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IMPORTANCE OF A YOGA MAT | ARE THEY REALLY NECESSARY IN YOGA PRACTICE?

Some people bring their own, some people borrow, some people use two, some use one, some are thick, some are thin, they come in all sorts of colours, all sorts of patterns, whatever the style, they all share the same function and have become a modern symbol of yoga. That’s right, we're talking about yoga mats: what is the best yoga mat for yoga practice, what are the benefits, and what is the importance of having your own yoga mat.

It's worth mentioning that ancient yogis wouldn’t have relied on yoga mats like we use them today and, synonymous as they are with practicing yoga, they’re certainly not necessary in order to practice yoga – but they are nice to act as a barrier between you and the ground and some of the other benefits of using a yoga own mat include...

Protection and Support: The hard ground or floor can be quite unforgiving on your joints. A yoga mat is there to give your body extra cushioning and support as you’re practicing yoga. This can be helpful both for an active practice (with lots of heavy impact on the joints) and for a slow practice (such as Yin where you’re holding the postures for much longer). A yoga mat can also provide valuable insulation if your practicing on a particularly cold ground.

Friction: The texture of a yoga mat is designed to create friction and prevent slipping as you practice yoga and sweat. The “stickiness" of a mat varies brand to brand but they can be a massive help for when you're trying to rest in a pose like downward facing dog without your hands and feet sliding away from one another.

Alignment and Spacing: A yoga mat can be particularly helpful for beginners to help them with the correct alignment, you can check your foot and body position against the edges of the mat and some mats will even have guidelines draw onto them for you. The mat also gives you a sense of personal and sacred space when you’re practicing in a group.

Personal Hygiene: While all yoga schools will periodically clean their mats, you can’t always guarantee how clean are. Here, the benefit of owning a yoga mat vs. borrowing one, is you have complete control over the cleanliness of it, and at least you’ll know you’ll be the only one sweating on it!

Essentially, there is no "one size fits all" answer to the best yoga mat for yoga practice because a lot depends on personal preference and individual needs. For example, a thicker yoga mat might be preferable for someone with stiff or particularly boney joints, as the extra padding will help you to feel more comfortable as you practice yoga. Someone that sweats more might want to use a mat with more intense grip to try and combat the issue of slipping. And the same goes for having your own; at the end of the day, the importance of having your own yoga mat really depends on personal preference. But you might consider it a sound investment if you practice yoga quite regularly.
For more information: https://www.krantiyoga.com/

Mon, 16 September 19 : 7:09 : Saraswati Pal Krantiyoga

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