If you're getting into yoga for health conditioning purposes, you will need a quality yoga mat. But while it sounds like this should be a very simple thing to acquire, not every yoga mat is created equal. Some of these mats are more friendly to your personal health and that of the environment than others are, and some are just better quality in a practical sense.
As you might imagine from knowing that, this all has to do with the materials from which the yoga mats are made.
The most commonly bought yoga mat is that plastic one that you see in every sporting goods section of places like Wal-Mart, Sears, and Target. This is simply because it's the cheapest, and many new yoga practitioners think that until they are more experienced there is no point in laying out the extra cash for an "advanced" or "exotic" yoga mat.
Unfortunately, these people forget that you get what you pay for. The plastic used in these mats is called "Phthalates" and it is harmful not only to you, but to the environment as well. It is actually the process of manufacturing them that harms the environment, but research has shown these plastics to be linked to causing kidney and lung cancer in lab mice.
When the environments in which these yoga mats are situation turn warm, they begin releasing those cancerous agents into the air, and it's possible that this could, eventually, lead to cancer in your or someone in your household.
So. Avoid the plastic yoga mats.
Now, a lot of people who get into yoga are also into Pilates these days. They might wonder if they can use their Pilates mats for yoga. The answer to them is yes, you can, but be forewarned that there are differences in these two types of mats.
The Pilates mats are designed for cushioning to avoid injury during the workout, and thus they are thicker than yoga mats are, which might actually hinder the yogic practice in some ways, although if you have an injury already it is indeed a good idea to use the Pilates mat as your yoga mat until you heal. Pilates mats also are, typically, not made with non-slip surfaces, and clearly that could cause some difficulty when doing yoga on them.
Above all else: never use a yoga mat for doing Pilates. You're asking for injury if you do.
Some people like the idea of the jute or cork yoga mats. Well, these are nice looking, nice feeling, and "green", but they have the unfortunate quality of starting to smell bad over time, for these materials absorb your body's sweat. This "side effect" may not be quite what you want!
So, perhaps the best way to go is to buy a rubber yoga mat. This will be one of the more expensive rubber mats, as this rubber is the organic kind from the rubber tree plant, not the lab-created synthetic rubber. But for both practical and health purposes, the organic rubber yoga mats are a good buy, and well worth their somewhat higher price tag. As a newbie, you should definitely consider the rubber yoga mat.
