Natural Fitness | Divine Mat

When I was up at the Yoga Journal Conference Midwest I happened across the vendor I bought my mat, block, strap, and bag from online... I introduced myself and was just seeing what other products they had, since I love what I have now. And then, duh, I realized we should connect over the world wide web!

Well, shortly after that first conversation Jane emailed me (hi Jane!) about coupons, give aways, and product reviews (oh my!). I'm happy to introduce my first product review because of it: the Natural Fitness yoga mat! My current mat is great, but a little thin (I double it up with a studio mat for thickness), but it's natural and has held up great for the past couple years since I started taking classes (and I average about 5 classes/week). Jane told me they just released the Divine Mat (sounds amazing, right?), and Natural Fitness was kind enough to supply me with a mat to try out and review, woot!

COMPANY: Natural Fitness
PRODUCT LINK: Divine Mat in Red Rock/Moss
COST: $80.00
DESCRIPTION: Green your practice with a Natural fitness Divine Natural Rubber Yoga Mat. Made from natural rubber, a sustainable and biodegradable material, these mats offer superb traction and a high-rebound dense cushion. The Divine Mat provides extra cushion for those who need it. Our mats are longer than traditional yoga mats and each has two colors. 5/16" x 24" x 75". Red Rock/Moss color.

DAY ONE: <cue choir of angels singing AHHHHHHHH> The name is quite accurate, as I rolled out my new mat today and stepped on it for the first time. It is firm yet squishy. It has the perfect amount of give to be kind to my knees, but solid enough to make balance poses more about the pose and less about the mat. And the space! We went to do our seated forward fold (Paschimottanasana) and my mat just kept going on and on in front of me, this will be great for savasana! So far, I'm in love. Stay tuned, I plan to check in after a month—and again as time goes on—to let you know how it handles five classes a week after some amount of time. Thank you Natural Fitness, for this wonderful experience!

DAY THREE: ok, it's only been two more days, but I wanted to add something that I noticed in class today.... this mat does not move. It sticks to me AND it sticks to the floor. I don't know how many of you practice on hardwood floors, or are as particular as I am... but I like my mat to line up with the lines. I'm a dork, whatever. But my old mat (the generic purple mat you see regularly, I would layer underneath my old Natural Fitness mat) would move around, and I was constantly adjusting it. Drove me crazy. Today, I rushed into class and set up in a hurry... when we finished our three Oms and started the asanas, I realized my mat was crooked. I went to go slide it with my foot... I almost fell over the damn thing was so stubborn. That's. Awesome.

SIX MONTHS: Why hello! Thought I forgot about this review, ey? I may have, until I looked at the two little worn out areas where my hands go (or feet go in tadasana). Indeed, the mat does break down a little bit, but these areas aren't falling apart or hindering practice in anyway... they're like little reminders that you've been practicing. And that, well, makes me feel good. So I'm not complaining about it. The important part of this review... it's still as squishy as day one and it still sticks to the floor with the strength of 400 hundred body builders (too dramatic? ok.). I find myself slipping a little bit more, depending if it's an on day or not—you know those days, when you hit every pose in asana with grace and what can only be the work of magic yoga elves. But regular (non-elf days), I have no issues. Needless to say, still very happy with my mat!

ONE YEAR LATER: I'm still using this mat, and love it. It's kept it's buoyancy all this time! The only concern is where my feet usually hit for downward facing dog, it's starting to crumble. I tried flipping the mat over, but that seemed to be worse than the side I normally use. All in all, still very happy with my yoga mat!

ONE + A HALF YEARS LATER: It's official, I'm retiring my mat. I loved it, but I've worn a hole into it that my toes keep getting stuck into. I wanted it to just be a sign character, but unfortunately it's getting in the way of my yoga.