A yoga mat will remove the slip and slide from your yoga practice by adding the stability you need to do each pose with balance and poise. But, before we talk about this most essential of yoga “props,” as well as discuss yoga mat bags, let’s talk a little about Yoga, itself.
The Benefits of Yoga
Yoga assists you in awakening your inner body and enlivening your outer body! Doing each pose perfectly requires your full attention, and such focus cultivates your mental awareness. Proper yoga practice awakens, energizes, and strengthens the structure and flow of the body. The goal of yoga practice is to create a union between the body, mind and spirit.
If you want to master a yoga pose, you will need extraordinary patience, plus time and dedication. A beginner should not give up if they don’t do a pose precisely on the first try. But, slowly over time, as you practice and try to perform each pose flawlessly, without pushing yourself too far physically or beating yourself up mentally, you will find that you are developing flexibility, strength, and energy physically and feeling more peaceful and clear mentally.
The best environment for doing your practice is a clean, quiet place with a bare floor and practicable wall. Remove any distractions from your yoga environment. Preferably, you should not eat for at least 2 hours before practicing. If you find you need to eat, then try to eat something light, such as a piece of fruit, but no more than 1 hour before you start your yoga practice.
If you should experience pain or discomfort as you try a pose, pause or stop, then try again with more mindful movement.
Yoga props and yoga accessories, such as yoga mats, yoga bolsters, yoga straps, yoga blocks, yoga mat bags, and even yoga towels are designed to assist you in moving deeper into a pose, in performing a perfect pose, and in practicing in a wholesome way.
Yoga prop benefits are numerous, but first and foremost they help to avoid, or relieve, pain and discomfort that can, on occasion, go along with doing the more challenging yoga poses, especially in the beginning.
Until you’ve cultivated core structural strength, yoga props can assist you in avoiding injury to yourself.
Doing yoga releases tightness, and using props assists with stress relief by giving the support needed for you to relax (but not be lazy) in your practice.
The plumb line, that is, “head-over-heels” body alignment, is essential in doing yoga poses perfectly. Yoga props help you maintain appropriate alignment.
Yoga props assist in augmenting movement. Certain props create space in the joints and allow the body more fluid movement without putting stress on a particular joint.
And, finally, we’re back to one of the extraordinary benefits of yoga, i.e., the development of awareness and understanding. When you are free to focus on doing your yoga poses correctly, rather than worrying about any limitations you might be experiencing, you are more capable to experience the deeper gifts of a regular yoga practice. Yoga props can assist in removing any limitations to your doing flawless yoga poses.
There are many benefits to using the slender, rectangular (often rubber) mat, known as a yoga mat, or a sticky mat. First and foremost, as you move into various yoga poses, a yoga mat keeps you from sliding. It offers a stable, non-slip surface for your practice.
Moreover, it is made of fabric that gives it the “perfect” texture, the one Baby Bear would have if he practiced yoga. A surface that is too soft, like a carpet, would make balancing and position yourself very difficult. On the other hand, several poses would be too uncomfortable for your hands, knees, and feet if you made an effort to practice them on a hard surface, such as a hardwood floor.
Almost all yoga mats are made of lightweight, durable latex-free rubber or natural rubber and jute fiber that provides not only stability as you practice, but insulation from cool floors. For those who want a more eco-friendly mat, there are a few available. Specifically, there is a new “environmentally friendly” yoga mat made of PER (Polymer Environmental Resin), a fabric that is accredited with being more “cognizant” to the environment and your good health than rubber yoga mats. This mat doesn’t contain phthalates or heavy metals, and its manner of production is said to be entirely non-toxic. Although, if being “super” green is your goal, there is a rubber and cotton mesh mat on the market that comes right from a “tapped” tree that keeps on living.
Yoga mat bags assist in protecting your mat and yoga supplies, and make carrying them more convenient. There is a small yoga mat bag, sized only slightly larger than your mat, that is just great if you tote only a few things with you to your yoga class. But, if you’re a person who just has to “take it all” with you, there are big, duffel-style mat bags that can hold extra accessories like yoga blocks, towels, water bottles, extra clothing, etc.
Want to make your own yoga bag and choose a unique fabric? If so, there are lots of excellent online resources to guide you. Purchasable yoga mat bags are generally made out of nylon, cotton, organic cotton, or hemp.
