The Yoga Mat

Mats have always been provided at the few yoga classes that I've attended. One of the studios even uses everything-Manduka, which is great. I don't have my own mat. At home I practice on the floor. I've already gone on a long stretch of not going to classes as at now, so I'm already used to and love the hard tiles. Also, I don't do difficult poses that really need the support of a mat. Sun Salutation A is already a cardio to me.

The biggest perk is, it's just more practical to use the balcony -- I just need to mop it before and after. One of the reasons that I don't buy a mat is because I'd hate the cleaning work. Just like why I dread going for a swim: all the chlorine that I have to get rid of is just an extra work that I don't need.

But you'll want to buy a wireless, four-tier bread maker if you scroll the shopping apps long enough.

So I felt like a yoga mat would be useful for me. The bare floor does hurt my knees and the tops of my feet a little -- well, I usually use a towel, but what if a proper support amplifies the benefit? What if a mat motivates me to exercise more? What if I were to join a class or a yoga retreat that requires me to bring my own mat in the future, which I've never done, by the way, but what if I'm interested to join one soon?

So the journey begins. The most important thing to decide is, of course, what material to get? I know I'm not buying Manduka, probably ever, unless I get rich like J Lo. But the few times I've used a mat other than Manduka, I didn't really pay attention to them to learn about the materials.

So there I was, confused in the rabbit hole of trying to understand the types of yoga mats out there from the internet. And all the reading still doesn't mean much to me. If you tell me TPE is good for the environment -- that's great -- but will it help me with my exercise? And I've no idea what TPE looks like in the first place. So even if I buy a TPE and you send me an NBR, I wouldn't fucking know. If you are saying, "How's that possible? If you order a TPE, you'll get a TPE," you must've never bought cheap, generic stuff online before -- anything can happen there, I tell ya. It's a land only for the brave.

Also, what if, unlike the floor, the mats are slippery with sweat? Then I'd need a yoga towel! What kind of chain-scam is this?

So after an on-and-off decision -- do I need it, do I not need it -- and on again, made possible by more app-scrolling, I decided to get a TPE. Dusts hands. That's the only difficult decision that I have to make.

The internet does say that I may need to decide on a colour, though, which is not applicable to me because, of course, I'm going for blue.

But am I???

My life is basically three shades of black, white, grey, brown and blue. So maybe... a little of another colour is great here?

I've already zeroed in on the cheapest blue. But I also just saw a pastel pink that somehow looks cute in the picture. But what if I don't feel like myself bringing a pastel pink mat on my hypothetical yoga retreat? What if this pink is actually ugly in real life?

Goddammit. I can't decide.

Abort! Abort! I'm not buying this thing.

So I thought.

Two days later, more discount vouchers decided it for me (I used to be this easy, apparently the sucker resurfaces), and the pastel pink won. Plus, it's cheap. If it turns out I don't like it, fine, I'll buy another mat. Let's go from I-don't-need-mat-at-all to two-mats-that-I-rarely-use.

Then the mat arrived. Other than I think the colour is actually cute, I have no opinion about anything else. Because it would be easier if you just described TPE as "foam" to me. Again, I don't know how to compare because the only mat that I remember is that Pro Manduka, and I really cannot afford to compare my purchase to Manduka.

I've tested the new mat with a few simple poses, and it felt fine. But is this TPE? Which type or grade of TPE? How do I know this is not EVA? How do I know if this is not even TPE or EVA? Will this last me more than two months? (The zip of a cheap wallet I bought online broke after three weeks.)

I still probably don't need a yoga mat, but I'm currently waiting for the yoga towel to arrive.