Sadly I couldn’t fit my yoga mat into my suitcase when I left Australia for my overseas adventure three months ago.
It was silly of me really. I should have taken something else out of my bag so that it would fit, because I like to do a lot of yoga, and I had every intention of doing a daily yoga practice, even while I was traveling.
My friend Cathy advised me in Brisbane to buy a travel yoga mat that I could easily fold up and take with me in my bag. If I’d been properly prepared for my trip I would have taken her advice and bought one. Unfortunately yoga stores are few and far between in Brisbane so I left for overseas minus a yoga mat.
It wasn’t until I was in a bookstore in Chicago two months later (and a lot of doing yoga on a borrowed mat or towel) that I stumbled across one of those fold up travel yoga mats that Cathy was talking about. It had a sticky grippable surface on one side and a nice soft surface on the other. It was a perfect size for carrying around with me while I was traveling, so I grabbed it off the shelf. Definitely worth the US$30 price tag.
If you want to check out the Gaiam travel mat I bought, you can visit the Gaiam website.
But sadly the travel mat just wasn’t good enough …
So the time came when I’d settled in Canada (in a house with a hard wooden floor) that I badly missed my nice soft yoga mat at home in Brisbane. My travel mat was great for fitting in my luggage and nice to use on the soft grass in the back yard, but damn it was uncomfortable to use in the house on the hard floor. There were certain asanas that I had to just leave out because they were just too painful, and it’s not that grippable so my hands or feet occasionally would slip.
I could have just gone off to the shop and bought a new cheap mat …but my conscious wouldn’t let me. I didn’t like the idea of so easily disposing of something so big and contributing to land fill once I left Canada and yet again couldn’t fit the mat into my suitcase.
So if I were to buy a new ‘real’ yoga mat, I would have to buy one that:
- Was made out of recycled materials
- Was recyclable
- Did not cost a lot, because I’m a traveler and on a budget
The problem was, all eco friendly yoga mats that I found cost CA$60, which was way more than my allocated yoga mat budget. Even the online prices seemed to mirror the store prices that I found.
After a couple of frustrating yoga sessions at home, I just gave in and made the decision that I was just going to have to pay the extra price to buy a new yoga mat. It was just too difficult to do yoga in the house and I couldn’t continue to do it in the backyard because it was raining a lot and there’s loads of bugs out there that crawl on me and itch.
So I took myself off to a meditation store close by that I love, and felt kind of okay giving them the money for my mat because it was a beautiful little family owned shop with a great cause.
Maybe the universe was shining down on me that day, I don’t know, because I was so lucky to find my perfect yoga mat in the store. A mat that wasn’t there when I’d looked two weeks ago, and just happened to be the last one left. Not only was this mat made out of recycled materials, but it was also recycleable, and much cheaper than the ‘usual’ eco mat price of CA$60. My new mat cost me CA$45.
Here is my video review of my two yoga mats:
Now I’m a happy little yogini with my two perfect yoga mats. Owning two is a little excessive, and I don’t know what I’m going to do when I travel again. But for now I’m so yoga happy 
Fran
Fran Kerr is the founding editor of High on Health. To cure your acne, sign up to Fran's FREE acne cure mini-course or download her latest how to guide, Eat Away Your Acne.
10 responses ↓
Hi Fran,
Interesting blog. I’ve been reading all the info on this site for nearly a month, and it makes great sense! I’m 24, and have had moderate acne for over 10 years. But I’m getting more and more interested in natural and holistic methods to get rid of it, and so this website and the mini course are very helpful (and I love that it’s now online).
I’m thinking about getting into yoga, and you make a great point about getting a recycled/recyclable mat, but a quick google search didn’t yield much. Did you say the one you bought was from Relaxus? Also, could you give me the name of the store in Toronto where you bought it? Thanks! And thanks for being a down to earth genuine person with great tips to share
Hi Jill,
There are many brands of recycled yoga mats around. You just need to look for something that says ‘eco’ or ‘eko’. If you read the label on yoga mats in stores, often they’ll say they’re recycled too.
I bought my mat from Snow Lion Canada (which is a great store by the way): http://www.snowlioncanada.com/
But it was the last one left at the time. And yes, it is the brand ‘Relaxus’. But there are heaps of other brands around too.
You can also get recycled yoga mats from lululemon. I’ve seen them in the Eatons Centre. They’re around CA$60 though.
Thanks for your comment
Yoga Mat Tip :
To refreshen your yoga mat once in a while, wipe it down with anti-bacterial wet wipes.
I like Gaiam yoga mats, I love yoga but haven’t been doing much of it for a long time now. Just recently I have become more motived and do a bit of it in the morning.
what does dodgy mean?
Oh ..I forget to say ’sketchy’ instead. Dodgy means sketchy in Australian.
I’m not a daily yoga practicer, but I do enjoy a session here and there. I have a rug in my room, though, which suits me just fine for doing all the poses. Is there anything special about a mat that a rug or carpet can’t provide?
Hi Daniel. Yoga mats are a little sticky so you don’t slip around like you do on carpet. I find carpets and mats okay for standing asanas, but some of the sitting one are a little harder. But if the carpet is working for you, then great
Hi Fran - You don’t have to feel bad about having two mats. Many people have more than one. When you are done with them (or in your case and mine - when you upgrade to a better one) you can recycle your old mats via http://www.recycleyourmat.com.
ive been interested in yoga for quite some time, but i have never done it before…partly because i know very little of it and partly because i have not have the opportunity. so i guess my question for you is, what is yoga all about? spiecfically for you and in general
I bought a quite good one for 10USD. It just gets dirty quick but it’s terrific.
Hi Fran- In your quest for an affordable and environmentally friendly yoga mat, I too have had this dilemma!
I was able to find this amazing and affordable mat from the yoga show in Toronto in April this year. It’s one of the Fitnessflow eco mats which is recyclable, and lightweight called NBR mats. I bought mine for $20.00 and they also gave me a free carry bag. They are at the shows every year and even take back old mats to recycle them.
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