Taking care of your Yoga Mat

I bought my first yoga mat while in USA last year. Before that I used to practice on the floor or carpet. Practicing bare feet on the floor causes problems as you can slip or injure yourself. I decided to buy a yoga mat and got it from Kohls store. Since then I am hooked to it and think that it is an absolute essential for any serious yoga practitioner.

Importance of Yoga Mat
Practicing on a Yoga mat ensures that you have proper grip while practicing the standing asanas and don't have the fear of injuring yourself be overstretching.

Another aspect is you should use your own mat and continue on that. When you go to more spiritual side of yoga it is said that mat (asana) also possesses some of the spiritual energy, therefore you can quickly get into that meditative mode when you use you personal mat. It is also believed that if your spiritual energy is preserved by the mat and if you practice on the bare ground it is lost. Sort of earthing effect. Since ancient times, all the meditation and the penance were performed on mats made of Tiger skin or Deer skin. As per the religious books asanas (mat) made of Kush (a kind of grass) or woolen ones are excellent. Purpose of yoga mat now a days is mostly for grip and cushioning effect. Modern mats are made mainly of rubber. Still I feel that it should be personal for everyone.

Clean mat is essential for spiritual side of yoga. Dirt starts accumulating on the mat from the feet of the surface on which we lay the mat. I have noticed that most of the dirt accumulates in the places where we plant out feet regularly. Dirt can also come from the oil in your head. Once it is oily the dirt sticks very easily. It is essential to clean the mat from time to time.

How to Clean a Yoga Mat
I think it is not a good idea to use a washing machine since it may not be able to clean the rubber mat properly. Please read the instructions on the washing machine and the the mat to confirm if your mat can be cleaned in washing machine. Some of the mats I know can be cleaned in washing machines. The method I used is hand wash. This is quite simple and here is how I did it.

Take a tumbler and fill it with lukewarm water. You can also fill some water in your bath tub if you do not have sufficient space in your apartment. Put some usual washing detergent and soak the mat for half an hour. Just take a plastic scrubber and scrub the places where there is more dirt and then pour some water on the place. Again scrub some more. Because of the warm water and detergent the dirt comes off very easily. Clean both the sides. Once the cleaning is done drain the dirty water and and in rinse the mat in clean water and try to wriggle out the soap water. Finally take out your shining clean mat and put it to dry in shade. Usually it will take around 7 to 8 hours to dry out because rubber mats absorb water. You will have a new mat and will not be able to wait till it is dried so that you can get to practice on it again.

If possible have a Yoga mat bag which is also useful while traveling.

Personally I was surprised the first time I cleaned it and it was really a nice feeling to practice on the cleaned mat. It increased my enthusiasm. Cleaning you mat is a way to reinforce to yourself about the importance of yoga and the value you attach to it. Happy Cleaning.