A New Discovery For Me

You know how you find something new and it’s all new and shiny and novel to you, but then you find out just about everyone else knew about it. That’s kind of how I feel about my new Jade Mat. I love it so much I don’t even mind though.

The morale of the story is that if you don’t buy a yoga mat for 6 years, the technology really improves. A lot.

You see, I bought a yoga mat in 2002, soon after I started practicing yoga. I don’t remember there being many options, so went with a basic Gaiam. It was thin, and soon became kind of slippery. I saved it for travel and outdoor yoga, and bought a thicker, non-slip yoga mat in 2003 at, of all places, Banana Republic. As part of their holiday gift collection, they had a precious dark gray yoga bag with a bright dark red, thick, not-slippery-at-all mat. It was completely one of those random purchases at a very unlikely place, but that mat worked well for years. It got a bit thinner over time, but until recently it had a lot of grip.

So when I decided I needed to buy a new yoga mat, I asked Kimberly Wilson {while I was shopping for TranquiliT a couple of weeks ago}, and she suggested I try the tester Jade mat Tranquilspace has for people who are thinking of buying a new mat {their rental mats, incidentally, are Jade as well – but I always bring my own mat, so I did not know that}. Jade is also eco-friendly and made in the U.S. from sustainably-produced rubber.

I used the tester mat on Friday when I went to the 2 hour yoga class with live music and was completely in love with the mat in addition to having a great time at the class. Despite it being a long intense class, my sweaty hands never slipped once.

All I could think was “where has this been all my life?” – for once I wished I did not have the mindful shopping thing where for many items it doesn’t occur to me to shop for one until my current one starts showing signs of wear.

So, if you are a long-time yogi and have not looked at new mats recently, do check out Jade. Picture from Jade website.