Yoga is an old discipline from India. It is both spiritual and physical. Yoga uses breathing techniques, exercise, and meditation. It helps to improve health and happiness. Yoga is an old discipline from India. It is both spiritual and physical. Yoga uses breathing techniques, exercise, and meditation. It helps to improve health and happiness. There is no more significant symbol for contemporary yoga practice than the yoga mat. A yoga mat makes you feel as if you’ve arrived. It marks your space in class and can sometimes act as a status symbol as people admire its design, logo or cush-factor. But what about the real purpose of a yoga mat. Are Yoga Mats Really Necessary? Before you read about it is necessary to use a yoga mat, read about a brief history of the yoga mat. Also, find out about the Development of the Yoga Mat and the Need For A Yoga Mat in the article below.
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A Brief History of the Yoga Mat
Angela Farmer is one of the most well-known and respected yoga teachers on the planet. She has been teaching for over 40 years. When she was young, she had a surgery that resulted in her being incapable of sweating from her hands and feet. I’m not sure if you have ever practiced yoga on a hardwood floor in the winter when everything is super dry. It borders on yogic tragi-comedy as your hands and feet slip and slide all over the place. Downward dog and standing poses, in particular, are just so slippery.
Farmer’s medical condition did not discourage her from practicing with BKS Iyengar when he was teaching in London in the 1960s. He forbade her to use a foam mattress or splash water on her hands and feet for traction. While teaching in Munich in 1968, she came across a thin piece of underlay from a carpet factory. It was the perfect solution to her problem. When she returned to London, her carpet-underlay yoga mat became very popular with her students. Eventually, Angela’s father connected with the owner of the German carpet factory and became the first retailer of yoga mats, establishing the business out of his home in Vancouver Island.
The yoga mat, as developed by Angela Farmer, was a therapeutic intervention. The stickiness of the mat alleviated a medical condition. This is a little about the History of the Yoga Mat.
Development of the Yoga Mat
The production and design of yoga mat continued to develop through the 1980s and 1990s. With yoga mat now coming in hundreds of varieties, there has a massive development of the Yoga Mat. These are made of PVC, a type of plastic because it’s long-lasting and can be cleaned easily. TPE, or thermoplastic elastomer, is another common yoga mat material. It’s a combination of rubber and plastic, and may be more environmentally kind — some types may even be recycled when they’re worn out.
Yoga mats are also crafted from natural materials, such as jute, natural rubber, and cotton. Although these materials score high points in sustainability, they aren’t always as functional as the standard PVC yoga mat.
So, Are Yoga Mats Really Necessary?
Now comes the very primary question of this article that is Are Yoga Mats Really Necessary? The answer to this in a very simple way is Yes, the need for a yoga mat is really necessary. You need a yoga mat for various reasons. The answer to Do You Really Need A Yoga Mat is very simple, let’s discuss them in details below.
If you have practiced yoga on the grass, in the sand, or even on a blanket, you know that standing postures require more strength than flexibility. The effort to prevent your hands and feet from sliding away from one another is an example of isometric contraction. Without some degree of instability in our practice surface, the tendency is to wedge oneself into postures. The result is “hanging out” in knees, hips, elbows, and shoulders. A yoga mat is really important in this situation as these help you prevent bad falls and slips. These help you maintain a steady grip and firm balance on the surface where you are practicing your yoga asanas. The Yoga Mat Sustainability is one of the most important reasons as to why you really need a yoga mat.
Yoga on a wood or laminate floor isn’t really practical without a mat. The surface is hard and will be painful on your knees, hips, and back of the skull. When your feet and hands will produce a little sweat, you are likely to slide. Since the hard floor is a poor conductor of heat, it’ll feel awfully cold to your body, especially in reclined and restful postures. This is a serious alarm that an injury is coming straight at you. To avoid heavy injuries to various parts of your body you need a yoga mat for carpet or wooden floor that best suits your need.
If you are outside of your usual place where you practice yoga and want to do an impromptu session then you must have a yoga mat to get yourself started. Having Yoga Mat for outdoor you can literally practice your daily routine regime anywhere and everywhere be it under the trees, or near the river. It is not a hard and fast rule that you cannot do yoga without a mat but then again if you are planning to do yoga in any surface outdoor then you must be wary of the dirt, the grass, the sand. The most dangerous of those, watch out for rocks and roots that stab into bare feet and hands.
The yoga mat does more than just provide a sticky surface. It also mat defines your personal space. You decide if you are going with PVC yoga mat or an Eco yoga mat. You also decide on size, thickness, portability, and designs on the yoga mat. You do all these to have a personalized mat for yourself. The primary reason for having a yoga mat is to have a personal space for yourself where you can practice your yoga asanas in peace and with full concentration. The yoga mat serves as a fence. It separates your personal space from others. Thus, to practice yoga in peace and with full concentration, you might need a yoga mat for personal use as well.
Read more about the history of Yoga- Click here
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These are few of the reasons that explain the Need For A Yoga Mat. Thus, these complete the article on Is Yoga Mat Really Necessary To Use? This article also explains the yoga mat necessity in details.
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