If you're just starting to do yoga, it might seem smart to buy the cheapest mat at the discount store, or maybe just borrow one from the studio or gym. Most of us have done so at one time or another. However, once you’ve committed to your practice, investing in a good mat will become essential for many reasons.
To start, if you’re even a teensy bit of a germaphobe, borrowing studio and gym mats is not for you.
While most yoga studios do clean their mats, many will do so at the beginning and end of the day, but won’t have time to do so between classes. In research published by the National Institutes of Health, surfaces at fitness centers were found to contain a smorgasbord of bacteria, including salmonella, staphylococcus, Klebsiella, and micrococcus. When you add in the porous surfaces of most yoga mats, along with the heat and humidity of a class, yoga mats might be considered the perfect breeding ground for these organisms to multiply.
In addition, unlike restaurants and gyms, yoga studios’ sanitation standards are not strictly regulated. So if you do have to use studio mats, make sure to wear long pants to minimize your skin’s exposure. However, if you’re committed to yoga, it’s time to think of getting your own high-quality mat, which can support you and your practice.
THE REAL COST OF A CHEAP MAT
Thirty-six million Americans practice yoga every year, spending more than $16 billion on yoga classes and gear, including mats. While it’s difficult to ascertain how many of those billions go toward mats in particular, it’s safe to say that the best-selling mats are usually the cheapest.
Unfortunately, these mats also have notoriously short lifespans, which is problematic for a few reasons. First, of course, it’s a waste of money. But most importantly, these discarded non-biodegradable mats have a significant and negative ecological impact.
On the other hand, investing in a good mat - one made from biodegradable, non-toxic materials - can not only save you money in the long run but can also keep you safe, in more ways than one.
A mat with the right grip can help you maintain your balance, even when you’re sweating. It can especially help those who take Bikram or Ashtanga yoga, who often find that sweating on a mat can make it slippery, making poses harder, and heightening the risk of injury.
A great mat will also provide enough cushioning. If you’ve been practicing on a cheap, thin mat, you might have found it difficult to do positions that require kneeling, like lunges or table pose, or found your wrists hurting after holding a high push up for more than a few seconds. A mat with the right thickness can protect your joints from injury during vigorous sessions and help you keep poses for longer.
As one of our testers said about one of our top-reviewed mats, the Jade Level 1: “I have a bony back which usually hurts on cheap mats, but I could practice for much longer on this one”.
But last but certainly not least, a great mat will be made from quality materials that are good for your own health and the health of the environment. As mentioned above, almost half of all yoga mats (and certainly most of the ones under $40) are made from PVC. And, while PVC is long-lasting, its durability comes at a steep cost.
PVC can be said to be a pollutant throughout its whole life cycle: creating contamination during its manufacturing, leaching toxic chemicals while in use, and not biodegrading for hundreds or possibly thousands of years after disposal. It is also nearly impossible to recycle.
Many phthalates - chemicals added to PVC to make it soft and pliable - are classified as carcinogens by most health agencies around the world. In fact, in 2017, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) banned the use of certain phthalates from use in children’s products, and multiple studies have found links between phthalate exposure during pregnancy and birth defects. This means that, if you’re a parent or an expectant mother, mats made from PVC should be especially worrisome.
But even if you’re not, and you do yoga regularly, it should still be concerning. Jeff Gearhart, Director of Research for the Ecology Center in Ann Arbor, MI, told us that “the phthalates involved in PVC are especially likely to be released even at room temperature. The hotter it gets, the more likely they are to be released”.
(As a non-profit focused on protecting consumers from toxic chemicals in everyday life, the Ecology Center has partnered with us in order to test yoga mat samples and ensure that the ones we tried - all said to be eco-friendly options - are actually safe for consumers to use.)
AHIMSA: WHY ECO-FRIENDLY MATTERS
There are approximately 80 million yoga practitioners around the world, and perhaps the same unique combination of reasons for taking up the practice. While many in the United States and elsewhere approach it strictly as exercise, there are countless others that undertake yoga for its mental and spiritual benefits as well as its physical ones.
For those, yoga extends much farther than the mat. “We often call it yoga off the mat-- the asanas, the postures that we practice on the mat, that’s only a small aspect of yoga," says Dr. Lori Rubenstein, a Los Angeles-based yoga therapist and member of the advisory council for the International Association of Yoga Therapists. "It’s all this other stuff that comprise yoga, and the process of making a conscious decision that 'I’m going to choose a mat that is earth-friendly' can go with the principles of yoga, for example, ahimsa - which is not only about not harming each other, but also about not harming the environment."
In what is considered yoga’s foundational text - the Yoga Sutras - Indian sage Patanjali lays out ethical guidelines for practitioners to follow both in yoga and in their daily lives. First among these is ahimsa, or non-violence.
David Procyshyn, teacher and creator of the popular website DoYogaWithMe.com, also refers to the principle of ahimsa in his use of eco-friendly mats and clothing. "One of the most important principles of yoga is to be kind to the planet, so the irony is painful, just really painful. I wouldn't be surprised if the yoga industry is producing more toxic materials than other industries just because so many people buy polyester clothing to do a yoga class."
His concern about the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials in both mats and clothing led him to startPlastic Free Yoga Revolution, an initiative to reduce the use of plastic in the yoga industry. "My plan is to get as many companies and organizations involved as possible and at the same time approach yoga studios to request that they commit to certain criteria to reduce plastics."
However, even if you practice yoga purely for its physical benefits and not its spiritual ones, knowing what your mat is made of is essential. As you'll see below, many materials could be just as harmful for the human body as they are for the Earth.
WHAT'S REALLY IN YOUR MAT
Yoga mats can be made from almost any material, varying in terms of durability, thickness, porosity, weight, and – last but not least - biodegradability and toxicity.
What's so bad about PVC?
Short answer: A lot, actually.
As we mentioned above, PVC can be said to be a pollutant during every step of the process, from its manufacture, throughout its use, and in the course of its disposal. And, although not much scientific testing has been done specifically on yoga mats and the repercussions of practicing on these types of materials, there are some things about PVC that we do know for sure.
Manufacturing PVC generates a significant amount of contamination and hazardous by-products. In the U.S. alone, PVC plants emit approximately 500,000 pounds of vinyl chloride, a known human carcinogen, along with other toxins, into the atmosphere. One of these toxins, dioxin, is classified as a Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic (PBT) chemical, in other words, “substances that can build up to levels that can be harmful to human and ecological health”. In fact, dioxin has been found in the tissues of every living species, from whales and polar bears to, of course, humans.
To make PVC flexible enough for household products (including yoga mats), manufacturers must add chemicals called phthalates and/or heavy metals, many of which are also known to be harmful and which leach out over time, especially in warmer temperatures. These substances are known to be endocrine disruptors, chemicals that can cause developmental, reproductive, and neurological harm to both humans and animals.
In addition to all this, there is no way to truly recycle PVC and, in countries where trash is incinerated, the resulting emission of toxic chemicals can be hazardous to entire communities.
So, while the science on yoga mats per se isn’t in yet, the harm this type of material causes to the environment and communities where it’s manufactured or disposed of cannot be overlooked.
And yet, according to Procyshyn's research, “close to 50% of mats are still made from PVC.”
There are obvious reasons for this. PVC is long-lasting, and mats made from this material often provide a fair degree of cushioning and traction at a low cost. However, it’s not only the budget mats that are made from it.
In the yoga mat industry, Manduka is probably the biggest player. The Manduka PRO line, which is made from PVC, is one of the most widely used by yoga teachers and committed students around the world. Although well-known to be pricey, Manduka mats are also incredibly long-lasting. So much so, in fact, that the company offers lifetime guarantees.
Because of their durability, Manduka claims that they're helping reduce mat consumption, since their mats will not end up in a landfill. The company also says that they use eco-friendly PVC, free from harmful phthalates and heavy metals, and that they manufacture without releasing any toxic emissions into the atmosphere. However, they provide little to no information about how exactly they do this. We contacted Manduka for an interview in order to get more details, but the company has not responded to our request. We will update this if and when they do so.
The company did release an eco-friendly line made from natural rubber, called the eKO, which we tested. It scored fairly well with our testers, with some praising the high quality of the mat, its cushioning, and how easy it was to clean; however, the overwhelming consensus was that it lacked traction, making it hard to hold onto poses.
Polyurethane
Some mats labeled as eco-friendly, including two of the ones we tested in-house, Lululemon and Liforme, are made from polyurethane (PU).
While there are different varieties of PU and ecologically speaking, it is better than PVC, PU is not exactly a friend to the environment either. As a petroleum-based material, it cannot be considered renewable. Additionally, many varieties of PU contain isocyanates, toxic compounds referred to as carcinogens by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. While this doesn't mean that a yoga mat made from PU is necessarily toxic, the composition of these mats and the additives they use can vary wildly, making it difficult to ascertain what is toxic and what isn't.
The exception is Liforme, which manufactures their mats with what they label eco-polyurethane. To prove the quality of their components, the company commissioned an in-depth analysis of its mats, which determined that the blend of polymers they were using was non-toxic, as well as biodegradable in one to five years in normal landfill conditions.
See our review section for our take on the Liforme mat, which ended up being one of our top three mats.
TPE
TPE, or thermoplastic elastomers, are also a common material used to make so-called eco-conscious mats. Like PU, TPE is often a mix of synthetic materials including plastics and rubbers. They can usually be recycled; however, because the term TPE can encompass a wide variety of synthetic materials, and most manufacturers are vague about what exactly goes into their particular TPE mix, it's difficult to tell what exactly they are made of.
TPE yoga mats are usually labeled as PVC-free and since TPE doesn't need phthalates to be pliable and soft, it will also be free of those. However, this doesn't mean it's free of toxicity. This makes it important to ask manufacturers to explain exactly what is in their particular mix.
In our testing, we had one TPE mat: the ISHA Mat. While testers appreciated the cushioning it provided and how light it was to carry, the mat was slightly torn by the fifth day of daily - but not overly vigorous - use.
Rubber
One of the other most common materials used in mats is rubber, either natural or synthetic. It's easy to see why - its strength, resistance, and flexibility make it an ideal material for everything from car tires to children's toys. On the con side, rubber is vulnerable to damage from heat and light, and can wear down under repeated stress.
Natural rubber is biodegradable and can be easily reused. Synthetic rubbers, on the other hand, are much harder to get rid of and difficult to repurpose, so when buying yoga mats, it's important to ascertain whether the rubber they're using is the natural kind.
Rubber yoga mats offer several advantages, including excellent cushioning and grip. Our team of testers tried three mats made from natural rubber: Jade Harmony, Jade Level One, and Manduka eKO Lite. While they all tested fairly well performance-wise, our testers had concerns about the Jade mats' sturdiness and durability. The Level One showed signs of fraying after five days of continued use, and many former users cite the Jade Harmony's lack of durability. We love that Jade will plant a tree for every mat sold; however, even using the most eco-friendly material is not enough to offset a short mat lifespan, which only creates more waste.
Cork
Cork might just be one of the most environmentally friendly materials on the planet. Although mostly associated with the familiar stoppers used to top wine, cork is hugely versatile and is easily used to anything from flooring to thermal insulation to, of course, yoga mats. It is quickly biodegradable, easily recycled, and completely renewable. Much like shearing sheep to obtain wool, cork is harvested by carefully removing the bark, leaving the tree otherwise intact. As another plus, cork can also grow without much maintenance, without the need for pesticides, irrigation, or pruning.
Cork yoga mats offer a long list of benefits. While the surface is smooth to the touch, its traction increases with moisture, making it a great option for those who sweat during their practice. For those who practice in a studio, cork provides natural protection to some of the most common bacteria found in fitness facilities.
Among the mats we tested, we tried the Tranquility Essentials Cork 5mm mat, a rubber/cork hybrid. This mat, which placed among our top three, received rave reviews from almost all testers.
Jute
In terms of environmental friendliness, you can't get much better than jute. Often called the “golden crop”, both for its color and its value, jute is mostly grown in India and Bangladesh, making it also a source of economic development for the communities that cultivate it. Considered a highly renewable resource, jute is one of the fastest growing crops in the world, often reaching maturation in four to six months, easily outpacing quick-growing bamboo and cotton.
Additionally, when compared to other crops, jute needs little water, maintenance, or pesticides. Because of its strength, it is also versatile and often made into clothes, bags, and other household items. It can also be made into yoga mats.
The advantages of a jute mat are many: naturally antimicrobial material, easily cleaned, and – depending on how it’s made - great grip.
In our testing phase, we tried one organic jute mat, the Ajna. It received poor to mixed reviews from our testers, with many indicating that it offered little traction, would slide on tile, and the texture was too rough on their hands and knees. We believe this isn’t representative of all jute mats, however, and we will try others in the future to see how they fare.
Cotton
Considered the king of fabrics, cotton is ubiquitous in modern clothing and widely thought of as a superior alternative to synthetics such as polyester. And, while its environmental friendliness is up for debate given how it’s grown, the pesticides used, and the dyes most manufacturers add, it is still a renewable resource and completely biodegradable.
However, while cotton has many advantages as a fabric, it presents some drawbacks when it comes to yoga mats. Mats made from cotton do not offer the best grip (unless they add another material for the stickiness factor) and can slip on the floor. This makes them appropriate for slow, restorative practices, but not for vigorous yoga such as Ashtanga or Bikram.
Our testers tried Yogasana, a handmade cotton mat made by weavers in India. While our testers loved the look, smell, and feel of it, the consensus was that it was difficult to use due to how rough it was on the hands and knees. Because the website states that the mat grows softer with washing, one of our testers did just that. Unfortunately, it took 48 hours to dry and, although it grew slightly softer, it wasn't enough to be able to use it comfortably. On the other hand, reviews for the mat and others like it online lean towards the positive. The manufacturers of the mat say that they use part of its earnings to help pay for their workers' children's education, which is admirable. Additionally, because of the beauty and quality of weaving, we would consider it for meditation and pranayama (yogic breathing), but not for vigorous yoga practices.
Alternative materials-- in our case, recycled wetsuits
In the surfing world, wetsuits can present a bit of a dilemma. “For the most part, surfers are a very environmentally conscious group, so it's frustrating to truly need something like a wetsuit, which doesn't decompose,” said Shannon O’Keefe, who has been surfing for 10 years.
Most wetsuits are made out of petroleum-based neoprene, which is not biodegradable. And while neoprene can stick around for lifetimes, wetsuits themselves have a short useful life, with most lasting only between one and five years due to rips, accumulated salt, sun exposure, or just the loss of its ability to insulate.
“While there are now companies like Patagonia making biodegradable suits, many of us still have older wetsuits lingering in our closets that we don’t even know what to do with”, added O’Keefe.
Enter Suga, a California-based yoga mat manufacturer who has found a good use for the discarded gear. Founded by surfer, yogi, and former environmental attorney Brian Shields, Suga recycles discarded wetsuits by turning them into yoga mats. The company will also accept its own mats back to recycle them again.
Make sure to read our review of the Suga Mat, which ended up being our testers’ favorite mat.
YOUR PRACTICE DETERMINES YOUR MAT
TYPES OF YOGA
HATHA YOGA हठ
Most types of yoga practiced in the West can be referred to as Hatha yoga. Hatha, meaning willful or forceful action. can also be described as the yoga of activity. Most Hatha yoga styles will have poses in common. However, each will emphasize different theories and aspects of practice.
Because of this, there is no “one mat fits all” when it comes to different yoga types. Practitioners of Restorative or Yin Yoga will have much different needs than those who do the more forceful Ashtanga sequences.
While there’s plenty of variety, most studios in the United States will offer at least one of the classes below:
Vinyasa
Vinyasa or Flow usually refers to a style that involves flowing movement connected by the breath, usually Sun Salutations or similar poses. These classes can range from the slow to the very fast-paced and challenging.
If you regularly practice Vinyasa or classes with very flowing movements, you might do best with a smoother mat, that doesn’t offer as much traction but lets you slide from one pose to the next. Look for cork or closed-cell natural rubber mats, which can let you flow easily but still offer just enough grip to keep you steady.
Ashtanga and Power Yoga
Ashtanga yoga is one of the most vigorous and challenging types of yoga, with a prescribed sequence of movements that flow from one to the next without pause. It consists of six series, starting with the “primary”, which is appropriate for beginners.
Prepare to sweat when you go to an Ashtanga class and make sure your mat can withstand humidity, while still offering enough grip to do very strenuous poses. Mats like the Jade Harmony and other open-cell mats that offer a lot of traction are ideal, however, they are notoriously hard to clean. On the other hand, our top pick, the Suga mat offers that rare combination of easy maintenance with plenty of grip. Click here for our review.
Kundalini
Sanskrit in origin, the word Kundalini describes the arising of divine energy and consciousness that is said to uncoil like a serpent when the right conditions are in place. Kundalini yoga aims to provide those conditions through a series of movements, chanting, and breathing patterns.
Kundalini practitioners strongly believe that natural materials are essential for the energy to flow, so cork, jute, and cotton mats would be best for this practice.
Restorative and Yin Yoga
Like its name implies, restorative yoga aims to restore your body and nervous system through long stretches and slow movements. Although sometimes used interchangeably, restorative and yin yoga are not the same. Yin Yoga involves deep, active stretches held for a minute or more, while restorative does not involve active stretching. In both cases, whether restorative or yin, you might spend a long time on a single pose, making a comfortable mat, with plenty of cushioning, essential to your practice.
Look for dense, thick mats like some of our favorites - Tranquil Yogi Cork and Suga Recycled Wetsuit Mat, which testers found extremely comfortable.
Iyengar
Iyengar yoga’s focus is on precise alignment. Practitioners will usually hold poses for much longer – especially standing poses – in order to perfect their posture. Because of this emphasis, it encourages the use of props – belts, chairs, blocks, or blankets – to help even beginner, not-yet-so-pretzel-like students get the benefits of the pose.
The Liforme mat, Tranquility Essentials, and other mats with alignment guides would be perfect for Iyengar yoga.
Bikram and Hot Yoga
Bikram Yoga is the original hot yoga. Since sweat is believed to detoxify the body, Bikram yoga studios are carefully calibrated to stay at 100 degrees or more, with a high humidity factor. While traditional Bikram yoga follows a strict sequence of 26 poses, classes labeled as Hot Yoga can deviate from that sequence, while still keeping the heat and humidity of Bikram studios. Just as with Ashtanga above, it’s essential to have a mat with plenty of traction and grip to prevent sweat from making you slip.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
In addition to the types of yoga you practice, there are other situations that warrant special attention when it comes to choosing a mat.
PRACTICING WHEN YOU’RE INJURED
While most Americans might view yoga as a way to relax or exercise, many are also finding out the benefits it can have as a therapeutic intervention for injuries and chronic pain.
While similar to physical therapy in many ways, yoga therapy goes several steps further by aiming to treat a person’s lifestyle as well as their injuries.
Dr. Rubenstein does both. She considers yoga therapists as “lifestyle management experts”, whose prescriptions might include physical exercises, along with chanting, meditation, and Ayurvedic diets.
There’s plenty of evidence to back up the claims by most yoga teachers and therapists. Study after study show that a consistent yoga practice can significantly help lower blood pressure, strengthen cardiovascular health, help cancer patients tolerate radio- and chemotherapy much better, among other numerous mental, neurological, and emotional benefits.
Benefits are especially evident when it comes to musculoskeletal injuries. A 2013 study conducted by Johns Hopkins University found that a comprehensive yoga program tailored for those with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis improved pain symptoms by up to 40%.
But, while the benefits are many, there are special considerations to take into account when you have an injury, aren't used to being active, or have sensitive joints.
The kind of yoga matters, as does the mat you use.
For someone with joint pain, arthritis, or back pain, says Dr. Rubenstein, the cushioning of the mat will be extremely important. For back pain, she adds "you'll do a lot of poses on your back, so it's important that you're comfortable."
However, she adds, thicker is not always better. For someone with balance issues, for example, “We might actually want a thinner mat so that it won't challenge their balance, and then progress toward the thicker mat as part of their therapy."
Our mats were tested by 10 staff members with varying degrees of experience in yoga. Some of our testers had physical conditions that could require special considerations like the ones listed here. Their experiences were prioritized when choosing the best mats for joint pain or injuries.
PRACTICING WHILE PREGNANT
“For pregnant women, yoga can be a great way to build and maintain strength and flexibility in a safe and gentle manner”, said physical therapist Shayna Shefrin, who specializes in pelvic floor dysfunction at the Sarasota Memorial Hospital. Shefrin taught prenatal yoga for a decade before she obtained her doctorate in physical therapy.
Yoga can help with pregnancy and even labor in significant ways. “Cat/cow pose, for example, can help optimize the position of the baby in the womb and downward dog may be helpful if the baby is in a breech position, giving space for the baby to turn,” she said. Conversely, she cautions that there are poses and types of yoga that pregnant women should not do. For example, any poses that require laying flat on the back or, of course, on the stomach. Pregnant women should also avoid hot yoga, as it can dehydrate the body too quickly.
For pregnant women, finding a mat made from safe, eco-friendly materials is especially important. Experts and health agencies worldwide advise pregnant women to stay away from phthalates, the chemicals traditionally added to PVC to make it more pliable. And, because other mats made from other plastic materials are often vague into what goes into making them, natural materials - for example, cork - could be a safer choice.
Other considerations include strong traction even when wet, so as to avoid any risk of falls, as well as “good firm support and padding, which is extremely important as the joints become lax during pregnancy due to hormonal changes,” said Shefrin.
WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR WHEN BUYING A YOGA MAT
COMPANIES THAT LABEL THEIR MATS AS ECO-FRIENDLY BUT AREN’T
Because of the growing popularity of environmentally friendly materials, there’s no shortage of companies looking to cash into what they see as a profitable trend.
Many industry manufacturers will label their mats as eco-friendly because the materials are technically recyclable and will biodegrade eventually. By using synthetic blends, they avoid having to disclose what exactly is in their particular blend. However, some plastics - although recyclable - are only recycled in very select locations.
FAQS ABOUT YOGA MATS
What’s the best way to clean my mat?
Each mat manufacturer will offer specific instructions about how best to take care of their mat. However, if you lost the instructions or your mat never came with any, there are some standard ways to do it.
You could spritz your mat using a mixture of two cups of water and a few drops of dish soap. You can then wipe off the mat with clean water, rub with a towel, and let air dry.
If your mat is very dirty, you can submerge it in water and mild detergent, but make sure to rinse it off really well as detergent could make it slippery. You can squeeze out the excess water and roll the mat on a dry towel.
It’s important to always hang your mat in the shade, as direct sunlight can make many materials deteriorate faster.
Read more about the yoga mats that are highly recommended on https://www.consumersadvocate.org/yoga-mats