Yoga Before Yoga Mats

Today a student emailed me that he had been out of town and had to practice without a mat, and he wondered, what did yogis use before mats?

I never heard of a "yoga mat" until I began classes with Maja in 1990. Maja had some light green rubber mats that you could only mail-order (this was before the internet) from one place, and were said to be Swedish carpet padding. I don't know what it was, but I've never seen it anywhere else. It worked fine back in the pre-Ashtanga days, but vinyasa movements wore it out pretty quickly. It soon crumbled into tiny green bits.

Next Hugger-Mugger company in Utah, came out with yoga mats that you bought in a roll of 15 and you had to cut them. They were all institutional gray, but they lasted forever. Had I known then what I know now, I would not have left my mat at Gurudev Siddha Peeth (the ashram of Eat, Pray, Love) in India in 1999. Whatever those mats were made of, they lasted forever. We still have a bunch of them in really good condition at Kentucky Street - over 16 years old.

In 1996, I think, Hugger Mugger came out with blue mats (Wow! Color!) and shortly after that, PURPLE!!!! Still in a roll that you needed to cut. Our old blue mats are at Kentucky Street also, and the first purple mats are still being used at Holiday Manor.

After that there was an explosion of mats and mat companies, selling all kinds of mats. I think most all PVC mats are made in Taiwan and shipped here. Rubber mats came out about 10 years ago and were pretty horrible until Jade Yoga refined them. Now there are Manduka mats and all different kinds of mats made from many different kinds of materials.

In ancient times, yogis traditionally practiced on a tiger skin or black antelope skin to shield the yogi from harmful vibrations. Mats made of kusha or durva grass were also used. In the '60's, when I first began my asana practice, most books recommended a "four-fold blanket", whatever that is. Wool is also traditional. The Shri Guru Gita has a verse describing the attributes of the various colors. When I was a teenager, I practiced on a wolf skin that my grandfather gave me, or I did it outside on the grass. Back then it was also acceptable to practice nude. Well, hey! There weren't any cool yoga clothes, either!

David Swenson said that he and his brother practiced on carpet remnants that they picked up from carpet stores.

In Mysore, yogis practiced on rugs that were woven locally from cotton as sleeping mats. It was traditional in Mysore to go to the prison to buy a mat from a prison inmate. In the Mysore jail, prisoners are required to weave their own sleeping mat first. After that, they may weave more and sell them, but they are not allowed to sell the regulation prison blue/white mats. Yoga students used to go to the prison and smuggle out the prison mats. They are the only plain blue and white mats you'll see from Mysore.

Many times students ask me about my favorite mat. I really don't care. I use whatever gets left at the studio or doesn't sell in the store. My favorite Mysore mat is one Sharath gave me. I still use my old worn-out mat even though all the rubber is gone where my feet land.

It's important to have your own mat. Your mat becomes imbued with the vibrations of your practice and is very powerful. Using someone else's mat is like wearing someone else's shoes. You should not even step on someone else's mat without their permission, unles you are the teacher. The teacher's feet are the source of the power of the lineage of teachers. It's auspicious for your teacher to step on your mat.

Your mat is your Seat - in the sense of where you are Seated for the practices of Yoga, which are powerful and auspicious. Your yoga mat is a place of pilgrimage, a temple, as sacred as any sacred river or mountain cave in the Himalayas , a place for the practices of yoga which are auspicious and uplifting. Your mat is the place where you are transformed like the Alchemy of old, from lead into gold.