Yoga On & Off the Mat

Yoga Travels With or Without Your Mat

By Brooke Hewes, 8-07-07

Like an awkward extra limb constantly smacking into strangers and slipping out of the plastic bag invariably slung over my shoulder, I lug my yoga mat everywhere — even, especially, on vacation. Without it, I am sure, flexibility will be lost; my asana practice paused. But should it be? Yogis have been practicing on rock, sand and otherwise unpadded, un-sticky surfaces for millennia — why can’t I?

Am I too attached to my sticky mat?

Last year I flew to Florida for a bacherlorette party and left my mat at home. There was little space between the bathing suits, tee-shirts, and barrage of embarrassing gifts. I figured walks along the beach, long swims, and too many glasses of wine would fill the three days and any time that I would normally sneak in an abbreviated version of my regular Ashtanga practice. Come Sunday, though, as everyone riffled around for tennis racquets and running shoes, I found myself wishing for my mat. Thankfully, a friend lifted me from my myopic disappointment: “Brooke, they did yoga long before there were mats.”

They sure did.

I smiled, giggled at myself, and thanked my friend before finding a warm and relatively flat rock, which also happened to be less than 30 feet from the ocean. Sure, I slipped a little here and there, but I didn’t care — the gently lapping water eclipsed any notice of sweaty palms. After the first sun salutation the water’s gentle energy soaked my senses and guided my practice. My breath effortlessly undulated from posture to posture. My body moved with strength, balance and beyond mental effort and management. Unlike the four walls of my typical practice space, the natural setting enhanced my visceral connection with the world around me and, ultimately, to myself.

In savasana (corpse pose), I relaxed easily — I was stimulated, not chaotic; calm, not tired. I was ready for cocktail time!

I have since become privy to traveling yoga gear from sticky paws to extra-light travel mats — all of which have their merits, but in my already cluttered life, are just more pricey gadgets to forget in overhead bins, rental cars and backcountry campsites. So instead, I will continue to do as many yogis do: use the world around me.

Harriet Alterowitz, yoga director at the Women’s Club in Missoula, says not having your mat on vacation may be an excuse to skip your routine, but is not an actual hindrance.

“I practice anywhere, with or without my mat,” says Alterowitz. “Practicing without your mat can actually enhance your practice — it lets you be a part of your environment.”

“In many ways,” she adds, “it is more authentic.”

Marina Zaleski, also a teacher in Missoula, agrees. Minus the mat, she takes her practice camping. Grass, sand and rock are all nice surfaces, she says, and tents are great for gentle twists and variations of legs-up-the-wall poses.

“It is your practice and you can do it anywhere,” she says. “You can do it without a studio, without a teacher, without four walls.”

And certainly without a mat.

“Mats and other props are creature comforts to get over the distractions of our daily lives,” says Zaleski. “We practice yoga on mats in studios; we do it everyday on our own, in our everyday lives.”

Still, there are some instances that these props don’t just support the yogic limbs of asana (posture), pratyahara (sense withdrawal), dhyana (meditation) and dharana (concentration); they are contingency comforts. Like this winter, when my husband and I traveled around Honduras and Guatemala. I brought my mat and was very thankful that I did — there were few surfaces on which I would have otherwise assumed a downward dog or sat to meditate. My asana practice would have definitely been paused had I not made room in my backpack for my sticky mat. Sure, I could have snuck some poses in here and there, but falling into steady breath and flowing postures (the union of which is vinyasa) would have been very challenging sans mat. 

Yoga, of course, is much more than sitting, stretching or doing anything that requires getting on the floor. In fact, traveling abroad or just outside of your comfortable routine of work, friends and yes, yoga class, can challenge and ultimately advance your on- and off-the-mat practice. Without the normal cues of relaxation (for me: tidy house, internet access, healthy food), we are challenged to find calm and peace without creature or contingency comforts — in crowded buses, less-than sanitary hostels or hotels, day after day of not assuming postures. In fact, had I left my mat at home during our travels, my yoga practice would not have been paused at all. Rather, in pausing my physical practice and the body/mind clarity it provides, I would have been stretched in my never-ending practice of nonattachment (not to mention non-judgment as my muscles began to feel smaller and less limber).

So yogis take comfort: compassion, mindfulness, and respect towards others (and that includes day 27 with the same traveling partner) can always come on vacation even when your asana practice can’t. Usually, though, suitable surfaces abound: hotel carpets, sandy beaches, sleeping pads, even warm, flat rocks by the ocean. And in the spirit of non-attachment, perhaps a little mat-free time would do you good, exercising the true yogic talent of flexibility.

For those of you interested in traveling yoga gear, here are some of many options.

• Yoga-Paws: Hugging your hands and the balls of your feet, these non-skid mitts make for a slip-free practice on most smooth surfaces, including carpets, wood floor and yoga mats. One Amazon.com reviewer even said the paws work on sand. Made from a non-slip nylon/polyvinyl blend, the paws’ undersides are perforated with tiny, sticky bumps for gripping. You can find them online at www.yogasyz.com in both women’s and men’s sizes starting at $29.95. (They also have factory seconds for $19.95.)

• Skidless Yoga Towel: These towels are designed to cover your mat in humid studios or to combat a case of sweaty palms. Much lighter and more malleable than your regular mat, however, they are suitable for traveling yogis. The towels are available in mat (24” X 68”) and hand (17”x24”) sizes for $49.95 and $19.95 respectively.

• Travel Yoga Mat: Drishti makes a 1.5 lb-travel mat for $12.95. Ultra slim and flimsy, this mat squishes and easily squeezes into suitcases, backpacks and even courier bags. Because they are so thin, though, they are not recommended for regular practice. Matsmatsmats.com also carries travel mats for $14.95(1.25 lb).

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