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Think of the Yoga Mat as an Investment in Yourself.

MAT MARKINGS AND ALIGNMENT

Lakshana

The Sanskrit, meaning auspicious signs or marks.

 

At DEEP YOGA during your YTT course there will be ample opportunities to focus on alignment and the “correct” position within many asanas. The reason for having “correct” in inverted commas is simply to highlight that to a degree it is subjective. This will be explained in detail during your course.

Many Yoga teachers (ourselves included) use verbal cues to help students attain the correct position within an asana. Examples could be:

“align your feet so heels are inline”

or

“ have the middle and ring fingers run parallel with the long edge of the mat”

So, having a marked mat can be of benefit, especially in the early stages of both developing your own practice and as a teacher, to help with the cues.

Go to any group class nowadays and you will probably see both students and teachers have mats which have alignment markings already incorporated into their design. Major brands include Liforme, Warrior Addict, Yogi Bare, Wuufly and Alo, as they all have excellent craftmanship. A budget brand called Domyos, distributed by Decathlon, is also an excellent option worth considering. At DEEP YOGA we have a wide selection of many of the major brands, if you wish to trial/test a mat before investing in your own.

However, if you already have a good quality plain mat, such as a Lululemon or a Manduka, you may want to mark it up yourself. DEEP YOGA would encourage you to do this, as it will benefit both your students and yourself. Below is an example of how to custom mark your mat, so the spacing is optimal for you, but similarly good in general, as marks anywhere can be used as reference points.

How to Mark Up Your Yoga Mat to Help with Asana Alignment.

You will need:

• A note pad to jot down measurements.
• A tape measure
• A long and short straight edge. Doesn’t need to be a ruler, improvise if you need to.
• A bottle cap with a 2-3cm diameter, to draw circles/dots.
• A pencil (used to draw guide marks, before committing to an indelible marker.
• An indelible marker (we recommend a Sharpie, black if you have a light coloured mat, or e.g. a metallic silver, if you have a very dark coloured mat, like black. If you like colours, then use your own imagination to create a colour scheme. Circles or dots can be stars, Om symbols, a cross, a Hexagon etc. The limitation is your imagination. We use dots for simplicity.

 

As a rule measure twice, draw once. There is no rush, it’s Yoga!

If you have someone at hand, it may make it easier to measure and mark your mat up. If not, maybe when you come to your next class at DEEP YOGA, you will definitely find someone who will help. We also have all you need to mark up your mat, so will help you with the hard bits. Start by measuring yourself.

1. Measure from wrist to wrist
2. Measure from the outside edge of one shoulder to the other.
3. Measure from the outside edge of one hip to the other.
4. Find the centre of your mat by bisecting the long and short edges of your mat.

 

1. From each wrist mark divide the space to the short edge of the mat into three and mark up additional circles/dots.

 

1. Measure hip width from the centre of the second circle/dot from the back of the mat, and mark up the circles/dots.

 

1. To find the placement of the two circles/dots for hand placement in Adho Mukha Svanasana, we recommend you place your heels on the two “hip” circles/dots, then without moving the feet come onto the balls of the feet into Bharmanasana (Table Top pose), with a keen focus on hips stacked over knees and shoulders stacked over the wrists. Then move the hands one handspan forward, so wrists are where the finger tips were. Now mark up where the tip of middle fingers are with two circles/dots.

 

1. Draw lines through the red circles/dots, which are parallel to the short edge of the mat, and hip width in length.

 

1. Mark reference lines for angled foot placements in e.g. Virabhadrasana (Warrior I pose) or Trikonasana (Triangle pose) by drawing lines from the two outer red circles/dots to each edge of the lines bisecting the next red circles/dots.

 

Remember, we are all different shapes and sizes, and if you have measured out your personal dimensions, then the markings will be custom for you, so slightly different from the example above. Also, markings don’t have to be millimetre perfect. The lines and circles are simply a guide. At DEEP YOGA we encourage all teachers to at least practice this exercise of marking up a mat, as a tutorial for how to use a marked mat in their cues during teaching.

Note, if you are alone and can’t/don’t want to wait until we at DEEP YOGA can help, then you can take your own measurements. E.g. If you lie on the floor in Savasana  (Corpse pose) with one shoulder against the wall it is easy enough to place a block on the outside of the other shoulder, which when you get up will allow you to measure the space. For hip width, the process is even easier by starting in Dadasana, with one hip against the wall, and placing a block on the other side. Again measuring and making a note of the space. For wrist to wrist width, the easiest way to measure is to stand with your back against a wall. When you extend the arms place one wrist in line with a reference point (e.g. picture or door frame). Then note the position of the other wrist and measure from that point back to e.g. the door frame.