How To Choose The Right Yoga Mat

If you’re thinking of buying a yoga mat for yourself or someone else you may be feeling a little bit overwhelmed by the number of mats on market. There are huge variations of style, thickness, color, material used, and price. Some mats can be less than $10, while others cost over $100.


Let’s begin by considering the purpose. A good mat will provide a stable, nonslip surface that helps prevent slipping and falling, but also can provide cushioning when you kneel or lie on the mat. It also protects you from dirt, dust, splinters, bacteria, fungi and any other foreign matter that might be on the floor at the studio you frequent.

Sharing a mat or using a studio mat is generally not recommended since you are basically lying on a mat where someone else was sitting in sweaty yoga pants, and standing with bare feet; sometimes with our face on the mat! It doesn’t take much imagination to think of the “things” that could on that studio mat. Things like athlete’s foot, plantar warts, toe nail fungus, and bacteria from sweat. If you practice on a regular basis – buy your own mat!

Often, low priced conventional style mats are made of PVC, which according to Consumer Reports, PVC yoga mats may contain lead and cadmium. Or may even contain phthalates which have been linked to hormone disruption. If it is important to you to avoid such contaminants, you would be better suited to choose an ECO friendly mat made of natural plant materials, toxin-free or biodegradable plastics or natural rubber. Do be aware that those with latex allergies should avoid rubber mats as these do contain latex.

PVC mats tend to be very low in price and are moderately sticky with a smooth honeycomb-like surface. Rubber mats are much stickier and provide a better grip for heated practices where the hands and feet can become sweaty which may lead to more slippage. If you practice heated types of yoga, such as Bikrim or Vinyasa flow you may do better with a rubber mat, provided you don’t have a latex allergy. The type of mat you prefer is based on personal preference and the type of practice you have.

For example, if you practice restorative or gentle hatha yoga you may prefer a thicker mat with more cushion for seated poses or when lying down. However, if you practice power yoga you might do better with a thinner mat that will keep the feet more stable when doing standing and balancing poses.

Yoga mats typically are either 68 or 72 inches long, but extra short and extra long mats are available. If you are over 6 feet tall you may want to consider buying an extra long mat.

A good quality mat will resist wear and tear and won’t hold odors. To clean your mat you can wash it in the washing machine and hang it to air dry. Always use only a few drops of detergent in the water. I’ve also found that the surface of my mat last longer if I avoid big fluctuations in temperature, such as those that happen when we keep our mat in the trunk of the car. It gets too hot in the summer, and too cold in the winter which may cause drying of the surface. It is always best to bring the mat inside.

In the end, you need to consider the size, thickness, materials and price range of the mat that best suits your needs and budget. Color, although important should not be the primary decision maker. My personal preference is the JADE Professional mat in 74” length. It is only 5/16th of an inch think and has a great non-stick rubber surface that works well in the vinyasa flow classes I teach. My second choice is a Manduka Pro, and third I like the Kulae ECO mat.

National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day // Bloggers Unite

Winter Solstice is here, but longest night of year is probably not much fun if you're sleeping in the cold. We have many homeless here on Cape Cod so lets not forget that hard times have fallen on many. National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day // Bloggers Unite

If you'd like to help out locally, check out these organizations:

Homeless Prevention Council
http://www.hpccapecod.org/default.php
Housing Assistance of Cape Cod (HAC)
http://www.haconcapecod.org/homeless-prevention.htm

Everyone deserves to have a safe place to sleep, and no one deserves to die on the streets due to homelessness.

Cartoon Characters as Celebrity Perfume pitchmen?

It really drives me nuts that every celebrity seems to be pitching a perfume. Do they actually come up with this scent on their own, or do they even have a clue what it actually smells like?

According to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_celebrity-endorsed_perfumes there are even endorsements by fictional characters. Most humorously "Dora the Explorer"! Who the hell is this being marketed to, 5 year old girls?

Ok, I can understand an endorsement by a musician, an actor, or athlete, but a cartoon character?

According to the list we've got fragrances by Strawberry Shortcake, Miss Piggy, Superman, Batman, and the Hulk. The list goes on and on. I'm trying to imagine what Hulk colonge would smell like, but all that comes to mind is leather, sweat, and green slimy jello.

Everyone is out to make a buck, but do we really want to smell like Spiderman?

Accepting My 40-Something Body

It just occurred to me that I have been spending the past 12-months fighting my body, unsuccessfully trying to get it to behave the same way it did a decade ago. I have gained a “few” pounds, lost a little bit of muscle mass and have noticed that I’m just not able to work quite as hard as I used to.

After my workouts the muscle recovery is slower and more painful. I notice my knees, shoulders and lower back in ways that I never did before. As someone that has worked out consistently for over a decade, it is difficult to accept these new limitations.

This morning I attended a spin class and this afternoon I am completely exhausted; to the point that I needed a nap! Granted, I taught a power yoga class at 6 AM, and attended the spin class a few hours later, but this was a routine my body could handle just fine two years ago.

Recently I took a prana flow workshop with Shiva Rea and asked her a question about how to stay motivated in ones yoga practice as we age. She suggested that perhaps my body needed a more lunar practice these days and that I may do better to accept that. This wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear, I was hoping for some guru type of motivation that would help turn my practice around…but no, she basically told me to try slowing down for a bit! The good news was that she didn’t suggest doing a lunar practice for a long period of time because we need to keep the body strong. I was grateful for those words as I do not feel ready to concede to gentle, restorative practice in my 40’s!

In any event, my body has changed, my attitude has changed, and my experience in the world has changed. I know that I am aging fairly well and will work to accept these subtle changes more gracefully.

As a yoga teacher, this knowledge will help me to be able to help my students as their bodies change so that we can all continue with our practices, pain and injury free.