Why is a Yoga Mat a Necessity While Working Out?
A yoga mat is a must-have yoga accessory that is made of breathable PVC, rubber, or soft cotton material. It can be easily rolled and carried in a bag. It isn’t merely a tool but a metaphor representing the space free from daily life’s stress, chaos, and unpredictability.
While yoga mats come in various forms, colours, and materials, the basic idea of using a yoga mat is to prevent the body from touching the floor or ground. Thus, it avoids the depletion of heat and energy generated during yoga postures by getting transferred to the ground.
Read this article to find out the various reasons why you need yoga mats during yoga sessions.
Provides Improved Grip and Avoids Slipping Accidents
Practising various yoga postures requires you to stretch your body in multiple angles. This may result in accidental slipping of hands, legs, or other body parts if you do yoga postures on flat surfaces.
Thus, practising yoga without using a yoga mat increases the risk of slipping in undesired directions resulting in muscle cramps and fatigue. Whether you practice yoga on marble, wooden, or mosaic floor, you need a yoga mat for avoiding slipping accidents.
To extract the maximum benefits of yoga sessions, you need to hold yourself longer in specific yoga postures. Yoga mat helps practitioners to stay longer in their postures and maintain a firm grip on the surface because of its anti-slipping nature.
Moreover, yoga mats insulate your body from the ground or floor. This thermo-insulation prevents loss of heat, energy, and charge from your body to the ground. That’s why a yoga mat is an absolute necessity for every yoga practitioner.
The yoga mats are made of breathable material that ensures improved breathability and absorbs excessive sweat during yoga sessions. This prevents the yoga mat surface from getting slippery. Some mats also provide a cushion against a hard and rough underlying surface.
Super-Conscious Benefits
Practising yoga involves performing proper breathing techniques such as pranayama and other exercises that aim to awaken the supra-spinal sources of energy called kundalini inside a human body. This results in the generation of energy and heat in the body.
All the breathing techniques of yoga need to be practised with perfect synchronization for reaping the maximum advantages. Like any other form of exercise, this contributes to the rise of metabolic activities and energy levels inside the body.
If you practice yoga postures and exercises without using a yoga mat, there won’t be any insulation between your body and the ground. This causes the energy generated energy during yoga practices to flow down and grounded to the earth.
Thus, many yoga masters necessitate using a yoga mat during yoga sessions for experiencing the super-conscious benefits of yoga. Yoga mats provide the needed flexibility, softness, and rigidness for performing various yoga postures effortlessly.
Easy to Carry
You can easily roll and carry your yoga mat. Most yoga mats come with a bag that can be used for storing and carrying rolled yoga mats. Ensure that your personal yoga mat is with you while performing yoga sessions at home or in yoga centres.
As you can simply roll and pack your yoga mats in yoga bags, you can easily travel or drive your bike while carrying yoga mats on your shoulders. The lightweight nature of yoga mats enhances their portability and allows you to perform yoga no matter where you go.
Defines Your Private Yoga Space
The yoga mat not only offers a sticky, breathable, and rigid surface but also defines your private yoga space. You can personalize your yoga mat to express who you truly are as a yoga practitioner.
You can use your yoga mat for making an impressive fashion or style statement. Pick a yoga mat of your favourite colour. Then, decide what sort of material goes well with your persona among the PVC, rubber, or eco-friendly cotton yoga mat.
As a yoga mat represents your private space, you also need to decide about its size, design, thickness, and portability. Some latest yoga mats come with mega-grip and super-eco features with attractive designs on their surfaces.
While practising yoga exercises with many other yogis in a hall at the yoga centre, your yoga mat separates your space from others and serves as a fence. Thus, you have a secure limited space where others cannot enter by stretching their limbs into your yoga space.
You can be assured that other yogis don’t put their feet on your mat. Thus, your yoga mat comes in handy, especially while practising in crowded yoga workshops and classes. While the bare floor serves as a public space, your yoga mat creates a private space for you to revel in.
It seems ironic that we practise yoga to experience the limitless expansiveness of the self from the rectangular boundaries of personalized and colourful private yoga spaces.
Stability
You need more strength than flexibility when you perform standing yoga postures on various surfaces like grass, sand, or blanket. It is required for preventing sliding away of your hands and feet from one another.
Thus, when you wedge yourself into postures, you experience hanging out in elbows, hips, knees, and shoulders. The increasing stickiness of a yoga mat causes wear and tear of knees and hips, resulting in an imbalance in the flexibility and strength needed in yoga practice.
Avoid Injuries
Yoga mats are primarily designed to avoid injuries while practising challenging yoga postures. Even the experienced yogis may experience pain and discomfort from a yoga session.
With a high-quality yoga mat underneath, you can reduce the chances of injury and carry on your yoga sessions without any interruptions. Moreover, doing yoga practice with a tailored approach on a yoga mat helps make a quick fast recovery from various injuries.
Keeps You Longer Incorrect Poses
Practising yoga postures on a yoga mat helps you maintain correct poses for a longer duration and reap maximum benefits. A well-chosen yoga mat allows you to stretch your muscles within your specified limits and thereby build strength slowly.
When you perform complex yoga postures, your body joints need proper support. A well-crafted yoga mat beneath your feet provides you with the needed support while practising challenging yoga postures.
Moreover, a premium quality yoga mat helps in boosting your yoga session anytime, any place. A yoga mat absorbs the excessive sweat secreted by your body while performing yoga in extremely hot conditions. Thus, it allows you to maintain the required hygiene in yoga poses.
A yoga mat provides constant body balance from head to toe. It is designed for providing complete comfort and whole-body relaxation.
Assists Yoga Instructors
A yoga mat also helps yoga instructors in assisting their students in making required improvements. It allows them to teach their students to stretch their bodies safely and develop the right tools for spotting misalignments and making corrections independently.
With yoga mats, an instructor can quickly check if a student is out of alignment, stretching incorrectly, or putting himself at risk. Moreover, it helps instructors in explaining the exact positioning of the specific poses.
Improves Physical Wellness
A yoga mat helps you to performed aligned yoga postures that improve your physical wellness. Thus, a perfect yoga mat allows you to practice poses that enhance overall mental health and improves mobility.
A high-quality yoga mat helps in reducing muscle fatigue and soreness and contributes towards increasing the health of your joints and ligaments.
Make Yoga More Accessible
A well-designed yoga mat makes yoga more accessible as it allows you to perform yoga asanas and postures with great ease. It not only supports performing yoga but also makes the entire yoga session more peaceful.
In the beginning, you may feel intimidated by various foundational yoga poses, which may leave you uncertain about your abilities to perform yoga. For such beginner yogis, a yoga mat serves as an excellent way for supporting and building their practice at home.
A high-quality yoga mat assists you in performing yoga postures everywhere, including your roof or outside garden in the open air. Some latest reversible yoga mats are popular among yoga enthusiasts as these provide exceptional support, comfort, balance, and ease.
