A good mat

August 7, 1999

Can anyone recomend a good sweat-proof mat? I

have just recently started practicing Astanga and for

the last couple of months I have been using a Tapas

mat. I like it, but after a few sun salutations it is

so slippery its dangarous (I sweat a tremendous

amount!). I also tried the Airex mat but I did not like the

way it would stretch. I would appreciate anyone's

recomendations or ideas. Thank you.

August 7, 1999

Tapas mats are the very worst yoga mats on the

market. It's an absolute mystery to me why so many have

been sold . . . I don't know about the brand

names, but I favor a *soft* mat of medium thickness.

I've found that when these work best for me -- and I'm

a copious sweater to say the least, probably no

different from you. Some people like the

woven-texture mats. They do offer a better grip, but I'm still

prone to slide a bit on the jumpthroughs and I don't

like to catch my toes. That being said, I

haven't really found a mat that's completely slip free no

matter how much I sweat. Auxillary solutions I've found

helpful: 1) Constantly toweling off during practice. (Richard

Freeman advises against wiping away the sweat, but I

can't see why) 2) Keeping a SECOND mat at the

ready, perhaps in time for urdhva

dhanurasana. Someday I'd like to try a yoga rug. Perhaps these work

best of all.

August 8, 1999

Assistance for sweating: rock climbing chalk!

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