NYC: The Great Mat Schlep
I'm willing to bet that New Yorkers rent more mats per capita than any other place. That's mainly because though the tubular tote or mat poking out of a bag says "I take care of myself in a cool way," it's also one more thing to schlep around town. Which is why I've been intrigued lately by the ways around this.
Myself, I recently bought a super lightweight, eco Hugger Mugger mat to carry to classes, while my heavy jute/rubber thing is retired for home practice only. But even that seems like a pain sometimes. Some other options:
1) Yogitoes nubby/absorbent towels are suddenly everywhere, covering nasty rental mats across the city. Stacie, my fellow blogger in L.A. recently posted about the founder, who created these when a rental mat "smelled like wet dog." Gaiam also appears to carry a version.
2)I haven't given Yoga Paws a try yet, but they make loads of sense and fit in a smallish handbag. They're just little sticky coverings for your "paws," a.k.a. hands and feet.
3) Lululemon's "Supernatural" travel mat is uber-thin and made from natural rubber; it folds to about the size of a large, thicker manila envelope.
4) Gaiam's reversible travel mat is an interesting towel-mat hybrid, with sticky natural rubber on one side, microfiber towel on the other. And it weighs just a pound.
How are you solving the mat-schlep dilemma these days?



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Comments
I got a set of Yoga Paws to carry with me when I go out of town for work, which happens quite a bit. They work so well that I started carrying them in my regular handbag so I could do yoga on my lunch break during the regular workday. Yoga Paws are not the most comfortable thing I have ever worn; I much prefer a regular mat. But they work really well. There's no doubt about it; they work. And that's enough for me to keep using them.
Posted by: earlgreyrooibos | October 20, 2008 2:22 PM