How to buy a yoga mat?

Lan Li, a senior yoga instructor in Taiwan, suggested that the material is the most important thing that everyone should pay attention to when purchasing a yoga mat. It is also the key to determining the price of the mat. You must not be blinded by the beautiful colors and ignore the quality.

Before purchasing a yoga mat, you should consider the following 7 points:

1. Is it easy to clean?

2. When laid on the ground, is it easy to smooth without wrinkling?

3. Is it sticky?

4. Will you slip after sweating?

5. Is it easy to carry?

6. Is there a "use period" marked?

7. Is the material environmentally friendly and will it cause harm to the environment and the body?

Based on the above points, Coach Lan Li provided four tips for your reference:

1. Use your thumb and index finger to pinch the yoga mat to test its pressure resistance.

2. Wet a small piece of yoga mat and imitate what happens after sweating to see if it slips.

3. Use an eraser yoga mat to see if the material breaks easily?

4. Pay attention to the material of the yoga mat and choose an environmentally friendly one. Traditional yoga mats are made of PVC, which is a long-term source of plastic pollution and can pollute the environment. Moreover, the smell of plastic will also affect the effectiveness of the exercise. Environmentally friendly yoga mats are made of natural latex, hemp and other natural materials. They do not contain PVC and have no peculiar smell.

After having your own yoga mat, you should not only take care of it carefully, but also clean it frequently. In an interview with the Yoga Journal, Sharbeth, founder of Hango Mogg Yoga Products in the United States, suggested that to ensure hygiene, it is best to clean it every other week.

For ordinary simple cleaning, you can use two cups of water and 4 drops of dishwashing detergent to put it into a sprayer. After spraying the yoga mat, you can dry it with a dry cloth.

If the mat is very dirty, you can use washing powder water to clean it. Keep as little washing powder as possible, because any residue will make the yoga mat slippery in the future. Gently scrub the mat with a cloth dipped in washing powder water, then rinse it off with clean water. Finally, roll up the yoga mat with a dry towel, suck off excess water and dry it in the air. (Editor in charge: Teng Yun)