How to Find the Right Yoga Mat for You

February 19, 2018

Do you want to know why it is so totally worth it to do your research to find a yoga mat that fits your body? Because it is literally the only thing you need to practice yoga. Blocks, straps, blankets, and bolsters can be creatively constructed using other materials, but a yoga mat that works for you cannot be invented on the fly.

Yoga is so versatile that it can be practiced anywhere—in your kitchen, on the beach, in a meadow, on a mountaintop—but this versatility requires a mat that is willing to move with you wherever you go.

Before you start exploring the yoga mat database, find out these three things:

1. How tall are you? Yoga mats are made for all sizes and shapes. Decide how long you want your mat to be. Sometimes, widths vary, too.

2. What kind of yoga will you be practicing? If you primarily practice yin yoga, look for something thicker to pad up your knees in those long, juicy lunges. If you’re into any type of heated yoga, consider a stickier mat that will keep your palms in place through all the sweaty vinyasas.

3. Where will you use your mat? If you travel often with your yoga mat, weight will matter to you. If the only place you will be using your mat is at home or in a studio, and you don’t mind lugging your mat from the car to the studio and back a couple times every week, you can go crazy with your weight options.

Examples of wonderful mats I’ve tried and loved are: the Jade Harmony mat (light, sticky, for every mat sold Jade plants a tree), the Manduka Pro (heavy, solid, supercushy), and the Hugger Mugger Nature Collection (wide, soft material, ECO Friendly).

If you’re still unsure about what to buy, take a look around your next yoga class and see what mats entice you. You might even ask your fellow yogini if you could try a few downward dogs on her mat.

Happy searching!

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Julie Bertagna

Julie Bertagna is a 500 RYT and certified Baptiste yoga teacher who teaches Baptiste power yoga and recovery yoga at Namaspa Yoga & Massage, as well as in her home studio, The Yoga Loft, in Bend. She is a mother and a grandmother, she loves the outdoors, and she still pursues dental hygiene one day a week! In the summer, she spends time at her partner's retreat venue, Vernonia Springs, which puts on retreats and special events. More information about Julie’s offerings can be found on her website: juliebertagnayoga.com

Liz Skarvelis

Yoga is everything to Liz. It's her physical and spiritual practice, her political action, and her love song to both herself and the world. She started practicing yoga in college and grew her roots when she moved to San Francisco in 2008. She practiced Bhakti Yoga (yoga of love and devotion) at Yoga Tree Castro with Janet Stone, who she considers her first and primary teacher. Yoga brings her freedom of mind, stillness of spirit, and strength of being that she strives to share with others. Her classes are soft and strong and everything in between; she includes meditation, breath work, and space to connect you to your truest self. You can also expect a few helpings of (occasionally funny) humor. For more information, go to her website: www.lovebirdyoga.com

Fae Leslie Hoffman

Fae is a butterfly leaf girl. She teaches yoga, cartwheels in the rain, reads ferociously, and is learning how to listen to stillness. Fae has been published in The Southampton Review, elephant journal, Mukha Yoga, and writes best barefoot. She completed her 200-hour teacher training with Leslie Pearlman and is trained in Vinyasa with a fierce Forrest influence. She is also certified in Thai massage and has taught in New York, Thailand, Oregon, Wisconsin, and deep in the backwoods of California. Yoga makes her brave.

Zia Estrella

An exotic stargazer from the land of the intuitive ones, Zia embodies physicality, possibility, and empowerment in lighthearted playfulness. She loves the truth with all her heart and lives it with all her being. She grounds down into her deep dark Taína roots to rise. Humbled to practice and study yoga since 2007, she lives in wholeness, giving full credit to each and every emotion she experiences while embracing the power of the now moment. Shifting her perspective to realize the eternal inner light within is her Dharma. She got turned upsidedown on the True North path of yoga and she remembered her Prem - TruthLoveBeauty. This is her deepest source of empowerment, creativity, joy and peace. May she transform darkness into light through her own journey and serve all beings everywhere in truth, love and beauty. Learn more at www.ziayoga.io

Heidi Drake

Heidi Drake discovered yoga at the suggestion of her chiropractor and founded Downward Dog Yoga & Wellness Studio in Sunriver, Oregon in 2017, after obtaining her RYT-250 aerial yoga instructor certification from Aerial Yoga Academy. A lifelong dancer who taught jazz, hip hop, and tap at Sunriver Dance Academy for 9 years, Heidi realized that she needed something a bit gentler on her 50+ year-old body and was pleasantly shocked to find a passion for the strength, flexibility, and mind-body-soul connection yoga offers. When she’s not at the studio or writing, Heidi’s favorite place is on the Little Deschutes river, in her own backyard, with her husband, two teenage daughters, and pack of 4 dogs.

Size Chart

Prana Size Chart

	XSmall	Small	Medium	Large	XLarge
US Size	0-2	4-6	8-10	12-14	16
Bust	32-33	34-35	36-37	38.5-40	41.5
Waist	28-29	30-31	32-33	32.5-36	37.5
Inseam - Pants	31-32	32	33	34	34

Beyond Yoga Size Chart

	XSmall	Small	Medium	Large	XLarge
US Size	2-4	4-6	6-8	10-12	14-16
Bust	32	34	36	38	40
Inseam	31"	31.5"	32"	32.5"	33"
Hip	34.5-35.5"	36.5-7.5"	38.5-39.5"	40.5-41.5"	42.5-43.5"

Lole Fit Guide

	XSmall	Small	Medium	Large	XLarge
US Size	2	4	6	10-12	14-16
Bust	32/33	33.5/35	35.5/37	38/39.5	40.5/42
Inseam	32"	32"	32"	32"	32"
Hip	35-36.5"	37-38.5"	39-40.5"	41.5-43"	44-45.5"

Lily Lotus Size Chart

XSmall	Small	Medium	Large	XLarge
US Size	0-2	2-4	4-6	6-8	8-10
Bust	30	32	34	36	38+
Inseam	31"	31.5"	32"	32.5"	33"

How to Find the Right Yoga Mat for You

Also in The Community Hub

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How to Use Props (bolster)

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Size Chart

XSmall

Small

Medium

Large

XLarge

0-2

4-6

8-10

12-14

16

32-33

34-35

36-37

38.5-40

41.5

28-29

30-31

32-33

32.5-36

37.5

31-32

32

33

34

34

XSmall

Small

Medium

Large

XLarge

2-4

4-6

6-8

10-12

14-16

32

34

36

38

40

31"

31.5"

32"

32.5"

33"

34.5-35.5"

36.5-7.5"

38.5-39.5"

40.5-41.5"

42.5-43.5"

XSmall

Small

Medium

Large

XLarge

2

4

6

10-12

14-16

32/33

33.5/35

35.5/37

38/39.5

40.5/42

32"