What you should know about the grip and cushioning of a yoga mat

In many product comparisons of yoga mats, grip and cushioning are mentioned as particularly important aspects. This is logical, everyone wants to do their exercises safely and comfortably.

Aspects Grip

The feel of the grip is very subjective. Every person is individual and feels differently. It also makes a big difference whether you have rather dry or damp hands, for example when you are doing an intensive session. Too little grip can mean that exercises cannot be performed correctly. But too much grip is not helpful either. Exercises are then no longer carried out in the correct flow and the movements can no longer be carried out fluently, exercises are carried out more or less stop-and-go. Apart from that, a mat wears out much faster.

do exercises correctly

The primary focus should be on improving and doing the exercises correctly. You should work with a lot of pressure on your hands and feet and distribute the weight evenly. This ensures more stability and a much more conscious experience in yoga flow.

damping

The focus here is often placed too much on the mat. It's completely normal when - just when you're just starting out with yoga - your knees or joints are under a lot of strain. In yoga practice, it is common to use a towel, blanket or bolster to relieve the strain. Here, too, it makes sense to focus on the correct and natural execution of the exercises.

Origin of yoga mats

Yoga has been around for 3-4,000 years and was first performed using lightweight mats made from grass, leaves or animal skins. The classic yoga mat today is the cotton yoga mat, which is still used by many yogis. The focus is on the naturalness of the material.

Aspects of natural materials

We firmly believe that natural materials such as cotton or cork not only help ourselves, but also have an impact on the environment. Many yoga mats use plasticizers, harmful ingredients and a number of plastics. From our point of view, this represents a major problem. Materials such as sheep's wool are also problematic due to the conditions in which the animals are kept.

Natural materials in yoga mats include cotton, natural rubber and cork. It is also important to take a close look at cork yoga mats, as they are often mixed with other materials such as latex or TPE on the underside. The bYo® yoga mat from treeletic is the first yoga mat made entirely of cork, a real original.

Cork yoga mats have the advantage of being purely natural and protecting our environment. No tree needs to be cut down as only the bark is used, this helps the tree regenerate and extends its lifespan. The material is antibacterial and hypoallergenic. Cork yoga mats offer a perfect natural and healthy training environment.

Grip works differently with cork

A plus is that cork contains natural suberin, which also increases grip when wet. Unlike rubber mats, sweating increases grip. In order to have a particularly good grip, a cork mat should be lightly moistened with water using a spray bottle before the exercises. This is particularly recommended for very dry skin.

From our point of view, natural materials are more than an alternative and should actually be standard.

Summary

We hope that we have explained the background to you well and wish you a lot of fun with yoga! Here is a brief summary of the most important points: