The title on this one is a bit imperfect. Really, I should append “for me” to the end. As with anything yoga, the perfect anything is really what is perfect for you. But, what I can do is express some lessons I learned as I progressed through my journey. Whether or not my mat is right for others is subjective. It was a long path, and somewhat costly, for me.

Before I started yoga, I did some preliminary research as to what I would need. Comfortable, cool clothing was first on the list. Right after this was a mat. Though it is possible to practice yoga without a mat, my belief is that it would be hard for individuals whom are new to yoga.

For my first mat, I spent a pretty decent amount of time on Amazon. As I do with many of my first-time purchases, I typed in the search words in Amazon’s search box. I told the search to show me results that were four stars or greater. This returned a very large list of items…more than I’d hoped to see, actually. I started with lower priced mats, and read the reviews. I then looked at the higher prices mats, and read their reviews.

After looking at pros and cons for many of the results, I’d narrowed my selection. A search outside of Amazon was of limited use, as in many cases a result pointed back to Amazon. Unhelpful. With the research behind me (along with many hours…really), I acquired my first mat.

If you read my first blog post for yoga, you saw a reference to perspiration. When I practice yoga, I perspire. A lot. In fact, I perspire more than I do with any other physical activity. What does this have to do with a yoga mat? I’m glad you asked! Quite a bit, actually.

In all of the yoga poses I’ve practice, a solid base is required. What this means is that it is important to work with your body to achieve a solid foundation. Feet (or hands, or shoulders, or whatever) must be in a place where they are not going to randomly move when more weight is applied. And the weight that is applied can be in one (or more) of many directions.

To best describe this, imagine that you’re standing on ice. When you’re not moving, and when there isn’t another force moving you (wind, a friend, a dog), it is perfectly reasonable to stay in a particular position for a period of time. But, when moving, feet start to slide. So begins the ultimate challenge of counteracting that movement with other movement…attempting to balance, gain a foothold again, and settle into another stationary position.

Now, imagine that you’re standing on a rubber mat. You’re moving around, and you have a pretty good grip with your feet. Perfect! Add a bit of moisture to the equation, and things can change. The previously “sticky” rubber becomes something akin to a “slip-n-slide”. (For those not old enough to remember slip-n-slides, picture a long piece of plastic with running water on it.) Any grip that was available is elusive. Not impossible, but elusive.

In yoga, this is the kiss of death. Okay, maybe not the kiss of death, but it is a very significant distraction. Aside from Balasana (child’s pose), there aren’t a lot of poses where the body needs to have a very solid foundation. Warrior (virabhadrasana) poses, for example, require that both feet are well-grounded. For many yoga poses, getting the body’s placement correct requires concentration, balance, strength, and the right choreography (yes, I realize this isn’t dance–but the word fits from my point of view). For more time than I care to remember, I had a foot placed well–or even both. When I started the next movement, however, one or both feet would slip. This caused one of two things…trying to overcome gravity even harder than I was already, or simply falling.

So, a significant amount of my time was spent wiping my mat with a towel during opportunistic breaks. This got old, as these breaks were usually during poses where I should have been “resting,” or they were in between poses, which only caused me to miss the proper setup. What to do?!

I started researching other mats on Amazon. Where I had initial simply typed a search phrase of “yoga mat,” I was now adding “non-slip,” “anti-slip” or “grip.” This did indeed refine my choices. So, following the same steps I had earlier, I found another mat that had good reviews, and was specifically stated as good for “hot yoga.” (Hot yoga, as it sounds, is yoga that is practice in very high temperatures, which of course causes higher perspiration.)

Although the newest mat was better, it still wasn’t great. I started looking for other solutions. Then I found that there were mat-sized towels that could be placed on top of a mat. I bought one. It worked well, with one exception. Now I had a towel that would start to move around and wrinkle. This began a different type of distraction–standing on wrinkled towel. Though I felt that this was significantly safer, it was a new distraction.

Back, again, to Amazon. Eventually I found a mat that was a mixture of cork and rubber. It wasn’t cheap, but it had very good reviews–particularly for the anti-slip properties. I acquired this mat, and have been relatively happy with it. There are times that I still slip around, but it isn’t to the same degree as when I started. Some of that is due to the mat’s properties, and some of it is due to an improvement in my overall abilities.

The lesson here was to use the right “equipment.” For the vast majority of people, my original mat would probably work well. For whatever reason, my body likes to perspire–a lot–during yoga. (Particularly a very involved flow.) But, I needed a mat that is very specific to me. Having the right mat gave me an ability to focus on protecting my body, while at the same time gaining the overall benefits I seek from yoga.