Manduka eQua Yoga Mat Towel Review | Why You Need a Yoga Mat Towel
/Now, almost everybody knows you need a yoga mat for yoga… but… a yoga mat towel… say what? In this video, I’m gonna tell you 3 reasons why you might wanna consider a yoga mat towel, and I’ll recommend one - Manduka’s eQua yoga mat towel and all the reasons why you might love it too.
No time to watch this 8-minute video? Read the transcript below.
Jump to the main points with these timecodes:
00:00 - Intro
01:42 - What's a Yoga Mat Towel and 3 Reasons You Need One
03:22 - Bath Towel Disadvantages
04:12 - Manduka eQua Mat + Hand Towel
04:46 - Manduka eQua Mat Towel: Pros
06:32 - Manduka eQua Mat Towel: Cons
07:16 - Manduka EU Discount Code
08:02 - What's Up Next?
LINKS IN THIS VIDEO:
Manduka mat reviews - PRO vs. PROlite vs. eKO Superlite: LINK HERE
Chair Yoga for Zoom Video Calls: LINK HERE
Go From Exhausted to Energised in 12 Weeks: LINK HERE
MANDUKA USA LINKS
Manduka eQua mat towel: https://bit.ly/3mi6eL8
Manduka eQua hand towel: https://bit.ly/2Ffi9sm
*** MANDUKA EU/ UK DISCOUNT CODE ***
Use "ENLIGHTENEDSPOON" for a 10% discount when checking out at http://eu.manduka.com
TRANSCRIPT:
Hi, and welcome back to my channel. If we haven’t met yet, Hi! I’m Jaime Tan at Enlightened Spoon. On this channel you’ll get tools and recommendations for a busy, healthy life just like today’s, and other times you’ll get nutrition, fitness and lifestyle tips… all tools to help you stress less, yet accomplish more. So hit that Like button and consider subscribing if you want more like this.
If you’re just getting into yoga and also looking for a yoga mat, you might find this previous video helpful - where I compare and review 3 of Manduka’s mats, the PRO, PROlite and eKO SuperLite. Maybe you don’t even need a yoga mat - guess what! You might like this home office chair yoga during Zoom calls to stretch and release during your work day. So save both these videos for when you need them!
My Yoga Background
I’ve been practising yoga for more than 20 years now, and teaching since 2008. My yoga practice has evolved from practising and teaching ashtanga yoga to vinyasa, hot, yin and yoga nidra - all very varied styles. I’d definitely recommend a mat towel if you’re into either a hot or dynamic flow kind of yoga style, and you’ll see why, coming up.
What is a Yoga Mat Towel and Why in the Heck Would You Need One?
First up - what is a yoga mat towel and why the heck would you even need one?
It’s basically - exactly that - a towel that you place over your yoga mat for all of the following reasons:
1. You Get Sweaty!
You have a sweaty practice, like a hot yoga or heated vinyasa class, or maybe you just sweat a lot. The mat towel basically helps absorb all of that sweat so you’re not dripping in a puddle on your mat.
2. Better Grip + Traction
It provides better grip and traction. Especially if you have a hot, sweaty kind of practice… you might have noticed that less than halfway into your practice, if you’re dripping in puddles without a mat towel, you might be slipping and sliding around too. Having a good mat towel helps to provide more grip and traction. Some of the better mat towels actually become grippier when wet.
3. More Hygienic
It provides a hygienic barrier between you and a rented studio mat. I don’t know about you, but studio mats are kind of gross. Loads of other people before you have used them and no matter how much the person or people before you have sprayed and cleaned them down, if you really think about it… someone else’s sweat and feet dripping all over it. It’s gross. Having a physical barrier like a mat towel or a thin skin of a yoga mat helps from a hygiene point-of-view.
Check this previous video out for the eKO SuperLite skin, which can be another hygiene barrier to use on top of rented studio mats.
Before we get to the Manduka eQua mat towel, let’s talk about why you wouldn’t want to use a regular bath towel on your mat.
Disadvantages of Using a Bath Towel
Let’s be honest. When I’ve been traveling and want to reduce the stuff I bring with me, I’ve definitely used a hotel bath towel as a yoga mat towel. And when I just started out, that’s what I was doing too.
But the disadvantages are:
1. Not Long Enough
Bath towels are never usually long enough to cover the length of your entire yoga mat, so either your hands or your feet aren’t on the towel.
2. Too Plush + Fluffy
They’re usually plush and fluffy and tend to wrinkle up easily, when you really need a surface that’s flat, so you can feel the floor beneath you, especially in standing poses.
3. Not Quick Wicking
They’re not quick wicking. They might be highly absorbent, but then the whole towel stays wet for a while on your mat and that’s not comfy.
By now, you’re probably getting the hang that if you have a hot or sweaty practice - you really want to consider a yoga mat towel.
The Manduka eQuaⓇ Mat Towel
This is one of my faves - Manduka’s eQua mat towel. It’s made of microfibre and has a soft, plush, suede-like feel to it. The microfibre also makes it really quick wicking. The towel comes in a standard size of 182cm or 72 inches, and also as a smaller hand towel version, at 40cm or 19 inches.
eQua Towel: Pros
1. Stays in Place
It basically stays down on your mat without wrinkling especially in a flow class, when there’s loads of sun salutations, vinyasa’s, or generally more movement along your mat. This hardly flips up or flips over, like a regular bath towel might.
2. Gets Grippier When Wet
This one gets grippier when wet, so I don’t usually like it at the start of class before you’re super sweaty, coz there’s less grip. What you can do is spray the mat towel down with water where the hands and feet go, so that can help with traction early in the class.
What I do - and maybe it’s a bit fiddly for some - is I simply flip the top and bottom of the mat over, until I get to that super sweaty point in the class where I need more grip, then I flip the top and bottom down again.
3. Less Friction in Jumpbacks + Jump-Throughs
If you’re an ashtanga or vinyasa kinda person, you’re doing a lot of jump-backs and jump-throughs. When you’re first learning them, it’s more like a shuffle-back and shuffle-through and your feet might get stuck on the mat, or worse, you get mat-burn from the friction. This soft, suede feel really helps make it easier on your feet to slide through.
4. Dries Fast
It doesn’t feel like you’re laying on a soaking wet puddle of a towel by the time you get to savasana. I’ve even used this as a bath towel when I’ve been on yoga and meditation retreats in ashrams where they don’t provide towels. This whole thing washes and dries within the hour on average, so it also makes a good traveling companion…
5. Compact + Light
If you’re extending its use beyond a yoga mat towel, it’s handy especially in these pandemic times when you’ll need to bring your own bath towel to the gym - I much prefer something lighter and more compact to pack in my gym bag like this eQua mat towel than a huge bath towel.
eQua Towel: Cons
1. Price
At the time of filming, it’s €38 for the standard mat size towel and €12 for the hand towel. While that might not necessarily break the bank, it’s still pricier than a regular bath towel… so I get it if the price makes you think twice about whether or not to buy it.
I can guarantee that these towels last a LOOOOONG time though. This was my very first mat towel about 15 years ago - and while it’s not as silky smooth to the touch as this newer one is… I say “newer” in quotes because even this one is something like 5 years old. And the 5-year old towel is still so soft and smooth. I mean - it’s money well spent.
*** MANDUKA EU/ UK DISCOUNT CODE ***
But hey - don’t let price get in the way.
Use "ENLIGHTENEDSPOON" for a 10% discount when checking out at http://eu.manduka.com
MANDUKA USA LINKS
For my American friends, I’m sorry there’s no discount on the US or Canadian Manduka site - but these are the Manduka US links where you can find these towels.
Manduka eQua mat towel: https://bit.ly/3mi6eL8
Manduka eQua hand towel: https://bit.ly/2Ffi9sm
These are affiliate links, so I get a small commission if you use these links and code, but it doesn’t affect your costs. And I only recommend products that I genuinely use and love.
And hey… if you’re gonna get in on this sweet deal, do hit that like button and consider subscribing to my channel for more tools and tips to help you manage a busy, stressful life.
What do you think, ready to jump in and get your mat towel already? Let me know in the comments below if you use one and how you like it?
Stay tuned for my next video where I’ll talk about how to stay motivated to workout - especially if you’re still mainly working from home and are finding it hard to get back into some kind of fitness routine these days.
Need More Help?
Yoga and meditation are a great way to help you reduce some of the stress in your life, but if you’re at the point of exhaustion and not sure how else to make a change before you really burnout - I may be able to help you. As a certified nutritional therapist AND health coach, I combine that with the yoga and meditation in a 12-week program to help you stress less yet accomplish more. I offer a free 45-minute breakthrough session, so get in touch:
