Aside from the usual physical exercises, one of the most recommended health-related activities for people of all ages is yoga. Yoga is an ancient mind and body practice that originated in India thousands of years ago. It’s a type of physical activity involving breathing techniques, meditation, and various movements and poses.
Why we use Yoga Mats? The goal of yoga is simple: to improve your physical and mental wellness. Today, it’s an incredibly popular discipline around the world, and it seems that the number of individuals practicing it will only keep increasing in the ye
ars to come.
The Advantages Of Doing Yoga
Yoga offers a plethora of benefits both for your mind and body. Here are just some of them:
- Helps relieve back pain
- Boosts strength, flexibility, and body balance
- Increases energy and brightens one’s mood
- Helps manage stress levels
- Good for heart health
- Promotes better and deeper sleep
- Another form of self-care
If you’ve never done yoga before, it’s never too late to start learning it. You can watch video tutorials on the internet or, better yet, sign up for yoga classes and get proper guidance from a professional yoga teacher and therapist.
The Benefits Of Best Yoga Mats
Before trying yoga for the first time, one of the essential tools you’ll need is a yoga mat. While it’s true that you can do yoga indoors, outdoors, or any other place you find comfortable, your experience will significantly improve when you have this particular item. How? Keep reading to find out.
1. Reduce The Risk Of Injury
You need to find a flat surface, such as the floor, in order for you to do any yoga pose. However, doing yoga directly on the floor could be painful for your body, especially when you’re trying certain poses that’d put pressure on your knees, hands, or feet.
Furthermore, doing yoga can cause you to sweat, especially on the palms and feet. When those body parts get sweaty, you might slip on the floor, fall, and end up hurting yourself.
There are many other similar scenarios that could result in an injury should you choose to do yoga directly on the floor. That’s why investing in cool yoga mats is an excellent idea to ensure comfort and safety during your yoga exercises.
Your mat will serve as your body’s padding to prevent slip and fall accidents and reduce your risk of experiencing pain in your knees, joints, and muscles. However, if you get a good kind of soreness due to a quality workout, then there’s nothing to worry about.
2. They Are Sanitary
Imagine performing your yoga exercises on a bare floor or directly on the ground (if you’re doing it outdoors). Think of your hands, feet, or entire body touching such surfaces. Think of the dirt and dust that’s accumulated there or how many shoes have stepped on that floor.
And who knows if that area has been cleaned recently? Performing yoga without a mat as your cushion is simply unsanitary and could cause you to have skin rashes, irritations, and other allergic reactions.
So always remember to have your yoga mat on hand and avoid borrowing it from random people unless you’re sure it’s clean and sanitized.
You can purchase a mat from Pixels and other online shops. Even if you’re practicing yoga at home and you’ve just mopped your floors, it’s still important to use a mat for sanitary and safety purposes.
3. They Provide Comfort
One of the primary purposes of yoga mats is to provide comfort and cushioning while doing your yoga exercises. They’re designed to be breathable for the skin and absorb sweat.
What’s more, they have anti-slip properties to prevent you from sliding off while doing poses. It’s a must to invest in good-quality Yoga mats for maximum comfort during your yoga sessions.
4. Maintain Your Balance Longer
If you’re doing certain yoga poses and asanas on the floor, you may find it tough to hold them as your feet or shoulder might keep on sliding back and forth because of the shiny, smooth surface.
A yoga mat provides enough roughness, steadiness, and friction to help you maintain and hold your balance for longer periods. This is highly beneficial, especially for yoga beginners who are still working on properly balancing themselves.
5. They Keep You Warm
The ground is the coldest part of any room. If you’re doing yoga without any barrier between your body and the floor, it’d be hard for you to focus on your breathing techniques and poses as the cold surface can be a huge distraction.
This is especially true during the winter season. You can expect the floors to be as cold as or even colder than the air in the room since heat always rises.
6. Create A Sacred Yoga Space
A yoga mat can serve as a symbol for yoga. As you place it in a room or on a particular spot, it’ll automatically turn that area into a sacred yoga space. With a mat, you’ll feel more connected and focused as it’ll signal your body and mind to go into a quiet and peaceful disposition.
Most yoga teachers and therapists would recommend you to have your own mat in order for you to feel calmer and more comfortable while you’re using it.
Key Takeaway:
Overall, among the best ways to make the most of yoga is by using and investing in your own yoga mat. Before you start working on your physical and mental wellness, remember to wear proper attire and have your mat with you so you can be fully prepared to reap the numerous health benefits yoga can bring.