Customer Reviews

Agile Fitness® Eco Yoga Mat, 1/4" thick x 24" x 68"

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this mat! I was really hesitant to buy a new mat since I had been using and loving my other mat for so long (a Baptiste sticky mat by prana) but it had holes in it so it was time. This mat is thicker, which makes such a difference in cushioning my knees in a low lunge and even my wrist bones in down dog. It doesn't feel sticky but I haven't slipped. I have learned to trust the amount of friction between my skin and this mat even though it lacks that sticky feeling. (I sweat easily but do not practice hot yoga.)
The vertical alignment bar really quite useful. I find it helpful for my set up in down dog as well as lunges and trikonasana. My only complaint is that the alignment bar isn't perfectly in the middle of the mat. It is off by about a quarter of an inch which is subtle but kind of bugs me visually if I'm having one of those days where it's hard to let go! The bar is still perfectly useful and I find I align with it rather than the edges of the mat so it doesn't matter that it is slightly off center.
I hand washed the mat when it arrived despite the fact that it didn't have an odor or a residue as far as I could tell.
I'm really happy this mat is TPE (thermoplastic elastomer)since TPE is biodegradeable and recyclable.

*UPDATE*

Am so sad. Gave it a 5 the first time around.
After about two weeks it had divot marks in it, and then more, and more. Odd. It looks as if someone was wearing stilletos and walked on it leaving deep impressions.
Today I had to call to make arrangements to return it.
Have to go searching for the best yoga mat even though I thought I had found it.

ORIGINAL POST

This mat is the perfect thickness, and the line down the middle is perfect to help me line up. I wasn't sure what the line would look like, but it is simply a subtle change of mat pattern. I can see it just fine, but it isn't distracting.

I love that this mat is eco-friendly. I also love that it has NO AWFUL SMELL. When I took it out of the box I expected some kind of smell. None. I sniffed the mat. None. I rolled it out. None.

I looked at many different mats from a variety of companies and am very happy I went with this one.

If you sweat easily like myself, stick to the Yoga towel over your matt. This matt isn't anymore slip resistant than the sticky-matts for downward dog. Also, noticed that one side started to flake off on the edge after only one use.

HOWEVER, the 1/4 thick cushion is awesome. Especially for poses like the pigeon, locust, or bow (with the rocking). Great for Pilates & Yoga hard studio floors.

I went with this matt due to the thickness, eco-friendly materials, and testimony of the Yoga instructor above. Being a 10 year veteran of Yoga; the matt is better supported than the thinner matts...but I've yet to find a matt that keeps this sweaty beast from slipping.

wow, did i really pay $30 for this mat? Ultimately it was worth it. not slippery, nice material, cushy but not so much so that you can't do proper balancing poses. i have tile floor so needed a lil xtra. definitely my favorite mat right now, and it's eco-designed to boot. as i yoga teacher i recommend it.

Steven Espinoza of Sonora,CA.
I have had inexpensive yoga mats for ten years and they all served their purpose well. My last mat was worn, so I wanted to purchase a quality mat: eco friendly, thick yet lightweight, and a mat that wouldn't empty my wallet. I read all the comments for the eco friendly mats both moderately priced and expensive. Agile's mat was almost perfect for my needs at this time in my yoga practice. By the end of my second session on my gray, Agile Eco Yoga Mat, I was most impressed and happy with my choice. First, the mat is sticky so I have no problem with my grip in standing postures. Second, there is no smell to contend with and that is very important with a new mat. Third, yes, it is lightweight, which is a convenience. Additionally, the gray color is very appealing, the center line is beneficial in lining up my heals on the mat, and most important, it provides excellent support beneath my ankles, knees, and wrists. Last, the price is superb. I was able to contain my ego and shop with a reasonable mind; for originally, I had my eyes on a mat three times the price. Now, I am not tall (5-foot-8 thanks to yoga), but if Agile would only make this mat 72 inches, I would consider this mat perfect. In fact, the mat is so nice that a fellow yogi purchased one of her own after checking out my mat. Namaste.

I love this mat. It is a little thicker so it offers more support for hands/wrists, feet and knees during the various yoga poses. I have a heel condition so doing the warrior poses can be painful on the typical paper thin sticky yoga mats. I usually need to double or triple mats for yoga. However, since this mat is a little thicker (not too thick though), it offers the perfect level of support. It is priced right for an upgraded yoga mat.

I've been practicing yoga seriously for just over two years (@ 5X/week). I'd been using a basic Gaiam mat, but I wanted a thicker, eco-friendly mat. The Agile had some pretty good reviews and was reasonably priced, so I went for it. I also liked that it's not rubber - I know rubber is ecologically friendly, but the rubber smell makes me gag; my friend also had an extremely expensive rubber mat that started to just crumble apart after a few months.
I've been using this mat for about six months now. I've been treating it well (not leaving it in the hot/freezing car, etc...), and it's not a bad mat; however, it could definitely be improved.

Pros:
- No funky or chemical smell at all - even when I first opened it. In fact, when I burn incense at home, if the mat is near, it sort of hangs onto the scent temporarily. I find this quite nice then during practice when I get slight whiffs of incense.
- Lays flat. Sometimes I need to do a very quick reverse roll of the end that's been rolled tighter into the center, but then it's perfectly flat.
- It's thick (it's exactly 1/4"; not thicker than described, as a previous reviewer wrote); it's perfect for cushioning my bony bits. I used to have to fold my old mat over for certain asanas, but no more!
- It's pretty sticky. I'm not slip'n'sliding all over the mat. I rarely get sweaty during practice (perhaps someone who does might have a different experience), but on my other mat, even the slightest bit of perspiration would cause my hands to slide forward when in downward dog.
- It's really lightweight.

Semi-Cons:
- It really could be longer. I'm only 5'3.5". While I can very easily lie on the mat without hanging off, I have found myself making more adjustments to keep myself on the mat when practicing vinyasa flow/moving asanas. Sometimes during cobra or moving into shalabhasana, if I'm not right up to the front of the mat, my toes end up off the mat.
- The material is a bit springy (i.e., not solid and firm), so after having practiced for so long on a harder, more solid surface, it took some adjustment for balancing poses (vrikshasana, ardha chandrasana, etc...). I felt like I totally had to re-find my center.

Cons:
- It "wears". After about a month the material started to rub/flake off in areas that see the most "traffic". It's not due to the material drying out the way rubber would; the mat is still soft and pliable. However, there are two visible worn spots where my feet rest in downward dog. After each practice, I'm brushing away little flakes of the mat, and the "foot areas" are getting thinner and thinner. Also, as another reviewer mentioned, it has started to develop little divots; I notice this mostly where my feet rest during hanumanasana. It seems the tension (of my heel pushing forward) causes little separations in the material, which eventually worsen until a little piece of mat pops out.

Due to the flaking/wear/divots, I've already started to investigate other eco-friendly options for a replacement. I wouldn't purchase this mat again, although I will probably just continue to use it until it really wears out (which may be soon), because it's not the worst thing ever, and it's still useable.

Had my first yoga session last night and this mat was perfect. I'm tall, and why laying down, I was on the mat head to toe. It was comfortable and I hope that I'll be using this mat for a long time.

After reading all the other great reviews, I decided to order this mat, but my experience has not been great. I do like that it's eco-friendly, but I find that the material tends to curl up in really awkward ways and hold onto crimps, which is frustrating when you're trying to do yoga. (Maybe this is because the mat was left in my car in the heat, I'm not sure, but I've not had another mat do this. I had it rolled up in front of my front seat and one part accidentally got smushed in the car door. It curled up and stayed that way through a 90-minute yoga class this morning. Even when not caught in anything, it looks lumpy when it's rolled out.) It's also slippery - I don't sweat more than the average person and don't do hot yoga, but I slide all over this mat. Even worse, it makes squeaky noises when it gets sweat on it - awkward in a yoga class.

Positives: The padding is good and I like the alignment line. It's a shorter mat for sure - I'm 5'6" and I wouldn't go any shorter than this, but for me the length was fine.

I love this mat, it works very well and gives me just the right amount of cushioning without being to soft when doing balancing poses. It has a bit of an odor but i left it unrolled and it's starting to air out (a week into using it). I'm glad I bought it, even so I wasn't familiar with this brand and not sure what to expect.