The Perfect Yoga Mat

If there’s two things I don’t mind spending for, it’s food and athletic equipment.

A few months ago, I was scouring around for a yoga mat to replace my generic, non-branded trusty purple one from Toby’s. After a year and a half, my poor mat had gotten a good beating from my practice in the gym, at home, and on my trips abroad and out of town. I needed a substitute. Pronto.

My boyfriend found one at the Planet Sports sale in Power Plant: a sturdy one in a deep berry shade from Nike. I excitedly unrolled it and did my poses. After an hour of practice, it served me well: it didn’t curl or fold while I did my jumps or stepped back and front. The only problem was it was too heavy to bring around. My mission was to find the perfect one for traveling.

Then one day as I was on my way out of Power Plant Mall, I passed Aura Athletica and literally stopped in my tracks when I saw Lulu Lemon yoga mats: bright colored rolls piled on top of each other. Knowing very well they would cost me a fortune, I took a chance and entered the store to find out just how much damage it would cost me. I took a deep breath and asked the saleslady for the price (ohm 1, ohm 2, ohm 3…) “Ma’am P1,850 po,” said the lady. Gulp! Four times more expensive than the one I bought in Toby’s, and a little over three times more expensive than the one my boyfriend got on sale at Nike.

But I had heard about the brand before. lululemon is a leading manufacturer of yoga accessories and apparel, and I’ve heard and read many good reviews about their merchandise. Plus, I was leaving for a trip in a few days time, and I needed a lightweight yoga mat to take along with me.

My shopping philosophy is, “Buy it if it haunts you.” If you forget about it the day after you see it in the store, then you weren’t meant to get it. But the pink yoga mat kept dancing in my head, even three days after I saw it in the store.

I know, to the genuine yogi, any kind of yoga mat would’ve been fine, but the worldy woman in me wanted this non-latex, non PVC, non-toxic, non-rubber Eco Standard Mat from lululemon. Did I mention it had a reversible baby/bright pink material? And wet or dry, the mat promised superior traction and control—which would come in handy if I, errr, did yoga in the rain. Needless to say, I bought the mat—one day before I left for Tokyo. Which made every Sun Salutation in the Land of the Rising Sun worth every peso.