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And the winner, by totally random selection, is Shey Lyn Zanotti!  Congratulations!  I’ll shoot you an email with more info shortly.

Thanks to everyone who commented!

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by Golda Poretsky, H.H.C.
www.bodylovewellness.com

About a week ago, I received a really lovely e-mail from Dennis at Aurorae Yoga asking if I’d be willing to review one of their mats.

I usually say no to review requests, but I checked out their site, and their mats looked so appealing that I agreed to try it.

The first yoga classes I ever took were in the wrestling room at my college’s gym, where the floors were so padded that we never needed mats.   It was a rude awakening when I later took a yoga class at a regular gym and found that a mat on a hardwood floor left me with an achy back and knees.  I’ve experimented over the years with different solutions, trying varieties of mats, and even using two mats –often finding that that didn’t really work as the mats didn’t stick to each other very well.

At the same time, I often encourage my clients do practice yoga for all sorts of reasons, from stress reduction to adding in healthy exercise.  And yet, I’ve often had trouble recommending a yoga mat that really supports plus sized bodies.

When I received the mat about 2 days later, it didn’t look much thicker than a normal mat.  I unrolled it on the hardwood floor in the living room, as I eyed my cushier looking area rug longingly.

I hadn’t done a long yoga session in while, but decided to use Megan Garcia’s Megayoga (which I love) and add a few poses on to that.  All in all, I spent about an hour doing a variety of postures, mainly of the beginner, Hatha variety, on the mat.

My experience using this mat was really wonderful.  I didn’t find my lower back hurting.  I could do calf/cow to my heart’s content and not feel like I was putting extra pressure on my knee joints.  I felt the way I like to feel from yoga — centered, relaxed, lengthened, without the unnecessary achiness so often caused by inferior mats.

One note — while I loved that the mat was 4″ longer than most mats, I also wished it was 4″ wider than most mats to accommodate broader shoulders.

So here’s the coolest part, Aurorae Yoga is giving away a FREE MAT to a randomly chosen commenter here at the Body Love Wellness Blog!  To enter, comment below and let me know your favorite yoga posture (or, if you haven’t tried yoga yet, you can let me know that instead) and the color mat that you would like.  Submit a comment by December 30th at 11:59PM.  A winner will be chosen randomly and announced on January 4th!

EDIT: I forgot to mention stickiness.  I found it to have just the right level of stickiness.  I didn’t find myself slipping as I got sweatier, which is awesome.  The packaging also includes some notes on how to make it more sticky, which, of course, I can’t find at the moment.  Thanks, Colleen, for reminding me to point out this important feature!