Magic Carpet Ride - by Mehtab, Yoga Yoga's Founder

The great thing about yoga is the only thing you really need is yourself.

Sure, you can buy lots of yoga things - yoga pants, yoga bags, yoga gloves, yoga shoes (yes, really), yoga skirts (interesting), yoga eye bags, yoga cushions, and even yoga underwear ("Low-rise underwear provides extra coverage and support. Seamless construction and knit-in waist logos and labeling create a chafe-free fit for hours of soft comfort...").

And next to yoga, we all know that shopping can also certainly be an effective stress reducer, especially when your underwear does not chafe. And whether we need all the goodies or not, if they inspire us to do more yoga, so be it.

Yet there is one yoga thing you definitely should buy.

Since the beginning of yoga, yogis have needed something to practice yoga on, to sit on, and to meditate on. And so was born the yoga mat. Well, maybe the yoga skin or the yoga grass rug.

Before the days of extruded plastics and petroleum byproducts, yogis had to make do with what nature provided them when it came to a yoga mat.

The original yoga mats were generally woven carpets of river grass covered with an animal skin.

The purpose of the mat was to create a platform or a seat (literally, an asana) for the yogi to meditate upon. It was usually not employed in the practice of the traditional Hatha postures except for the seated meditative asanas.

The original reasons for using the yoga mat were both practical and esoteric. The mat provided both an insulating and protective seat for the yogi who might sit in meditation for hours or even days. Cold, wet, or hot ground does not make for a happy yoga butt. Practically, the mat also offered some protection from crawling insects as well as climate control.

On a more esoteric level, the mat was used to create an independent magnetic field for the meditator that was insulated from the magnetic field of the bare earth. During extended meditation, the meditator creates an energy field, an aura, that could often be seen or even felt by the animals of the forest. The accounts of the yogi meditating among tigers and snakes and remaining unharmed are legion. This magnetic field is both real and measurable and contributes to the integrity of the meditative experience.

The mat, made of natural materials, aided in this deeper experience of meditation. Particularly, the animal skin on top of the river grass strengthened the magnetic field, and the traditional choice was to use a tiger or deer skin (often given to the yogi by his patron or villagers in appreciation for his spiritual questing). The common misperception that yogis were adverse to using animals or animal by products just because they did not eat meat is a modern confusion.

The use of the animal skin as a meditative mat continued through the Kundalini Yoga tradition with the use of sheepskins. These skins are the low-end byproducts of a meat industry that raises sheep for food (and not for the skins which only contribute a very minimal financial value.)

But back to the classical modern yoga mat today. In addition to the original purpose of defining a comfortable space for the yoga practitioner, the modern yoga mat is also designed with the idea of performing postures safely. The somewhat non-skid surface allows the feet and hands to remain stable when in standing postures and prevents slippage due to moderate perspiration.

With heavy sweating, slippage can increase on a mat, such as in the Ashtanga practice, and so the use of a cotton mat (sometimes called a Mysore mat) is recommended to use on top of (or instead of) a regular mat.

The cotton mat has the added advantage of providing natural fiber for the body's magnetic field as well. In fact, any serious or extended meditative practice should always be done on top of a layer of natural fibers (cotton, wool, silk or animal skin) and not on an energetically dead surface of a modern mat.

The modern yoga mat, however, has numerous advantages. It can be easily cleaned (and should be!) and it can provide a non-slip surface with sufficient padding for a yoga practice.

The thickness of the mat can be evenly controlled in the manufacturing process. You can get an extra thin mat that rolls up great for traveling (or for use on a carpet) or you can get the extra thick plush mat if you practice on hard surfaces. Do be aware that even with a mat on a thick carpet, you do run the risk of putting undue pressure on the wrist joints over time as there is too much give for your downward dogs, for example. We replaced the carpet floors in the original Yoga Yoga location with a wooden surface because of wrist strains the Ashtanga Yoga practitioners were feeling due to the padded carpet.

Besides the traditional modern mat, there are experiments with rubber mats and other natural fibers, including hemp, in order to produce the perfect mat experience.

In the Old Days (like the 1970s), we used left over carpet strips for mats. The first yoga mats I ever saw in the 1980s were rubbery thin mats with rounded corners that shredded under your feet after about 8 dozen sun salutations.

The other great reason for having your own personal mat is that it defines your yoga space. When you stand or sit on your yoga mat, it is time to do yoga. You are psychologically ready. And the space the mat defines is your area, your seat, your asana, and a comfortable place to return to again and again in a full class room or on a private beach.

For me, the yoga mat whether it be my 14 year old sheepskin or my pink PVC double padded mat or the old carpet strip I skidded on in the YWCA decades ago has always been my portal to another world - the world of yogis and meditation and transformation and adventure. It's the magic carpet ride.

Click here to read past articles from Mehtab!