A warm little yoga mat

A Bikram yoga mat or a variation of it is a must if you are into Bikram yoga or hot yoga of any kind. The end result of hot yoga of any kind is a lot of inspiration. Did I mention that sweat is everywhere? So a regular mat, in these situations, probably won’t work unless you don’t mind slipping and sliding. What needs to be in place is something that gives you traction combined with absorption. Enter the Bikram Yoga Mat and Bikram Yoga Towel.

There are three main options available to solve the dilemma of sweat and traction together in one. They range from super simple and cheap to just buying a tool for exactly the job, which is a great way to figure things out. 😉 Option 1: Use a towel with your regular yoga mat. Well, you probably didn’t need to read this to know, but really a towel will do the trick. It will keep all the sweat in check, but when it comes to traction, just be careful because the towel doesn’t give you the traction you need for the poses. So you can’t practice with it, you can only use it together with your yoga mat. Option 2 – Use a proper Bikram yoga mat towel. These nifty little things are much thinner. They look like micro fiber and are around $20 and up. You place it on your mat and voila, you can practice on it and use it to remove moisture. Option 3: This is also obvious, but some people don’t know it, and that is to buy a specific mat for Bikram Yoga. These mats are sticky on the bottom and soft but absorbent on top! Well now this sounds like what we’re looking for! The only thing is, they can be hard to come by.

Bikram Yoga mats, though hard to come by, are the best option available if you strictly practice this style of yoga. They are specific to control sweat and traction in one. They have 3 main qualities to them, not too different from regular yoga but slightly varied. The bottom is sticky so the mat stays in place, the main part of the mat is designed for cushioning and then the top layer is definitely for sweat wicking. These full meal deals can often be machine washed and tumble dried which is really easy to maintain compared to other yoga mats out there. Prices you can expect to pay $60 and up for a Bikram yoga mat. Shop around and online is really the best place to start.

There are a few other options out there to cover your Bikram yoga needs. There are cotton yoga mats out there that are apparently pretty good in these kinds of conditions. And their history bears this out as well, as they have been used longer than anything else on the market, and in places like India and abroad. Cotton yoga mats are woven. They offer good cushioning combined with good traction. Once there is a little bit of moisture, your hands and feet will stick very well. The other mat that may work well for you is the Lululemon Hot Yogi Mat. This mat, while not specifically for Bikram yoga, would work just fine. It’s priced really well at $35 for all the great qualities it has to offer.

The perfect mat for you is out there. You will do well to search online and talk to other Bikram yoga students for additional information on what works best for them. There are a plethora of options to choose from, so if you run into any obstacles, it may be from having too many options on hand. In the end, all that matters is that you find something you’re happy with and that works well for you.