go up or down? I put it up

It certainly seems soft enough! The sites all warned about chemically aroma but I really don't sense that. Of course I tried one of the positions I remember from the DVD - laying on your stomach and lifting your legs up and your arms up (pointing back at your toes) - this is harder than it looks!

I think you might want to put the bumpy side down to help it adhere to the carpet or floor. Or is the bumpy side to help massage your bare feet? Anyway, it sounds like a really neat mat. I like the purple - purple is spiritual.

We're thinking the bumpy side goes up, so that you don't stick to it. Any other yoga-ites around to chime in?

I think bumps go up to help keep you from slipping.

I wondered this too! Thought it was bumps-up for the slipping reason, but then tried it bumps down and like it better. It feels squishier that way, and is still plenty sticky. I would try both ways and see what you think.

I'm glad you mentioned that about the chemical smell. I bought mine at a regular store not too long ago (previously just used the carpet, which wasn't as good at all). I didn't ask any questions about it, and just grabbed one. It does have a smell! Hopefully it will fade out soon. It only bothers me when I have to lay face down on it.

You can wash your yoga mat. Just use plain soap & water, rinse well, roll it up in a towel to dry, then hang it over the shower rod to finish drying.

I would do that for the chemical smell.

It's also how you get the sticky back after it's gotten a bit dirty.

Great idea. Thanks Deb, I'll do it!

OK soap and water sounds good, I will try that tomorrow in the bathtub. I am using it bumpy side up. I liked my short workout yesterday with back related exercises and will try more today!

I'm doing a lot of "chest pull downs" on the bowflex so I think this is a good counterpoint to those. Working the lower back instead of the shoulders and upper back.

We had mats in the my college class and I think if I get a mat I am going to get one that is wider and longer then the ones in the class because those were so narrow and short. my feet and hands were alway half on and half off the mats and there for I slid.... When I do tapes at home I have carpet so I dont use a mat but I did see these neat things that are like gloves and feet covers that you can use instead of the mats that I thought would be better for me because you dont have to hassle with rolling and unrolling your mat and I could stash those in my bag and do yoga at the office when I have time down there and have nothing else to do!

I have a carpet too but it seemed like all the videos and such used mats, so I thought it might help with carpet burn and also "getting into the mood".

The one I got seems wide enough, it might be a *little* short head to toe in that if I lay full length on it and my head is on one end my feet are nearly falling off the other end. But maybe that is just the right size then

OK I was a good doobie and I even wiped my mat down with a washcloth today. I never noticed any real chemical smell to it but I imagine with my feet being all over it that keeping it clean will be important

It does seem nice and cushiony so I'm glad I went with the thick mat.

Okay, my yoga mat came in - yay!I ordered this one:

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Ooooo you got purple too!! I like purple We will be purple together!!

Mine is

72" x 24" x 1/4"

It looks like yours is

24 inches wide x 48 inches long

That can't be longer than your body?? Or is their Amazon page wrong?

it's definitely longer than my body. I am 5'4.

Purple rules!

That's really odd - maybe you should put a quick review up on the Amazon page to tell people that the measurement is wrong. I bet you'd get a ton of positive kudos for that!!

So how long is yours, can you tell? I'm just curious if mine is long enough or if I should get an even longer one.

LOL. Okay, I just got Dan to hold it up while i used my cute pink tape measure on it: it's 70 inches.

oh, which Dan adds is 5'10.

I like it being long but maybe experienced yoga people can add if that is important?

Ok so yours is about the exact same size as mine. Mine has been good so far, so I think we're in good shape!

For the first time today my hands slipped a little during one of the poses, it was during the pose where you lay on your side, then push up with one arm and form a long triangle between your stretched out legs and your perpendicular arm. In any case my arm wasn't very good and was slipping on the mat. This was the last pose of the session (20 minutes) so maybe my hand was sweaty too. Maybe if my arm was stronger my hand wouldn't have slipped. But I can definitely see now why you want a non-slip surface in poses like that, and I'm going to have to see going forward if I continue to slip as I get better. But one would hope that a good mat would help beginners NOT slip ...

Oh here's the link to it, I forgot to add that -

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Here is my link to my yoga mat review i just posted on amazon:

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Okay, I think we have a consensus here--we've all reviewed that same mat! LOL!

I searched high & low before I bought it, both online & in stores, and it is truly the best value and a huge improvement from my $10 mat.

Great review, Jilly!

Thanks Lisa!

Deb, which mat do you have? Lisa has a real thick one - different than mine. I love hers but it's even less travel-friendly than mine. (she travels with very large suitcases...)

Hmmm, my link didn't go through, let me try again:
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I thought you had the same one! I thought I clicked your review & got to this page! Weird.

Anyway, this is the one I have, in burgundy.

1/4 inch thick Yoga Mat

Ooh, burgundy looks pretty!

Do you remember trying to move around those small gym towels doing yoga in DC? That was only of limited help, huh?

I think I need a travel mat too.

Yup a travel mat sounds like an excellent idea!