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Lois McEwan is a freelance writer and editor who works for The Sunday Times and The Times, among others. She has practised yoga for more than a decade. Here she picks the top five aids for one of the world's oldest exercise systems Click to view Top 5 Yoga Equipment.
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Best Mat for Ashtanga (Yogashop cotton mat) |
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 Anyone doing dynamic yoga, such as Ashtanga or Bikram, will need a slippy, cotton mat - they didn't have sticky mats in India's forests when they invented yoga 5,000 years ago. Yogashop updates the traditional dhurrie with a latex backing to stop it slipping across the floor - and at half the price of some cotton mats.
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The Bhagavad Gita recommends performing yoga on an animal skin but that would be taking authenticity a step too far for most. The Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, India - run by Pattabhi Jois, who developed Ashtanga in the 1930s - uses cotton dhurries with the institute's name on them. These have terrific cred, but do not have latex backing, so you need to put a sticky mat underneath to stop them sliding around like any rug on laminate flooring.
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 Some students prefer this arrangement because it's softer. Others use the sticky mat for the standing postures then put a dhurrie on top for the seated asanas, but the two mats are heavy and cumbersome to cart around if you walk or cycle to class. And using a cotton mat in all the postures forces you to develop awareness, focus and muscle control - the bandhas - to hold them. Most students find this useful to develop their practice and take it to the next level with all the postures. And cotton mats never lose grip, no matter how much sweat they absorb. Some people spray them with water before class as moisture is supposed to improve grip on a cotton mat, but others think that’s just cheating.
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Freedom of Movement |
A cotton mat is also better for the more dynamic aspects of Ashtanga, particularly jumping through in the vinyasas, when you put your hands on the mat and try to swing your legs through between your arms. Some find a dhurrie makes all the difference and that their feet slip through, instead of catching on the rubber mat. If not, you can always chart your progress towards a clean sweep by the position of the carpet burns on your feet.
Most of the yogashop’s mats have a line down the centre to help with alignment in a variety of designs, including a very decorative embroidered line of the seven chakras.
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Excellent Value |
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The yogashop mats are also excellent value for money at £20-£23 - some cotton mats are over £40, without the latex backing. In fact, the yogashop was reportedly excluded from one Yoga Show at London’s Olympia for being too reasonably priced. Yogadharma teacher Martin Thompson, who has practised for more than 25 years, says: “I always end up going back to the yogashop. Their mats, their products generally, are good quality and the best value around.”
Like sticky mats, latex-backed cotton mats come in every colour of the rainbow and a few more. As with any carpet, dark shades show up every speck of dust, skin and hair that falls off you while you‘re jumping about so black is not recommended - and very pale ones will go grubby. However, cotton mats can be vacuumed, like any carpet, and handwashed, if necessary. The yogashop mats measure 206cm x 66cm x 3mm.
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Click here for a glossary of yoga terms
TYPICAL PRICES - £20.00-£23.00
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