See? He’s so cool he doesn’t even need a mat! The Times was right!
Scorpio? Libra? Who needs a sign to make unfounded snap judgements about strangers? The zodiac is sooo 70′s! According to the NY Times, the new thing is to judge a girl by her yoga mat. (Because yoga is soooo, uh, ’70′s?) Actually the Times article is mainly about whether to use a sticky mat or go commando on the bare floor (for all you hygiene enthusiasts, apparently the floor gets cleaned a lot more than your mat*) but anyone who has been to a yoga studio knows that your yoga mat says a lot about who you are and how you live your life. So what does mine say about me? That I’m cheap and that I love my lady bits! (And also that I have a great immune system. The other day my Lifetime Fitness trainer Steve asked if I wanted to use a gym mat even though it “probably has somebody’s butt hair on it.” I didn’t even flinch. “Give me the mat.” I won’t bungee jump but by golly I’m still a risk taker!)
There I was the other day, blissfully inhaling and exhaling through a nice deep down dog (oh yoga, why so porny?) when I looked through my perfectly starfished hands to stare at all the pretty lotus flowers etched on my mat. Lotus flowers a la Georgia O’Keefe, that is. At that zen moment I realized my yoga mat is covered with a repeating pattern of – oh yes – the female anatomy. Which explains why I got it for ten bucks at TJ Maxx.
I was not as bothered by this as one might think – there is something oddly fitting about being in a class all about body awareness whilst sitting on replicas of my, ahem, awareness. Although anyone who asks to see my yoga mat from here on out has to buy me dinner first.
So what does your yoga mat say about you? Let’s break it down:
Color: Yoga classes are usually pretty subdued and yogis are generally conforming (You may think you’re being an individual by binding when the rest of us are extending but unless you go totally rogue then we’re all doing the same flow – even our breathing is synced. Baaa.) so neon or rainbow sparkles shows that you! are! different! And also, that you don’t mind glitter stuck in your awareness.
Pattern: Are you a tigress? Or a pansy? Unless you are like me and shop at a store so steeply discounted that they only carry one pattern (hey at least I didn’t buy my “lotus flowers” in pink!) then you must have chosen the adornment upon which you like to stand. Personally I find this baby panda creepy but maybe you just need a big hug when you’re lying face down in Sivasana?
Thickness: Yoga mats come in every size from paper thin – you might as well just buy one that looks like wood planks – to super plush. The fluffier your mat, the kinder it is to your knees, back, head and elbows. Unfortunately it is also that much harder to roll up. I’ve seen people so devoted to their comfort that they give up on rolling up their mats and just walk around looking like they’re carrying a piece of dry wall (with leopard spots!). Also, in case you missed all the “breathing through the pain” admonishments, yoginis are not supposed to be wusses so unless you’re pregnant then I’d better see headstands on the hardwood people.
Material: Ever wondered what the “sticky” in sticky yoga mats is? Most likely it’s some toxic combination of plastic and carcinogen that will not only sicken you from inhaling the delicious plasticky fumes but will live forever in our landfills. You’re a junkie and a polluter! (Of course this is the kind I have. Cheap, remember?) If you are environmentally aware however, you can buy all natural rubber mats or at least synthetic ones that don’t have that new-car smell. You’re green and rich!
Shape: Think rectangle is your only option? Think again! The one time I visited a high-end yoga studio I was shocked to find all the mats were large cushy ovals. Corners harsh your mellow, I guess. Also available are circles, squares and “yoga sheets” – mats large enough that no matter which way you come crashing out of your inversion, you’ll still land on mat. Although you should know that the larger your mat, the more territorial you appear. Floor space is at a premium; are you a good sharer?
Bag: While creativity is limited with the actual mats, options abound for the bag you carry it in. (Of course you need a mat bag! Always practice safe yoga, that’s my motto.) Is your mat bag a simple, austere strap? (Do you also tie back your pony tail with a string you bit off the frayed cotton hem of your tank top?) Or do you robe your mat in bright flowers or polka dots? I’ll admit it: mine is the grand dame of mat bags. Fed up with carrying a gym purse, a diaper bag and a yoga mat that unrolls at inconvenient moments, I finally got this baby:
Owner: This is probably the most telling aspect of your mat. Do you own your own mat or borrow one from the gym? Sure remembering your mat in the trunk of your car is hard but getting impetigo from putting your child’s pose where someone else put their open-sore cobbler is much worse.
Do you always bring your own mat or chance it with the gym’s? What kind of mat do you have? Tell us and we’ll make random authoritative judgments about your morals in the comments!
*One of the best yoga tips I ever got (and heaven help me I can’t remember which one of you taught me this on your blog so if it was you know that a) I love you! and b) feel free to name check yourself and post a link!) was to fold your yoga mat in half – short edge to short edge – before you roll it up. That way the patterned side that you rest your face on never touches the floor side. Try it!
I just rolled with the first pink one I could find at Sports Authority…which I now regret, because my knees hurt when I’m on all fours. But I ALWAYS fold and then roll…I’m a germaphobe like that. I also silently weep if I ever need to use a public water fountain.
I broke down and bought an environmentally-friendly, non-carcinogenic, thick rubber mat. (Of course, I also use it when I teach Pilates, so I may be able to get a partial tax write-off.) That puppy was expensive, but my knees have been thanking me. I also fold and roll it, and clean it regularly. It is a fairly subdued, un-patterned, dark purple, and I carry it with a simple strap.
I think my mat says “I’m the instructor, darn it, so give me that spot at the front of the room!!!!”
And I think “Hey…ya wanna..see my yoga mat?” may just be the new cool pick-up line.
mine are all ones Ive procured as giveaways 🙂
but at least I know the sweat is all mine…
My yoga mat is under my bike/bike trainer, with many outlines of dried-up sweat puddles! So I guess my yoga mat says I am not doing yoga. I do stretch, but usually just on my floor (with all the pet hair and who knows what) and not in an organized “yoga fashion” but more just to attend to the complaining muscles/tendons/ligaments of the day!
I don’t do yoga, I prefer Pilates, which also requires a mat. So here we go. The mat I use is actually a very old (like 15-20 years) camping mat. It’s dark grey, thin, narrow, and smells like basement. A few years ago I bought a pretty, light blue, thick yoga mat, but I only used it a few times, because it’s just way too big and heavy to carry around with me.
I wonder what that says about my personality. Maybe that I’m a gross penny pincher? Uh, busted!
My 10 year old mat is filthier and germier than the public mats, but I want it for the padding rather than the sanitation. I even bring it to the outdoor track for bootcamp, which means everyone stomps on it as we run laps and it has a varied foot-print pattern on it, but at least my knees and elbows aren’t embedded with gravel.
I keep meaning to wipe it off before I do head-stands or hindu push-ups on it, but I never get around to it.
My yoga mat is forest green and on the thinner side…probably bought at Ross’. My cover is also a darker green drawstring bag with a woven belt as a strap – that I made from materials I had in the cabinet. I designed it to wear like an arrow quiver, since at that time I was running to and from my yoga and pilates classes, but still wanted to use my own mat. I’ll just off waterfalls, but really, really want my own mat 😉 .
just = jump (darn that auto correct!)
I have that bag too! I bought it when I needed to start commuting by train. I love it!
Mine was a gift. It’s cheap and orange. Think what you will 🙂
I admit-I use it as a stretch out mat on my hardwood floors in the basement if I workout there. Mostly I workout upstairs and my knees get the padding of the carpet, which I’m sure is so full of cat fur that my mat is pristine in comparison…
Mine says I have a great immune system too. I bought it in 1999 and haven’t washed it once. It’s been all over the country with me. Of course, I haven’t used it in over a year, but…still.
It’s purple. For no reason other than that is what the store had when I went to buy it. And I’m pretty sure that there weren’t any fancy ones back then. At least not at the Target that I was shopping at.
I have a red Jade Harmony mat, which is a natural rubber one. I bought it because it’s supposed to have the best traction, not because of the environmental aspects, though. As for the color, I like bright, uplifting colors for my yoga mats (my last one was tangerine). I highly recommend this mat for anyone who slips a lot!
Yeah, I’m one of those people who uses the gym mat. I have one at home but I just don’t see the point of bringing it to work when there are perfectly good (and potentially filthy) ones to borrow. However, my gym is at my work and all the people there are either co-workers or their family and I think that makes me feel a little better about things. If it was a public gym I would definitely bring my own.
I don’t do full-on traditional yoga, but for PiYo I have to have a mat, and it has to be mine. At least then I know that the sweat and whatever bacteria sprouts from it is all my own. I can’t imagine going without a mat – I have, quite possibly, the sweatiest feet on the planet. Just stepping off the side of my mat briefly during a move is a bit dangerous! I’m also a big fan of “fold and roll.”
What kind of bag *is* that? I really like it.
I don’t do yoga, apart from the super-awesome upside-down-in-a-hammock kind where a mat is kind of irrelevant, but I do own a (boring, but sturdy) mat that lives at home for stretching and bodyweight exercises. If I’m doing either of the above away from home, I’ll use whichever mat is least smelly and easily available. It’s not so much about hygiene – I don’t really tend to ingest anything off mats or floors – as padding. My ankle bones are either unusually bony or unusually displeased by hard surfaces. Or both. Anyway, a mat makes everything happier but it doesn’t have to be anything special.
I think I got the same yoga mat with the subversive flowers all over on sale at TJ Maxx a few years ago…but i did get the hot pink and orange version!! ( it was cheap for a thicker one!)
Deb (Smoothie Girl) posted about folding the mat in half. I remember reading it and thinking why has no one told me this before?!?
Love my Manduka mat, but have not used it in many moons. So miss my yoga practice!
Well, I don’t have a yoga mat but I do have mats at home! At the gym, because I carry so much other stuff for my workouts with me – remember the pic I sent you of my gym bag – well, I ALWAYS put a towel over the mat to cover the whole mat before I lie down on it!!! I also clean the equipment before use too!
If I ever start yoga, I will most likely break all the rules! 😉
I use a yoga towel and the gym mat. I started doing this mostly because the gym mats are more slippery than I’d like, rather than because I was worried about germs (although perhaps I should have been). The yoga towel packs up small, it’s lightweight, and I wash it regularly as well as fold it up end-to-end before rolling it. Between the never, ever slipping in downward facing dog anymore and the scary germ news I’m happy. The towel was pretty cheap on Amazon. Sometimes it wrinkles a little at the corners but it’s not a big deal.
I do have a mat of my own that I’ll drag out at home or when I’m visiting a studio that doesn’t have free mats.
Mine is purple. It says “yes I really do use this so much that my cats never have time to use it as a scratching post cough cough”.
My yoga mat says….”damn you weigh a lot bug fella”
Seriously… it’s purple with those same white va-jay-jay flowers
I honestly don’t do yoga.. but this blog really interest me.. good posts.. Thanks! 🙂
I use the mats at the gym, and since I work there, I know that most of them have not been cleaned since we opened (two years ago!!) so I guess that makes me cheap and utterly, stupidly brave (or just stupid?) Hahaha!!
What’s up with the all the bravado about using a filthy yoga mat?? MRSA (look it up) is on the rise and coming to a studio/gym near you. Cleanliness is kinda like a seat belt, or motorcycle helmet. You can’t go get it when you need it. Do you take pride in never changing your underwear? Same kind of thinking as laughing at the “germophobes” who have some self-respect and standards for personal hygiene. Be grateful when they’re next to you in class instead of someone like yourself.
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