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My ideas are not ever meant as a substitute for consulting with a qualified health professional
Is It the Yoga Mat or Is It You?
Remedies for stopping the slide.
People from all walks of life can enjoy hatha yoga because of its accessibility and availability. I recommend it to writers because the whole-body practice combined with breathing and meditation is an all-in-one fitness method that addresses many of the issues writers face. But many yoga devotees complain about their hands and feet slipping and sliding on the mat. There are two ways to end this problem, and it is a problem because it interferes with achieving good alignment. It’s just plain frustrating to not be able to hold a downward facing dog pose and enjoy the great stretch it offers because your hands won’t stay in place! Is it the yoga mat causing the problem or is it you? It’s a combination of things.
The phrase is not as prevalent now as in the past, but yoga mats are technically called “sticky mats.” When a young yoga teacher named Angela Farmer was leading classes in Germany, she wanted something soft, supportive, and that wouldn’t slide underneath the asanas. She took a piece of carpet padding, cut it to the size of a towel, and the modern sticky yoga mat was born.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga_mat
Since then, manufacturers have constructed yoga mats from materials such as plastic, latex, cork, and rubber that do provide more stability. Some yoga students, me included, need an extra layer of dryness to keep from losing grip on even the “stickiest” mat. Slipping while holding a yoga pose leads to several problems. One of them is misalignment and poor technique. Poor technique or not modifying a pose with props like blocks, blankets, and straps is the primary cause of injury.
Here, let me remind you that yoga doesn’t do anything to anyone. People do yoga and in a variety of ways to accommodate their abilities and needs. This is one of the hallmarks of yoga: it’s accessible to so many people and body types. Accessibility aside, guidance from a good hatha yoga teacher and knowing one’s own physical boundaries are essential. Always remember that yoga doesn’t do anything. YOU DO YOGA. What you do with yoga determines the results.
Stopping the slide on your yoga mat is essentially a matter of proper technique while doing the poses. However, yogis quickly discover that exercise is a cleansing tool and sweaty palms and feet can make that all-important alignment difficult to maintain. Even practicing on the iconic yoga mat that claims to stop the slipping, sweat (a good thing) can be frustrating. Rubbing alcohol and towels can’t keep up once the sweat begins a serious trickle down your arms and legs. I’ve studied and taught yoga for 40 years. I’ve tried different ways to keep my hands and feet dry during practice, and of the methods and products I’ve used, Carpe brand lotions work amazingly well.
Carpe products include antiperspirant lotions designed to stop sweat from coming through the pores. They also make sweat-absorbing powders, but that substance doesn’t work the same for me as the antiperspirant line. I’ve used the hand and foot lotions for several years. They help considerably. The only issue I’ve ever had is washing the lotion off!
Remedies to stop the slide during yoga include investing in a good quality yoga mat, practicing proper alignment techniques, seeking the guidance of a trained instructor, modifying poses with props, and using products like Carpe to stop the sweat in its tracks.
No more “Slip, Sliding Away”! Nail that yoga pose.
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