Friday, May 1, 2009

Choosing a Yoga Mat

By Robert Probert

If you are just starting out with yoga, you are probably thinking about purchasing a yoga mat. Now, you might think that there is not much to the these useful yoga accessories, and they are all pretty much the same. However, this could not be further from the truth. Anyone who has been practicing yoga for even a short amount of time can tell you that a good mat can make all the difference in the world, and it can actually be the difference between continuing to practice yoga for many years to come, and quitting after your first time. Below are a few tips to follow before purchasing your first yoga mat.

The first thing that you should consider before you go out and buy your first yoga mat is how comfortable it is. This is the most important thing to consider before you purchase your yoga mats. Some mats are made thicker than others, which should allow for a more comfortable feel when practicing yoga. If you have a very thin mat and you are on a hard floor, it will more than likely start to wear on your body, forcing you to either go out and purchase another new mat, or even worse, quit yoga all together.

Another thing that you might want to think about before you go and purchase is the size of the yoga mat. Now, there are two things to consider when it comes to the size of your mat. First you want to make sure that it is large enough so that you can comfortably perform yoga on it. But also, you will want to make sure that the mat is portable enough to comfortably carry it around. One thing to note, is that well made yoga mats, that are flexible can still be very portable even if they are large.

Something else that you will want to think about before you buy a yoga mat is the aesthetics, or how the mat looks. Some people do not really care about what their mat looks like, and obviously the looks are not as important as the functionality, but a yoga mat can have some personality if you want it to. There are countless different patterns, designs, colors and materials on yoga mats, so if you are looking for one that looks good, you should not have a hard time finding one.

To sum it all up, there are quite a few different aspects to look at before you purchase a yoga mat, above are just a few of the most important ones. If you search around and do a little bit of research, you should soon see that there is a wide variety out there to choose from, and it should not be all that difficult to find the right one for you. Just make sure you know what you want before you buy.