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Home : Yoga Tools : Yoga Mats : Why avoid sticky mats?
Why avoid sticky Mats?

The Right Yoga Mat

One of the biggest myths is that your mat should have a SUPER grip. This perhaps explains the popularity of the sticky mat. However, this is not true for the following reasons:

Yoga is about balancing with the power of the mind.

This is a little understood aspect of yoga. Today, a lot of stress is being put on the physical (or exercise) aspect of yoga. This is natural considering our society has been overfed on the aerobic culture. As a consequence, mats are designed to satisfy this physical need. 

But did you know that EVERY yoga position has a dual aspect. While the physical aspect adds to the fitness, there is a mental aspect in which the mind is exercised to achieve the balance of the particular yoga position. This should NOT be made extra easy by artificial super grips. A sticky surface makes this meaningless as "external" help is provided to make the whole aim of balancing meaningless.

The yoga mats should have sufficient "slip"

This is necessary as it lets the body and limbs "flow" or "set into" the respective yoga positions.

A sticky surface prevents this natural gliding and serves as an obstruction to the smooth flow. This, in some cases, may be dangerous. It is not very uncommon to hear of students having complained of a sprained neck or a twisted back.

Ok, I'm not saying that you should have a slippery surface. What you should have is one, which offers sufficient natural grip without being artificially sticky - something like the natural earth (of course without the associated pebbles).

Also, your yoga practice would involve meditation and relaxation postures. What you need is a mat on which you can be seated easily or lie down in your relaxation poses without feeling "yucky".

A sticky mat fails on all the above counts. It is of course the cheapest thing around, but if you're going to bet your entire yoga practice on saving a couple of dollars (especially when you really need no other equipment), I suggest you better reconsider beginning at all.

In other words, your yoga mat should be a 3-in-1: suitable for physical positions, meditative positions AND relaxation poses.

To read about the 3-in-1 hand-woven yoga mats, Click here
 

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