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Still Waiting for the Perfect Yoga Mat

October 21, 2010 •

Despite being a long-time fan of Manduka’s black mats, I’m still wait­ing for the per­fect mat. The arche­type for my per­fect mat would com­bine the best fea­tures of the Prana Rev­o­lu­tion Sticky Mat with Manduka’s Black Mat Pro, and here’s why.

Seattle Yoga Arts Studio Class

Revolution: The Perfect Dimensions

Designed in col­lab­o­ra­tion with Anusara founder John Friend, the Prana Rev­o­lu­tion mat offers the per­fect dimen­sions for yoga prac­tice — 78 inches long and 30 inches wide — 4 inches wider and 7 inches longer than Manduka’s stan­dard mat.

I own the Rev­o­lu­tion as well as Manduka’s larger mat, which is 85 inches long and 26 inches wide. What I’ve learned is that Manduka’s mat is longer than I need (and those extra inches add to its heavy weight). But Manduka’s stan­dard length of 71 inches is too short. This is why I find Revolution’s dimen­sions to be just right: 78 x 30.

If you’re tall, the Revolution’s larger dimen­sions make it eas­ier to achieve proper align­ment in poses like Down­ward Fac­ing Dog or plank pose. And if you take classes in crowded urban stu­dios, those added inches give you just enough breath­ing space from your fel­low yogi­nis.

Like the Man­duka black mat, the Rev­o­lu­tion has a very dense and sta­ble foun­da­tion: it won’t stretch or slip even when you’re jump­ing from one pose to another. (This sta­bil­ity is in strik­ing con­trast to some of Prana’s less expen­sive mats.)

Prana-Revolution-Mat

The design-sen­si­tive side of me also prefers the Revolution’s grass green color to the sober black of the Man­duka. I also like the whimsy of the cute yel­low-green Anusara logo placed in an uncon­ven­tional spot on the mat.

I don’t like the white bloom that appears on the sur­face after a few moments of prac­tice. It dis­ap­pears right after clean­ing, but reap­pears as soon as you resume prac­tic­ing. (You can see the bloom in this photo.)

Both Mats Are Too Heavy

At almost 9 pounds each, both of my mats are quite heavy — and seem even more so while walk­ing mul­ti­ple city blocks from my park­ing spot to the yoga stu­dio. If you carry this weight over your shoul­der mul­ti­ple times a week, it can really give you a sore neck or shoul­der.

My per­fect mat would weigh closer to 4 pounds — much like the weight of a well-bal­anced lap­top com­puter.

Hav­ing said that, if your sticky mat is used only for home prac­tice, this weight isn’t really a fac­tor.

Note that Manduka’s smaller (stan­dard size) mat weighs less, 7 pounds instead of almost 9.

How Well Do They Grip? Manduka Is Better

Nei­ther mat is very sticky when brand new. If you don’t set your foun­da­tion just right, you’re vul­ner­a­ble to slip­ping even in war­rior poses. It took months of use before I stopped slip­ping on the Rev­o­lu­tion. And even so, I bring a skid­less towel to class to put on top of the mat.

I think the break-in time for a new Man­duka black mat is some­what shorter than for the Rev­o­lu­tion, but the Man­duka is also too slip­pery dur­ing its first month or two of use (even longer if you don’t prac­tice on a daily basis).

The yoga teacher who sold me the Man­duka mat advised clean­ing it daily with a rough towel and mat-friendly cleanser, and “scrub­bing the heck out of it” — her secret for break­ing down the man­u­fac­tur­ing residues that pre­vent a new Man­duka from grip­ping as well as it’s designed to do.

After each mat has been bro­ken in for a year, the Manduka’s sur­face affords a surer grip for sweaty hands and feet than does the Rev­o­lu­tion. But on hot sum­mer days or in warm stu­dios, even a well-used Man­duka is too slip­pery mid­way through prac­tice if you suf­fer from sweaty hands and feet.

Neither One Is Perfect

In my home stu­dio where I have the lux­ury of space, I go back and forth between the Man­duka and the Rev­o­lu­tion dur­ing daily prac­tice. I’ve learned to pre­fer one mat over the other for cer­tain poses — a clear sign that nei­ther one is ideal.

Maybe some­day I’ll be able to buy a mat with the won­der­ful dimen­sions of the Rev­o­lu­tion and the supe­rior grip of the Man­duka — and a shoul­der-friendly weight of 4–5 pounds.

That would be a happy day.

About This Blog

Reflec­tions on life, travel, books, and yoga. Think­ing out loud about the pur­suit of mind­ful­ness and well-being.

Learn­ing how to recover from the loss of a beloved spouse, and then to find a trans­for­ma­tive path for­ward.

About Me

Semi-retired marketing exec, transitioning from a career in high tech. Now "managed" by two Tonkinese cats. Missing travel and friends on the West Coast. Avid reader and foodie. Staying active with long walks, biking, kayaking and yoga.

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