This entry was posted on Aug 13, 2025 by Charlotte Bell.
One among yoga apply’s nice presents is its emphasis on balancing. Poses resembling Vrksasana (Tree Pose) are an integral a part of nearly each type of apply. The power to stability is an important a part of wholesome getting old, and it may be useful to develop balancing expertise as early as doable. Typical 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 toes 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 finest yoga mat for balancing?
The Finest Yoga Mat for Balancing Is determined by Your Intention
Counterintuitive as it might sound, the mat I often use for educating yoga—even in lessons the place we apply a lot of standing balancing poses—is the Final Cushion Yoga Mat. At ⅜ inch, it’s the thickest mat Hugger Mugger gives. (I alternate between this mat and the Para Rubber Yoga Mat (3/16″)).
Why would I wish to make it more durable on myself? I apply balancing poses to domesticate and preserve my balancing expertise. Certain, I can extra simply carry out balancing poses on a thinner mat, however I wish to problem my stability. That’s the best way we construct balancing expertise—by balancing in difficult conditions. So, to perform my goal in practising balancing poses, the most effective yoga mats for balancing are the thicker, more difficult 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 essential for constructing balancing expertise. So generally I apply on thick mats, and generally I apply on skinny mats. I additionally place my mats on varied surfaces. Whereas wooden and surfaces resembling concrete are probably the most dependable, I believe it’s useful to apply balancing on smooth, squishy surfaces, resembling carpeting, as effectively.
It’s essential to respect the place you might be. In case your stability is mostly unstable, practising on a thinner Yoga Mat is an effective place to start out. As soon as you are feeling secure in balancing poses on a skinny mat, then you may start difficult your stability on a thicker mat.
Balancing On and Off the Yoga Mat
Training yoga on varied mat varieties and flooring varieties will not be the one method to hone your stability. Listed below are some recommendations for taking your balancing apply off the mat:
- Observe balancing in several types of footwear—thick soles, comfortable soles, skinny soles, and many others. Except you recurrently put on heels, I wouldn’t advocate practising yoga in them. (For that matter I might advocate avoiding or minimizing carrying heels normally, due to the havoc they wreak on the integrity of your musculoskeletal system.)
- Observe open air. Mountain climbing trails are not often utterly stage. Strolling, and practising balancing poses, on uneven surfaces problem your toes to stability differently. Subsequent time you’re taking a hike, cease for a minute or so and apply a one-legged balancing pose—Tree Pose appears applicable once you’re within the woods—on an uneven floor.
In case you’d prefer to study extra in regards to the components of growing secure stability, right here’s a current weblog.
About Charlotte Bell
Charlotte Bell found yoga in 1982 and started educating in 1986. Charlotte is the writer of Aware Yoga, Aware Life: A Information for On a regular basis Observe and Yoga for Meditators, each revealed by Rodmell Press. Her third guide 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 gained two Emmy awards.
