This entry was posted on Aug 13, 2025 by Charlotte Bell.
Certainly one of yoga follow’s nice items is its emphasis on balancing. Poses akin to Vrksasana (Tree Pose) are an integral a part of nearly each type of follow. The power to stability is a vital a part of wholesome growing older, and it may be useful to develop balancing abilities as early as doable. Standard knowledge has it {that a} thinner Yoga Mat (⅛ inch or much less, or 1.5mm to three.5mm) is most conducive to staying on our ft throughout one-legged balancing poses. The thinner the mat, the much less your standing foot goes to want to make changes. However is that optimum? After nearly 40 years of yoga educating, my unequivocal reply is: it relies upon. So what’s the greatest yoga mat for balancing?
The Finest Yoga Mat for Balancing Is determined by Your Intention
Counterintuitive as it could sound, the mat I normally use for educating yoga—even in lessons the place we follow numerous standing balancing poses—is the Final Cushion Yoga Mat. At ⅜ inch, it’s the thickest mat Hugger Mugger provides. (I alternate between this mat and the Para Rubber Yoga Mat (3/16″)).
Why would I need to make it more durable on myself? I follow balancing poses to domesticate and preserve my balancing abilities. Certain, I can extra simply carry out balancing poses on a thinner mat, however I need to problem my stability. That’s the best way we construct balancing abilities—by balancing in difficult conditions. So, to perform my goal in practising balancing poses, the perfect yoga mats for balancing are the thicker, tougher ones.
As a result of I’ve a longstanding relationship with Hugger Mugger Yoga Merchandise, I’ve purchased many mats from them through the years. I discover that balancing on several types of surfaces—and mats of various thicknesses—is vital for constructing balancing abilities. So typically I follow on thick mats, and typically I follow on skinny mats. I additionally place my mats on varied surfaces. Whereas wooden and surfaces akin to concrete are probably the most dependable, I feel it’s useful to follow balancing on delicate, squishy surfaces, akin to carpeting, as properly.
It’s vital to respect the place you’re. In case your stability is usually unstable, practising on a thinner Yoga Mat is an effective place to begin. As soon as you are feeling steady in balancing poses on a skinny mat, then you’ll be able to start difficult your stability on a thicker mat.
Balancing On and Off the Yoga Mat
Practising yoga on varied mat varieties and ground varieties just isn’t the one option to hone your stability. Listed here are some strategies for taking your balancing follow off the mat:
- Follow balancing in several types of footwear—thick soles, comfortable soles, skinny soles, and many others. Until you usually put on heels, I wouldn’t advocate practising yoga in them. (For that matter I’d advocate avoiding or minimizing sporting heels normally, due to the havoc they wreak on the integrity of your musculoskeletal system.)
- Follow outside. Climbing trails are not often fully degree. Strolling, and practising balancing poses, on uneven surfaces problem your ft to stability otherwise. Subsequent time you are taking a hike, cease for a minute or so and follow a one-legged balancing pose—Tree Pose appears acceptable once you’re within the woods—on an uneven floor.
If you happen to’d prefer to be taught extra in regards to the parts of creating steady stability, right here’s a current weblog.
About Charlotte Bell
Charlotte Bell found yoga in 1982 and commenced educating in 1986. Charlotte is the writer of Aware Yoga, Aware Life: A Information for On a regular basis Follow and Yoga for Meditators, each printed by Rodmell Press. Her third e-book is titled Hip-Wholesome Asana: The Yoga Practitioner’s Information to Defending the Hips and Avoiding SI Joint Ache (Shambhala Publications). She writes a month-to-month column for CATALYST Journal and serves as editor for Yoga U On-line. Charlotte is a founding board member for GreenTREE Yoga, a non-profit that brings yoga to underserved populations. A lifelong musician, Charlotte performs oboe and English horn within the Salt Lake Symphony and people sextet Crimson Rock Rondo, whose DVD received two Emmy awards.