The benefits of cork yoga mats in hot yoga practice.

Many people ask us which mat we recommend, our cork yoga mats or our pro mats? And next question we usually get is which one do you recommend for hot yoga?

The answer is not quiet so simple. We have lots of customers who LOVE our cork mats for hot yoga, and we have some who prefer our pro mats for hot yoga.

The answer is mainly, it's a preference. So how do you decide?

Here are 3 key points to help you decide which yoga mat is best for your hot yoga practice:

1. Sweat/dampness and heat are key to the grip of a cork yoga mat. If you do not sweat during yoga or are practicing outside in the dry hot sun, your cork mat may not grip so well. As cork is a natural wood product, it expands and contracts with the temperature and environment: hot/dry, hot/damp, cold/dry, cold/damp all affect the cork yoga mat grip performance. The best environment for a cork yoga mat is HOT DAMP!
2. It depends on your practice! Hatha and Ashtanga yoga practice sometimes require movement across the mat (sliding across the mat from one pose to another). A mat that is TOO grippy impedes this flow. We think our cork mats are perfect for all types of yoga as they grip when you need them to (in vinyasa moving from low lunge to warrior 2) and they have just enough allowance for a slide into a seat from down dog.
3. It is a preference! Some people prefer a supper grippy mat. We recommend our Pro Mat for those people who prefer to be REALLY stuck to their mat (lol). To be completely honest, cork mats are not SUPER grippy! In our opinion (and I use my ilaSTRATE cork mat 2-3x/week in hot yoga), cork yoga mats offer the best grip for hot yoga, the perfect ratio of grip to allow for strength building and proper muscle activation (too grippy allows us to be lazy in pose), flow, and comfort (my skin does not stay stuck to my mat while I'm trying to move from pigeon to 1 legged down dog).

I hope this helps in your search for the perfect yoga mat! Feel free to reach out with any further questions about our product or cork yoga mats in general, we love hearing from our community! 

You may also catch us around and try our mats in person! We have several partner studios where you can use one of our trial mats for an entire practice! We will also be at the Catskill Mountain Yoga Festival this July, 2024 as a sponsor for the 2nd year. Maybe we'll see you there!