Best Yoga Mats For Seniors [Buyers Guide]

If you are looking for the best yoga mats for seniors you’ve come to the right place. In this guide, you will learn what to look for in a yoga mat and what are some considerations for seniors.

Yoga is a popular form of exercise these days and it’s especially beneficial for seniors as it helps you improve and maintain mobility, strength, and balance.

More important yoga helps you reduce stress and can even reduce blood pressure, resulting in improved mood and health.

As you probably know, typically yoga doesn’t require any special equipment. Comfortable clothes, a water bottle are pretty much all you need and of course the yoga mat.

The yoga mat is a crucial part of yoga since you will perform most of the exercises on it. It has important functions for both comfort and safety. A wrong kind of yoga mat can cause sore knees or in worse cases slipping and falling.

There are a couple of considerations for yoga mats for seniors you need to know.  You can find that information after these recommendations.

Best Yoga Mats For Seniors

These recommendations include affiliate links. If you want to support my website, you can buy through the links and I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. If you want to buy them without offering me a commission, go to the manufacturer’s website or Amazon directly through your browser. 

1. BalanceFrom GoYoga+

This is a ½ inch thick all-purpose yoga mat with superb ratings and reviews. The great thing about this mat is that even though it’s already thick enough to provide ample cushioning, it actually comes with a knee pad that offers extra support for your knees if they are sensitive.

The mat comes with a convenient carrying strap that will keep the mat rolled up and makes it easy to carry.

2. BalanceFrom GoCloud

This is a 1-inch version of the BalanceFrom yoga mat. It has very similar features as the ½inch one but it’s twice as thick. Like I said earlier on, I don’t recommend much thicker yoga mats than ½ inch.

But there’s one exception. If you are a large person with any kind of joint inflammation, the extra cushioning can make yoga more enjoyable. The stability shouldn’t be an issue if you weigh enough as your body weight will compress the mat.

This mat doesn’t include a separate knee pad, but considering the thickness of the mat, it’s probably not necessary.

3. Kiss The Sky Eco-Friendly Yoga Mat

This yoga mat is a bit pricier but for a good reason. It’s made in the USA and from 100% recycled tree rubber, meaning that it’s as environmentally friendly and ethical as possible.

It’s only 3/16″ inch thick, so it won’t offer as much cushioning as the other options, so it’s more suitable for seniors that don’t suffer from knee pain and are of lighter build.

So if you are concerned about the environment, don’t mind the investment, and don’t need as much cushioning, this mat is a perfect choice.

What Are Yoga Mats

Yoga mats are soft small mats that are used as a platform to perform yoga exercises. They are typically made out of foam rubber or other synthetic soft materials.

The main function of yoga mats is to offer to cushion between your knees, elbows, hands, and the hard floor.

Many yoga exercises are performed in awkward crouched positions and without the yoga mat, it’s very easy to bruise your knees and other parts that are not accustomed to supporting your body weight against a hard floor.

Another important function is to provide slip protection by offering a high friction layer between the slippery floor and your hands and feet. This is very important for fall prevention.

Without a high-friction yoga mat, some yoga positions could possess a risk of slipping or falling. Some poses would be very hard to perform on slippery floor materials, especially when wearing socks for example.

Finally, the yoga mat offers some insulation in case the floor is cold. This will make performing the exercises much more enjoyable as you don’t have to worry about your cold hands and feet. Cold and seniors joints don’t often mix well.

Considerations For Seniors

Aging does often cause changes that can affect performing yoga poses. Your joints become less mobile and can become inflamed, your balance and coordination deteriorate and you lose strength.

Aging can also affect your circulation, making your hands and feet more prone to feel cold. All this makes you more prone to falling and to feeling discomfort when on your knees for example.

To account for these changes, there are a couple of things to look for when choosing a yoga mat. Firstly the mat should be thick enough to provide a bit of extra cushioning and insulation.

The thickness of the yoga mat dictates how comfortable it will be to use. Typically a half an inch thick mat is very comfortable and perfect for seniors.

On the other hand too thick of a mat can become unstable as your feet will sink into it. So you shouldn’t use much thicker than half an inch mats in my opinion.

The other important factor is that the mat needs to offer enough friction the keep the mat secured on the floor and under your feet.

A slippery yoga mat is very uncomfortable and potentially even dangerous, so I recommend you choose mats that are made out of high-friction material like foam rubber.

A high-quality yoga mat will be resilient and tough so it won’t wear out in use. It should also be moisture resistant so sweat doesn’t soak into the mat and it will be easy to clean.

Conclusion

I hope you found this guide about yoga mats for seniors useful. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments section below and I’ll get back to you.

Yoga is a great form of exercise for seniors. It’s gentle yet effective and it has been proven to be effective against many effects of aging like reduced mobility, strength, coordination, and balance.

A high-quality yoga mat will make yoga enjoyable and safe. Seniors are usually more prone to suffer from joint discomfort during yoga, so choose a thick enough mat to provide ample cushioning.

Falling is always a serious risk for seniors, so make sure that the mat you use offers enough friction to be slip-resistant both against the floor and your hands and feet.

If you feel like regular yoga might be a bit too demanding for you, I recommend you check out chair yoga. You can learn more about it in the articles What is Chair Yoga For Seniors? [Introduction] and The Best Chair Yoga DVD For Seniors.

Thanks for reading and if you found this post useful, feel free to share it on social media!

See you next time.