I’ve used the PROlite for both yoga sessions and at-home bodyweight exercises, and I like how its surface feels slightly tacky when dry, which helps with grip. It’s also relatively lightweight - the Dudes Yoga Luxury cork yoga mat, which I’ve been using for the past four years (and is currently sold out), is 3.3 pounds and has the same length and width as the Robin, what is yoga which weighs just 1.9 pounds. You can find a registered yoga instructor near you on Yoga Alliance's online directory, or browse local yoga studios yourself to find a teacher who inspires you. Patrick Foley, a manager and teacher at Sky Ting, says that they "stock all of our studios with Jade mats" and that he uses one for his home practice as well. This is why, as yoga teachers, we invite our students to stay in savasana for as long as they can, and to resist the impulse to jump up and rush out the door two seconds after the teacher says "namaste" so they can dive back into crossing things off their lists of things to do. "I use the smooth side up during a Vinyasa flow, allowing easy transitions," says yoga teacher Hannah Gardner, and then for hot yoga, "having the grip side up keeps me from sliding around." At three millimeters it’s a very thin mat (and almost as lightweight as the Jade Travel model) so it won’t provide a ton of cushioning.

It’s not as "flowy" as a Vinyasa-esque hot yoga class, but it’s a mega-workout nonetheless. At six millimeters thick, it’s the most cushioned mat on our list, but at seven and a half to nine and a half pounds (depending on the length) it’s also the heaviest - so it’s maybe not the best pick if you’re carrying it from home, to work, to the studio, and back. If you’re not ready to drop nearly $100 on a yoga mat, I recommend Jade’s Level 1 mat, which is only about half the cost of our best overall pick. Cork yoga mats are unique because they feel soft on the skin when they’re dry but become grippy when wet. If the price seems somewhat high, Wexler assures us that it’s worth the investment: "They’ll also last for a really long time, several years." Jade’s Harmony model is made from the same grippy natural rubber as its less-expensive Level 1 mat but is thicker for more plushness and comes in three different length options.

I use it while watching TV or for just a nice stretch." Although it’s made from 100-percent organic cotton and won’t be naturally as grippy as the rubber or PVC models on this list, it still provides traction: "It has rib lines, almost like a stopper or gripper, at the end of either end, so if I’m doing a plank, I don’t slide," Hyland says. Its soft foam bottom is also less grippy than the rubber bottoms on some of the mats above. Plus, it has the same nonstick textured rubber surface as the Jade Harmony mat above, so it’s also very grippy. "I don’t know if it was absorbing sweat or wicking it to some unknown locations, but my workout surface was desiccated." Lange’s pick, the B Yoga B Mat, is currently sold out, but the Robin is similar in terms of size and thickness - the B Mat is three pounds heavier. Yoga instructor Tochi Anueyiagu says it feels "springy" and likes that the natural rubber surface is easy to clean. The neurologist and sceptic Steven Novella wrote in 2013 that "Yoga .. fits into a more general phenomenon of marketing a specific intervention as if it has specific benefits, when in fact it only has generic benefits" associated with physical exercise.

"We’ve used it in Airbnbs, hotels, and guest rooms to mask a cacophony of noises." Malone adds that though there are only three noise variations, her 1-year-old daughter likes the general white-noise setting the most. It comes recommended by actress Sarah Hyland, who says she likes that "it’s sustainable, because most yoga mats aren’t. Outdoor-gear writer Joe Jackson likes the squishier five-millimeter version for doing body-weight exercises on his back deck (though he recommends even thicker mats for any workouts involving weights). Cork mats are great for yoga enthusiasts who want a look that’s "distinctly non-engineered," as writer Maggie Lange put it. "The Manduka mat is indulgent - it’s grippy, soft, and breaks in very well," says yoga instructor Kyle Miller. "They’re sticky, so your hands and feet don’t slide, and they’re durable, so you can put them in washing machines," says Liz Wexler, a yoga instructor and former group-fitness manager at Equinox.