I tend to find if you’re looking at a budget of around $100 for your yoga mat then you will definitely get a good amount of wear and tear. Most of the yoga mats I’ve ever bought have been around this budget and they always last me at least 1-2 years of regular use (and for me that is a lot of travelling, yoga on grass/ dirt/ sand etc.).
The more you’re using your mat the better quality you will want your mat to be to help avoid injury particularly in your wrists or even when doing inversions / balance postures. For example foam mats (that are quite thick, anything over 3mm) are quite spongy and hard to get your grip or balance on, they’re not usually durable as the material breaks apart and are more aimed at fitness exercises rather than yoga asanas.
5. Do you plan to travel with your yoga mat?
If you plan to travel with your yoga mat I definitely recommend a 3mm thickness option or less this is a decent thickness for most terrains or studios and still relatively light to pack in your suitcase or strap onto your backpack.
If you really don’t have room and are mostly looking to practice outdoors on the beach or the grass on your holidays I recommend a yoga towel, as they’re the perfect size, easy to pack away and can also act as a sweat towel if you’re in a hot climate or take a swim after your practice.
The three mats I recommend below are the ones that I most recently travelled with for 3 months, they were the perfect combination for all of the different locations that I was practicing and teaching yoga.
Cleaning your yoga mat wherever you are is also easy – I use a few drops of tea tree oil in some water in a spray bottle and use a cloth to wipe mats clean. The tea tree oil has natural sanitising abilities and adding the water means that your mat won’t smell too strong and you won’t need to use as much oil.
My final tip for you is to remember that yoga mats often need wearing in, whilst they may seem sticky at first the more you use them the more you will increase the grip on them.
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