Manduka PROlite Yoga Mat – 4.7mm | Lifetime Durability | Hygienic Construction | Teacher Approved by Manduka

This is a great yoga mat (Pro Lite), it is well worth the money if you can put the hours on the mat with some time to “season” it. As you unroll it, you will need to rub it with coarse sea salt and let it sit for 24 hours on a hard flat surface and / or let it sit in the sun for a few hours, according to the Manduka website. This mat is VERY slippery upon first unroll but after season, it got a little better and is continuing to get better over time. My yoga teacher has had hers for nearly a decade and hers is still in amazing condition with even better grip.

In the photos, you can see my older Natural Tree Rubber Mat from Manduka laid on top of the pro lite and it was a normal yoga mat size. I am not a tall person by any means (about 5’ 10”) but I had to be exactly in place or my head/feet would be hanging off. This new Pro Lite (which you can see underneath) is significantly longer without taking up my whole room. I honestly don’t think I would need anything longer or wider, not for the substantial price jump at least. I love this mat because it doesn’t make my hands smell like that weird rubber glove smell like my old one did. This mat doesn’t move on the floor thanks to the circled grips on the bottom. My favorite aspect of this mat is because it is closed cell technology which means dog hair splinters and other fibers don’t get stuck inside the mat and poke you in the back during savasana or other floor poses. I would recommend using Manduka brand cleaning spray after use to maintain the integrity of the mat. I have been a Manduka fan for a long time and this was a great addition.

TL:DR

This is a great mat that will last you forever IF you practice on it a lot or season it with salt scrub.

Amazing, amazing, amazing!! I have heard such great things about Manduka yoga mats, that when my company said they would reimburse employees for fitness equipment, my first thought was to get one of these babies! I chose the 71″ Midnight Blue Manduka Pro Lite honestly just because it was within the reimbursement budget, but also because it is a great color. I love how it is made from recycled materials and champions an eco-friendly lifestyle. It is a great width and weight, and nice and grippy! In terms of use, I sweat a lot, and when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. This does a really good job of preventing slip, but also at a certain point, no mat will ever stop someone who is straight up liquid, so be realistic with your expectations (i.e. I still find it slips sometimes). Also note that I tend to use my mat on carpet, and if you were to use it on hard flooring, the mat would be even grippier and I don’t think I would have issues slipping at all!

On maintenance – Manduka recommends you sprinkle a bunch of salt on your mat when you first get it to help “break it in.” Who was I to question the natural and earthy powers of the great salt break in??? Who was I to place myself above the experts of Manduka????? I decided to heed their advice. With all the passion and excitement of unleashing my mat’s true potential, I shook shook shook my salt shaker above its gleaming surface. I patiently waited, attune to my mat’s needs. After 24 hours passed, I returned to my mat, ready to welcome it into its new form. But wait – I encountered a dilemma. How exactly, were I to lift this 71″ rubber serpent from the ground?? How were I to safely deposit those millions of shaken salt crystals from my mat’s plane??? Now let us pause and note that this would not have been as arduous of a task if I had not decided to complete the great salt shake in my carpeted bedroom. Alas, my decision had already been made, my ship set on its course. With all the great balance and coordination of an amateur yoga practitioner, I raised the sides of my mat, dragging it to my bathroom. Allthewhile, I sensed myself losing thousands of salt crystal souls on the way. After patiently attempting to contain the briny gems, I finally heaved my rubber flag over the bathtub and shook shook shook as best I could, to remove the salty deposits. Yet again, I found myself tormented. This mat is praised for its grip, its hold, its strength. And so the salt remained. Defeated, I climbed into the bathtub, swallowed my pride, and brushed each individual crystal from my mat’s surface. To this day, I still find memories of the past clinging to my mat – small sodium chloride diamond reminders of heroes come and gone.

So overall, I think you could probably break this in without having to salt it, unless you really really wanted to. Awesome addition to any exercise routine!!

This yoga mat has great grip, cushioning, stability and a nice design. It has yet to develop any smell with consistent cleaning after use

giving 4 stars instead of 5 because this takes forever to break in. I’m paying a lot of money for something that requires me to “rub course sea salt to remove the factory film” that makes it extremely slippery at first. Once broken in, it is among the best Yoga mat’s.

Been using this mat exclusively and daily for about 6mos. A different design than the usual yoga mat. Very dense with excellent grip. Cushions firmly without being too soft. Very sturdy and heavier than other mats – a much appreciated feature. No residual smell. Cleans very easily. A bit more expensive but after using it, I find it worth the price. I anticipate it will last a long time.

If you regularly practice any form of yoga (especially Bikram or Hatha), Pilates and so on and are after a top quality and “future proofed” mat, then a Manduka really is the one and only choice.

I wasn’t very “au fait” with yoga mats when I asked for a mat on Amazon that was made by 66 Fit, for my birthday last year.

That mat was decent enough, but I was going to Hatha yoga quite regulalry near my home in Leeds and it wasn’t the grippiest when it got sweat on it.

Fortunately the teacher at my Tuesday lunchtime Ashtanga classes recommended the PROlite mat just before Xmas.

When I had a quick try on it and found that it was nigh on impossible to slip on it, I knew this purchase had to be made, especially as I was going to start off 2014 by going to around 40 hot yoga classes in January and February alone!

I went for the PROlite, on account of it being less bulky than the Pro version.

I was after a mat that was easily portable as I combined this purchase with a the fantastic Manduka GO Stead mat and kit carrier which I’ve also just reviewed.

This is lighter the Pro but far from “lightweight”…you really can feel the build quality when practising on it.

While it might be a fair bit cheaper than then Pro, it still maintains Manduka’s lifetime guarantee, big tick in the future proofed box there then.

I must now respond to some of the more short sighted reviews about these mats being slippery when you first get them…

Can only assume that these people did not read the information that came with the mat, because it actually recommends treating the mat before you first use it by lightly rubbing salt into the mat with a tiny bit of water.

It also states that this is because because the manufacturing of these top qulaity mats naturally leaves a slight film layer on the surface (or words to that effect).

It is a very much a sign of the build quality / production process, that this layer of film that is on the mat to start off with and it stands to reason therefore that the mat naturally needs to be “bedded in” a wee bit.

And even allowing for this layer of film, I only moved ever so slightly (far less than I did with the 66 Fit mat) in Trikonasana (with sweat on the mat) in the first 2 or 3 Hatha classes i did on it, having done the salt and water treatment.

Since then, it’s been rock solid.

Some people like a good moan though don’t they? 🙂

In summary, if you want to pay a bit more up front for a mat, to take away the need to have to replace it every few months, get a Manduka, it’s a total no brainer.

You will not be disappointed and you will end up saving money in the long term, compared to buying mutlple mats without lifetime guarnatees!