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A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE YOGA MAT

Angela Farmer is one of the most well-known and respected yoga teachers on the planet. She has been teaching for over 40 years. When she was young, she had a surgery that resulted in her being incapable of sweating from her hands and feet. I’m not sure if you have ever practiced yoga on a hardwood floor in the winter when everything is super dry. It borders on yogic tragi-comedy as your hands and feet slip and slide all over the place. Downward dog and standing poses in particular are just so slippery.

Farmer’s medical condition did not discourage her from practicing with BKS Iyengar when he was teaching in London in the 1960s. He forbade her to use a foam mattress or splash water on her hands and feet for traction. While teaching in Munich in 1968, she came across a thin piece of underlay from a carpet factory. It was the perfect solution to her problem.

When she returned to London, her carpet-underlay yoga mat became very popular with her students. Eventually Angela’s father connected with the owner of the German carpet factory and became the first retailer of yoga mats, establishing the business out of his home in Vancouver Island.

The yoga mat, as developed by Angela Farmer, was a therapeutic intervention. The stickiness of the mat alleviated a medical condition.

Yoga Mat Showdown: TPE vs. Rubber

TPE, PVC, and rubber yoga mats are the most popular yoga mat types as of now. Sometimes, deciding between them can be a hard decision, as there are more factors to consider than you may initially think. If you want to decrease your eco-footprint, you may opt for a different yoga mat type, but maybe sacrifice on other features. Or, you may want a better performing yoga mat, even though it is more harmful to the environment.

Rubber Yoga Mat

The rubber yoga mats are probably the most eco-friendly you can find on the market. They are sustainably created with natural rubber gotten from rubber trees that are renewable. Also, rubber yoga mat doesn’t contain extra materials such as EVA, or synthetic rubber types.