Hey, I am just about to upgrade my icky walmart yoga mat am looking for suggestions on a good quality brand. I would prefer Canadian made/sold if possible but not totally necessary. I have done a bit of research but would like to get some opinions. Thanks! 
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Good idea, replacing the icky walmart yoga mat!
Have you seen our yoga mat reviews in our blog? If not, here they are. The matsā materials, performance and manufacturing location are all important to us, so they are included with each mat. The top two here are only mats and the last one includes a few more mats.
10 Best Yoga Mats of 2017 - Find the One That is Right For You
Top 4 Travel Yoga Mats For Yogis on the Go
14 Fantastic Gifts for Your Favorite Yogi
Good luck!
David
Yes, thanks, I did find the blog post with the reviews after I had posted my question (and then couldnāt figure out how to delete my question). It was very helpful and I am now the proud owner of the Manduka Pro!
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Fantastic! I think youāll be happy with the Manduka Pro.
Actually so far not so thrilled with my purchase. I should have read a few more reviews before buying this mat. Even though there are many positive reviews, I did not realize it would require so much ābreaking inā. I have scrubbed my mat down with seasalt a few times and so far nothing has changed. I know it says that the best way to break in the mat is to use it, and I do, daily. However, I find it extremely frustrating to be slipping and sliding all over the place while Iām breaking it in. Perhaps your review David, could include a little blurb about the fact that it has a breaking in period. 
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Thanks for the feedback. I wonder if thereās variability among the mats. The mat we used was sticky enough at first to use in a regular hatha class and the grip improved with usage. Have you contacted them to check about that?
Yes, Iāll look into including a little blurb in the blog post. I hope you find a solutionā¦ I imagine thatās really frustrating.
I bought a Manduka Prolite mat back in August. Iāve done two different 30 day challenges with it, as well as two 14 day challenges and many other yoga classes on top of those. When I first got it it was super slippery as well, my hands and feet tend to sweat a bit anyways so having a mat that needed to be broken in made it a bit tricky. However, after all of those classes itās much better now. Sometimes I find that my feet slip a bit if Iām pushing myself to go really low into a lunge pose but shifting my weight slightly tends to help.
I would recommend buying a small towel (they sell manduka yogitoe towels, I think thatās what theyāre called) to put under your hands and feet to stop the slipping. I actually bought a microfiber travel towel that is intended to use after a shower when travelelling (they dry very quickly). Iāve used that a few times when my hands were too slippery and it solved the problem.
I hope that my mat will be perfectly broken in soon! I donāt like having to use a towel on top of the matā¦ But I guess I just have to be patient.
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I know itās a bit of a late reply, but hopefully still useful to some!
I have a manduka pro which I absolutely love. ā¦now! It actually took me about 2 years to break it in (I didnāt do the salt scrubs) but I bought the manduka towel to go with it. With the towel itās super super grippy and itās doesnāt bunch up or anything in my experience. I still use the towel if itās really hot weather etc but the pro mat now is really grippyā¦ it just takes a while. You almost need to buy it way before you need it just to break it in! My recommendation would be to get the towel with it if you can afford to, as then itās grippy from day 1!
X
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Hi, Iām probably quite late to this discussion but for future reference for others Iād like to provide feedback. I bought a Lululemon āThe Matā 5mm mat about five years ago. Itās thick and spongy enough to be really comfortable for my practice on the tiles in my house. Itās also one of the few mats that I can do Down Dog on without slipping around (sweaty palms!). I know these mats are expensive but I believe theyāre worth it. There are also other providers out there now doing cork mats and non-plastic mats.
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Iām late to this discussion, but I want to share my mat experiences. I have two mats, a Manduka ProLite and a Gaiam two-color. I absolutely love my Manduka and have used it for yoga, Pilates, and Barre Pilates with no problems. It took time to break it in, but the yoga teacher who recommended it warned me about that. I canāt find the Gaiam mat I have on their site, and it might be because there were problems with it. The color on one side began wearing off shortly after I bought it, and the layers also separated in a few spots. When I complained, Gaiam offered me the same one as a replacement. I decided to keep the one I had and use it for outdoor yoga classes, and as extra padding for Pilates classes. The Gaiam mat is nice, but there is no comparison between it and the Manduka. My Manduka is definitely worth the money I spent on it.
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