Yogamat for balancing: what is the best?

One of the large gifts of Yoga Practice is the emphasis on balancing. Poses such as Vrksasana (tree attitude) are an integral part of almost any form of practice. The ability to balance is a crucial part of healthy aging, and it can be useful to develop balancing skills as early as possible. Conventional wisdom is that a thinner yoga mat (⅛ inch or less, or 1.5 mm to 3.5 mm) is the most conducive to stay on our feet during one -legged balancing poses. The thinner the mat, the less your standing foot needs adjustments. But is that optimal? After almost 40 years of yoga education, my unambiguous answer is: it depends on it. So what is the best yoga mat to balance?

The best yoga mat for balancing depends on your intention

No matter how contrainly it sounds, the mat that I usually use for teaching yoga – even in classes where we practice many standing balance postures – is the ultimate kissing yogaMat. At ⅜ inch it is the thickest mat hugger mugger. (I alternate between this mat and the para rubber yoga mat (3/16 ″)).

Why would I make it harder for myself? I practice balancing to cultivate poses and retain my balance skills. Of course, I can be easier to perform Balancing poses on a thinner mat, but I want to challenge my balance. That is the way we build balancing skills – by balancing in challenging situations. So, to achieve my goal in practicing balance positions, the best yoga mats for balancing are the thicker, more challenging.

Because I have a long -term relationship with Hugger Mugger Yoga products, I have bought many mats over the years. I think that balancing on different types of surfaces – and mats of different thicknesses – is important for building balancing skills. So sometimes I practice thick mats, and sometimes I practice thin mats. I also place my mats on different surfaces. Although wood and surfaces such as concrete are the most reliable, I think it is useful to practice balancing on soft, squishy surfaces, such as floor covering, also.

It is important to respect where you are. If your balance is generally unstable, practicing on a thinner yoga mat is a good place to start. As soon as you feel stable in balancing poses on a thin mat, you can start challenging your balance on a thicker mat.

Balancing on and from the yoga mat

Practicing yoga on different matthyps and floor types is not the only way to sharpen your balance. Here are some suggestions to get your balance act from the mat:

• Practice balance in different types of shoes – thick soles, soft soles, thin soles, etc. Unless you wear heels regularly, I would not recommend to practice yoga in it. (Incidentally, I would recommend that wearing or minimizing wearing heels in general, because of the destruction they cause the integrity of your musculoskeletal system.)
• Practice outdoors. Hiking trails are rarely full level. Walking and practicing balance stages, on uneven surfaces challenge your feet to balance in a different way. The next time you take a walk, stop for a minute or so and practice a one-legged balancing pose-strree pose seems to be fitting when you are in the forest an uneven surface.

If you want to know more about the elements of developing a stable balance, there is a recent blog here.

About Charlotte Bell

Charlotte Bell discovered Yoga in 1982 and started teaching in 1986. Charlotte is the author of Mindful Yoga, Mindful Life: A Guide for Everyday Practice and Yoga for Meditators, both published by Rodmell Press. Her third book is entitled Hip-Healthy Asana: The Yoga Practitioner’s Guide to Protect the hips and avoiding SI joint pain (Shambhala publications). She writes a monthly column for Catalyst Magazine and serves as an editor for Yoga U online. Charlotte is one of the founders of board member for GreenTree Yoga, a non-profit organization that brings yoga to disadvantaged population. Charlotte, a lifelong musician, plays oboe and English horn in the Salt Lake Symphony and Folk Sextet Red Rock Rondo, whose DVD won two Emmy Awards.