You’ll know you’ve discovered the most effective yoga mat in your apply when it retains you so snug and regular in your ft that you simply barely discover it. Sliding on sweaty palms? 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 lessons at house or at an area studio, so we consulted specialists about methods 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
- Greatest General: Manduka Professional Yoga Mat, $138
- Greatest for Scorching Yoga: Lululemon The Mat, $98
- Greatest for Asana Yoga: Alo Yoga Chakra Warrior Mat, $138
- Greatest for Taller and Larger Our bodies: JadeYoga XW Fusion, $200
- Greatest for At-Residence Use: Bala The Play Mat, $99
- Greatest Funds Decide: All in Movement Premium Health Mat, $30
On this article
Store the most effective yoga mats
Our picks have been made that will help you waft.
Greatest General: Manduka Professional Yoga Mat
This Residence Health Award–successful 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 really 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 power workout routines, however not so thick that your ft 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 in the event you drive to a category or apply at house. That stated, I’ve owned this mat for 5 years—it nonetheless feels model new, by the way in which—and I depend on the Manduka’s Yoga Commuter Mat Service to sling it over my shoulder, which works like a allure.
Measurement: 71 x 26 in | Thickness: 6 mm | Weight: 7.5 lbs
Greatest for Scorching Yoga: Lululemon The Mat
Lululemon’s rubber yoga mat is reversible, with a easy facet and a grippier, textured one which’ll stop your palms from sliding in sweat, even whenever you’re working towards in a sauna-like studio. Panasevich acquired a number of years of use—in indoor and outside lessons—out of his, and he’s fast to advocate it. “It supplies sturdy grip, so that you don’t slide, and enough 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 stated. “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
Greatest 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 supplies a non-slip floor, which suggests 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
Greatest 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 informed SELF that this extra-long XW Fusion mat from JadeYoga is her go-to. “I can’t advocate it extremely sufficient—it’s costly, however value each penny,” she stated. Because the model’s widest, thickest, and longest mat, it’s designed to suit and help of us with bigger and taller our bodies.
Measurement: 80 x 28 in | Thickness: 8 mm | Weight: 9 lbs
Greatest for At-Residence Use: Bala The Play Mat
Cute and curvy, the Play Mat is value 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 defend 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 amount of cushioning, however does not really feel squishy, both.”
It’s on the heavier facet, so we advocate preserving it at house—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
Greatest Funds Decide: All In Movement Premium Health Mat 15mm
If you happen to’re not an enormous yoga individual however nonetheless want a mat for Pilates, think about the Residence Health Award–successful 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 exterior and indoors for quite a lot of exercises, confirmed this, saying it prevents stress from increase in her palms, knees, and ft.
The textured floor supplies sufficient stability for a lot of workout routines, though the mat’s most likely 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 most effective yoga mats
An important yoga expertise begins together with your mat. To verify 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 employees examined a number of choices for months (some even gained Residence Health Awards!) to crown our remaining winners.
What to think about when selecting a yoga mat
A thicker mat is good in the event you’re working towards on hardwood or primarily utilizing it for flooring poses and stretching. With sufficient supportive cushioning, you possibly can focus in your yoga apply, somewhat than on uncomfortable stress factors.
Alternatively, some individuals could discover it simpler to stability and circulation extra dynamically on a thinner mat (usually underneath 4 millimeters). “Take heed to your physique: A thicker mat would possibly really feel far more snug in 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’ll find choices which might be each shorter (68 inches) and longer (80 inches). If you happen to’re on the taller facet, it might be value 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).
If you happen to sweat loads or ceaselessly go to scorching yoga lessons, utilizing a mat with a non-slip floor may help hold you from sliding round. Search for choices made with open-celled supplies like polyurethane foam, which is additional absorbent. (You’ll nonetheless wish to often clear your mat to stop micro organism buildup.) Bringing a yoga towel is one other option to keep away from working towards in sweat puddles.
There are additionally textured yoga mats, which function grippy nubs alongside the highest that may give you extra stability. “You may also get mats with twin surfaces, that includes a easy floor on one facet and textured grip on the opposite,” Chelsea Jackson Roberts, a yoga teacher at Peloton in NYC, tells SELF. If you happen to apply each scorching, fast-paced yoga and slower flows, a extra versatile possibility may be your best option.
A thinner, light-weight mat is good in the event you typically take your mat on the go as a result of it may possibly pack away simply. Thinner mats ought to be capable of slot in carrying straps, roll up into your yoga mat or gymnasium bag, and even fold down into compact squares.
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