How important is yoga mats while doing yoga

Namaskar !!

Quite a few people come to ask
Should I practice yoga or meditation on Mat or I can do this without mat?

Well for the simple question, we have to understand the ancient Yoga practices. Our ancient
Yogi’s practiced yoga in places like deep jungles or caves completely cut off from society.
where they could connect with their inner self. But you ever see images scriptures
or art effects of ancient Yogi’s, you will notice that they would be sitting on some animal
fur for their practices. Yes, yogi’s at that time would use animal skin or basic
cloth, which they needed a bit of cushioning. However, there is a deeper
scientific reason, and why ancient Yogi’s used fur or why we are using mat at this time,
even at the institute when we have a class, mats are spread around the floor.
The reason for this is that when you do asanas or meditation on the floor, your body,
loses prana or energy. When you practice these yogic techniques, you should gain
more prana, but practicing directly on the floor will have a reverse effect. Our body
temperature would be dropped if we lie down on the floor, due to the coolness of
the floor. As a result in order to raise the body’s temperature our body will be
forced to use the conserve sugar and oxygen at a higher rate than usual. As a
result the sugar called glycogen that is stored in the muscles of the body would be
used unnecessarily. Also, your lungs would be forced to harder than usual.
Nowadays, the flooring of our houses are made out of ceramic tiles or marble tiles
Now these are much cooler and so our body’s energy goes waste there. If the
wooden flooring is there then it is quite warm. Therefore lying or sitting on the
mat for practice will act as a barrier between you and the floor and prevent
unnecessary energy expenditure. It will also provide some instant action if the
the surface on which you are practice is cold. There is no specific type of mat that you
have to use, a simple rug can be beneficial but these days with advanced technology,
we have much better yoga mats that cannot only help with insulation but also
prevent you from slipping due to its anti-slip property. It will give you stability and
allow you to do different yoga poses with firmness. A yoga mat will also provide you with cushioning,
so that you feel comfortable throughout your yoga session. Moreover
the direct contact with the cold floor cannot only lead to the use of excess energy,
but also lead to certain problems like catching a cold, wheezing, asthma
and so on. It gives you muscle pains and joint pains too. That’s why I would suggest
that it is better not to practice asanas or meditation on the bare floor instead always use
rug or carpet or a yoga mat for practice.
So take care.

Namaskar