Yoga mat

In ancient India In ancient times, meditational yoga was practised in India on kusha grass, on hard earth without any cover, or on a rug of deer or tiger skin, as specified in the Bhagavadgita and the Shvetashvatara Upanishad as suitable for attaining enlightenment. File:Bharadwaja.jpg|The sage Bharadvaja seated on a deer skin. Watercolour, early 19th century File:Kapala Asana (headstand) from Jogapradipika 1830 (detail).jpg|A yogi practising Kapala Asana (yoga headstand) on a tiger skin. Jogapradipika, 1830 File:Trikonasana - International Day of Yoga Celebration - NCSM - Kolkata 2015-06-21 7329.JPG|Participants in Trikonasana in the International Day of Yoga, Kolkata, 2015, on cotton sheets Origin of the modern yoga mat With yoga's introduction in the West, many practitioners used towels or cotton mats on wooden floors. Feet tended to skid on these surfaces, requiring strength just to stand still in a pose like Trikonasana. In 1982, while teaching yoga in Germany, Angela Farmer used carpet underlay cut to towel size during yoga classes; she returned home to London with the material. Angela's father, Richard Farmer, contacted the German padding manufacturer and became the first retailer of "sticky mats". The first, purpose-made yoga mat was manufactured and sold by Hugger Mugger Yoga Products in the 1990s; the company initially imported Farmer-style mats, but finding that they began to crumble with use, developed their own more robust alternative. ==Types==

Yoga mats vary in thickness, composition, surface texture, "stickiness" or grip, and weight, as well as price. They are normally around long and have a width of . Yoga mats range in thickness from lightweight 'travel' style at to (standard), and up to for either high performance mats or soft mats for yoga therapy. Mats are available in many colours and patterns. "Alignment mats" are printed with guides to proper alignment, intended to help practitioners to place their feet the right distance apart and accurately in line with each other. Others are printed with images. Some travel mats can be folded into a small square. The first commercially produced "sticky" Smooth mats provide the most grip, so are suitable for the more energetic styles such as hot yoga and Ashtanga (vinyasa) yoga; the trade-off is that they may be less comfortable and appear dirty more quickly. '' gave good grip and was both comfortable and attractive; its rubber underside made it stable on any surface, but somewhat heavy; a cork mat provided both good grip and an exceptionally warm surface with a pleasant texture, and the property of being to some degree self-cleaning. The best grip was given by a smooth latex mat; in the review's opinion, its 4 mm thickness both gave enough padding for yin yoga, and the stability for energetic yoga styles. The review noted that a circular mat was at first unfamiliar, but helpful for personal practice of poses such as Prasārita Pādottānāsana (wide stance forward bend) and sequences where a rectangular mat would have to be turned through 90 degrees at intervals; it was also ideal for demonstrating asanas to a class. ::: * Comfort and weight depend on thickness; people choose thinner mats for portability, or thicker ones for comfort. ::: # Environmental impact of these products depends on how they are grown; impact will be low if they are grown with low usage of pesticides, or in the case of rubber, if from suitably certified forests. == In popular culture ==

Annual Halloween Howl, 2009, New York City The yoga mat has become the definitive symbol of modern yoga as exercise.--> The yoga scholar Andrea Jain wrote in The Washington Post that "One of the most ubiquitous symbols of yoga's commercialization is the mat, which many consider a necessity to prevent slipping, to mark territory in crowded classes or to create a ritual space." She noted that "committed adherents" could pay over $100 for a luxury mat. In 2025, The UK's Office for National Statistics decided to include the yoga mat in its "basket" of goods and services used to calculate inflation in the country. The items are chosen to represent typical consumer spending and hence to work out changes in the cost of living; the yoga mat's inclusion means that it has become a standard household purchase. == See also ==