Best Yoga Mat for Beginners: Start-off with a Good Brand for Enhanced Spiritual Experience

If you’re just starting your journey into yoga exercises or meditation, the quality of your mat and the gear you’re wearing makes a big difference in how soon you’ll become comfortable with the practice.

Let me be honest with you, regular or hot yoga is not for everyone. While this article is about yoga mats reviews, yoga in general benefits those that couple it with a wise spiritual lifestyle.

Most people make the mistake of asking – what is the best yoga mat, instead of asking how will yoga benefit me. I can tell you the truth before you spend any money, you’ll have a lousy experience regardless of the types of cool yoga mats you’re using if you live a gluttonous lifestyle. I know this is not what you’ll read on some of the top rated blogs, but it is the truth.

With a healthy lifestyle, using a good yoga mat for your exercises will give you an intense experience. As a beginner yoga student, you might like the stretching and slight bending of the joints, but the true spiritual benefits come from learning how to quiet and still the mind. The stretching is just to get you to learn how to properly relax down.

Unfortunately, like everything that’s adopted into western culture, many false gurus emerge to change the true focus into something else entirely. If you have a good teacher, you’ll be learning a lot of different basic poses to get your body in tune with the practice.

While your initial alignment is important, it is the type of yoga mat you’re using that will enhance or diminish your individual experience. Better to look through different types of best yoga mats for sweaty hands, if you suffer from such condition. A good non-slip brand might also be appropriate, based on the type of floor you’ll be using it on.

How to Choose a Good Yoga Mat

Which yoga mat is the best for a beginner? That will depend on many variables, and some of them are within your ultimate control. You’ll have to pay attention to your priorities, as you search for the best yoga mat. Some of the relevant questions only you can answer accurately include:

Will you be Traveling with the Yoga Mat?

If your yoga meditation place is located a few blocks from your home, analyze carefully the weight and portability features of the brand you have in mind.

Within this best-rated yoga mats reviews, I have included some of the most desirable yoga mats geared for travel. Most are durable, light-weight and have convenient carrying straps or bags for ease of travel

Do You Want a Biodegradable or Eco-friendly Yoga Mat?

Best yoga mats can be found in different textures and styles. Some are easily biodegradable while some are not. I have seen some yoga mats that claim to be made using eco-friendly methods, but you should expect to pay a premium price for such brands. I do agree that best yoga mat for hot yoga should not be made from toxic substances.

What Price Range do you have in Mind?

You should look at it as an investment because the benefits from practicing yoga will enhance your health while also helping to keep you away from the doctor’s office, which is always a good thing.

Just remember, you’ll have to couple the practice with a healthy lifestyle. Having said all that, your finances will ultimately be the deciding factor, so you should find a good brand that’s durable and built to last many years. So cost is relative, what you should be concerned about is the enhanced experience expected from a best non-slip yoga mat.

What Size Would You Like?

This factor is also within your control, but be sure to get one that accommodates all your body size. If you’ll be participating in a yoga class, best to ask other students what sizes they’re using. You don’t want a mat that is too small; neither do you want one that’s too large.

You’ll find that the standard size for most cool yoga mats is 24 inches wide and 68 inches long. I have also seen some brands that offer larger dimensions for slightly higher prices.

Yoga Mat Reviews

Just imagine you breathing in and breathing out on the best yoga mat! The following best yoga mats were selected for several reasons. Most are made from thick, long lasting materials, which will not slip even if you have sweaty hands.

It was also necessary for yoga mats included in this review to have excellent feedbacks from existing customers. Most have ratings of over 90%, and the link underneath the images should take you to the product page, with discount prices and current customer reviews.

From my exhaustive research, I bring you some of the best yoga mats one can find online. Most come with high-quality eco-friendly materials, with best manufacturing practices. Each mat is capable of enabling best yoga techniques for overall better health.

1 – Jade Yoga Mat Review

Jade Harmony Professional is one of the best 3/16-Inch yoga mats one can purchase online. You have a choice between 68- and 74-inch lengths, with a wide selection of available colors you can choose from.

Pros:

This top rated yoga mat is made from natural rubber, which is a renewable resource that’s derived from trees.

Jade Yoga Mat contains no ozone-depleting or PVC substances. Based on the manufacturing practices, this is an environmentally friendly product.

It offers secure grip, texture and quality once you lay it on the floor. Natural rubber has non-slip properties, meaning this mat will not move around, even if you drop perspiration on it. This best nonslip yoga mat can serve pros and beginners with the same performance metrics.

Best of all the factors to give this yoga mat a try is the fact that you can hand wash it using warm water and mild soap. You can hang it dry but do not put it in direct sunlight, due to the natural rubber used to make it.

Cons:

Few customers complained about the smell of the natural rubber used in making the product. This yoga mat probably has one of the true smells of natural rubber, and some people might not like that.

It is not the best yoga mat for travel in my opinion, as it weighs about 4.5 lbs. It is not a cheap yoga mat by any stretch of the imagination, as it is higher priced than all the other best yoga mats reviewed.

Bottom Line:

This is an eco-friendly product with durable performance. Over 93% of existing customers gave it a good seal of approval as an excellent yoga mat for beginners or pros alike. The product can be hand washed and the available selection of colors will accommodate just about any type you have in mind.

2 – Sivan Health and Fitness Comfort Foam Yoga Mat

Sivan is another company with some success within the yoga mat industry. Sivan yoga mat comes with a standard size of 71″ long 24″ which makes it one of the best extra thick yoga mats one can find for less online.

Pros:

This thick yoga mat from Sivan is ideal for most people, regardless of shapes and sizes. Another good metrics for this mat is that it can be used for toning, Pilates and stretching workouts.

This mat is very easy to clean, and you’ll enjoy the durable carry strap that it comes with. Sivan thick yoga mats are made from uniquely designed memory foam, which are capable of offering protection for your joints and knees as you do your yoga sessions.

It comes with a non-slip surface that’s designed to grip the floor to provide you needed balance during your yoga exercises. This is a cheap yoga mat with good feedbacks from thousands of customers that have tried the product.

Cons:

While the price is certainly affordable, some customer had negative things to say about the product. A few of the current user complained it does not function well when placed on a wood floor. Some praised it as a high-quality mat for other physical exercises, but not yoga.

Bottom Line:

The thickness and durability of the product is not in question, but some of the reviews about how it holds up during yoga sessions should concern anyone. A great majority of the current customers do like the extra thick yoga mat from Sivan.

If you’re looking for a higher quality brand of yoga mat, go with the Jade yoga mat reviewed above. On the other hand, this is a far cheaper brand of yoga mat for those just exploring the practice to see if it suits their lifestyle.

3 – Aurorae Yoga Mat Review

Aurorae classic yoga mat comes in 1/4″; thickness, which is the ideal perfect surface needed to protect your joints and knee as you do your yoga poses. If you’re concerned about the higher price of the Jade yoga mat, this one is about 50% cheaper with about the same performance metrics.

Pros:

Aurorae yoga mat comes with a slip-free Rosin that’s included with each mat sold.

This best yoga mat can be purchased in great illuminating colors, which you can use to define your inner self.

Aurorae classic yoga mats are made durable, and can be cared for very easily. You can use a soft brush and non-oil based detergent or soap to wash your mat down. After rinsing it off, you can hang it to dry, even in direct sunlight. Please do not put the yoga mat in a dryer after cleaning.

Aurorae yoga mats are all Oeko-Tex Tested for any harmful chemicals. The third party organization that does the testing confirms the product is free from silicone, latex, and Phthalates substances.

This cool yoga mat from Aurorae is odor free, and definitely biodegradable. Apart from the full two-year warranty that comes with the product, the review from existing customers is truly outstanding.

Cons:

Despite all the stellar reviews, few customers had issues with the product. The most obvious was a customer that used it two years ago and found it to be too slippery.

After two years, the same customer brought it out of storage and now claims the yoga mat is as solid as a rock. Unfortunately, the reviews rating system cannot be changed only updated.

A few customers suggested one use it for a Bikram class, but not a Vinyasa class.

Bottom Line:

With over 95% approval rating from existing customers, this best yoga mat is as good as one can get, with a reasonable price.

It has half the price of the Jade Harmony Professional yoga mat with about the same performance metrics. Thousands of current customers singing the praises of the top yoga mat must say a lot about the durability of the product.

Best Travel Yoga Mat

4 – BalanceFrom GoYoga Yoga Mat with Carrying Strap

If you can get past the odd sounding name, this is one of the best travel yoga mats. If your yoga session is a distance away, you can easily carry this product as it only weighs about 2 pounds with a free carry strap included for your convenience.

Pros:

BalanceFrom GoYoga Yoga Mat is an extra thick product that’s solid as rock.

The design includes excellent cushion, with patented non-slip traction materials.

Not only is it lightweight and portable, but a durable carrying strap is also included with your purchase.

This best yoga mat for travel can be hand washed with soap and water, and you can rest easy as you hang it to dry.

The included moisture resistant technology guarantees no damage will occur if washed according to the included instructions.

Best of all, you get a 2-year warranty against any factory defects as you try out the yoga mat.

Cons:

With all the massive praise from the majority of the customers that love the product, few had some negative experience while using the yoga mat.

Some claimed the mat performed as advertised, but the included free carrying strap was not strong enough. A few users claimed it offered poor traction on wood floors or other smooth surfaces.

Bottom Line:

The price for this yoga mat is as good as it gets, with no complaints about not performing admirably for a majority of the current users.

It is made from high-density foam material, and can be easily washed with no problems at all. This best yoga mat for beginners is cheap and delivers better value than most expect.