YogaBellies Yoga Mat Review

Reviewed by Louise Higgs

Being a yoga teacher, I was extremely excited to receive the ‘YogaBellies Peace Love Yoga’ yoga mat to review. 

Firstly, the design is absolutely beautiful. The mat comes in several different designs, and the design I received was a purple colour, with a large feather running down the full length of the mat (I believe the design is called Serenity 178). As I was unpacking the mat, I did notice that it felt quite heavy compared to other yoga mats that I have used in the past, but I feel that this is due to the excellent quality of the mat. The purple, feather side of the mat is a micro-fibre towel layer and the base side is a black rubber, and you can use either side to practice on.

As I began my first yoga session on the mat, the micro-fibre side of the mat did feel quite slippy whilst my hands and feet were cold and dry, but as I got warmed up and my hands and feet started to get a bit sweaty, the grip just got better and better. I feel that the mat would be great for Bikram (hot) yoga, and for anyone that gets hot during yoga classes. I did find that you could use the plain black side of the mat for slower yoga flow sessions, where you would perhaps not perspire as much, or you can use the micro-fibre side and spray it lightly with water to increase the grip (if you do not sweat much). As I mentioned earlier, the mat feels quite heavy, but it means that there is absolutely no curling up at the ends of the mat, it stays perfectly flat as soon as you unroll it – which is amazing.

The mat is made from biodegradable natural tree rubber, which is super eco-friendly. All of the mats I have used in the past have been made from plastic-based materials, so it is great to know that this mat isn’t going to harm the environment or your health. The inks used on the mat are water-based, there are no toxic smells, PVC, phthalates or chlorines, which means you can practice yoga knowing that your mat is completely safe and healthy for you.

The mat does not come with a bag or strap to keep it rolled up, which would have been an added bonus. I haven’t washed the mat yet, but it is machine washable at a low temperature and you just hang it up to dry. It is great that you can machine wash the mat, as it is always quite hard work to hand wash a yoga mat properly. 

I would 100% recommend the YogaBellies yoga mat and, as I use it every day, I would definitely say that it is worth every penny. It would make an excellent Christmas gift for beginners to advanced yoga practitioners, the designs are stunning, and I guarantee that it would be a winner under the Christmas tree. The only difficult part will be which gorgeous design you will choose!

Rating: 5/5

RRP: £79 – currently selling for £49 on Amazon

For more information visit www.yogabellies.co.uk. Available to buy from Amazon here.