You should not even consider doing ashtanga yoga without a proper ashtanga yoga mat, whether you do your yoga routines outdoors or indoors. There are some incredibly beautiful ashtanga-vinyasa yoga DVDs made where wonderfully toned and bronzed beauties (both male and female) do routines without any kind of mats at all. They are highly trained and you are not. Doing yoga positions without an ashtanga yoga mat is similar to practicing a new trapeze routine without a net.

Grip And Balance

In order to do your yoga poses (called asanas), you need to be properly balanced. In order to get properly balanced, you need a good grip with your footing, or where you sit. A good ashtanga yoga mat lets you have that grip in order to help give you the balance needed to complete your yoga asanas without any hurting yourself.

A good ashtanga yoga mat is a lot like the thick rubber mats you used in physical education class – only they smell a lot better. You don't have to get exactly the same material as an exercise mat, but you do need the same sense of security and give. When you step on a good ashtanga yoga mat, it should suck on your feet a little. You should be able to see an imprint briefly where your foot was before it pops up again.

If you don't use a proper ashtanga yoga mat, you will slip and loose your balance and can fall. When you are in the middle of twisting yourself into a pretzel or doing a handstand, this fall can give you a bad injury. Some beginning yoga classes will provide you with ashtanga yoga mats, but usually you are expected to provide your own. Be sure to find out before the class starts.

Materials

Proper ashtanga yoga mats are made out of a couple of different kinds of materials. The most highly sought after material is jute, sometimes known as "Hessian". Not only do they help you get your grip, but they aremade of natural materials. Yoga is ideally where you connect and find your balance within the natural universe. Wearing synthetic clothes or using a synthetic ashtanga yoga mat is thought to make this process harder.

But jute mats are expensive. Even having a regular rubber mat (sometimes known as "tai chi mats") is better than not having a mat at all. Some people are allergic to latex rubber and so have no choice but to go with jute mats. If an instructor knows that one of his or her students has a latex allergy, they might even ban rubber ashtanga yoga mats from class.