So if you do yoga (you know you should), pilates or some other workout that means you use a mat, you’ll know that those suckers have a life of their own. They get dirty and they roll awkwardly then won’t unroll completely during your yoga practice. If you carry your mat to classes it can be more challenging so I made a handy dandy video tutorial on how to roll up your yoga mat to avoid kinks and keep it clean.
Now you might think… Why do I need a tutorial? Well if you are rolling from one end of the mat to the other, your mat is picking up all the crap off the floor, and that floor might not be as clean as yours is at home! So that’s why you need a freakin’ tutorial! The mat by the way is the youphoria yoga mat I reviewed earlier this week.
Step 1 – Lay your mat flat. If you’ve just done yoga or pilates it should already be flat. Have your yoga carrying strap or bag handy.
Step 2 – Fold that sucker in half… or almost in half, with the clean side facing together. You need to fold it so you have about a 4″ gap as shown below.
Step 3 – Once folded, grab the folded end and ROLL. This keeps the clean sides together facing each other, rather than rolling the underside onto the topside and gathering all the bits of dirt off the floor.
Step 4 – Keep rolling right till the end. The top that WAS shorter should now pretty much line up nicely with the half underneath. BAM!
Step 5 – Put that sucker in your bag, or wrap with your carrying strap.
This won’t change your life, but it will mean you get a clean yoga mat to lay on every time. You’re welcome!
Meadowann
Thank you! Very clear and to the point instructions. I have been wondering about this and figured there had to be a better way. I will give this a try and wondered too if there would be any lasting, unwanted crease made where the fold is.
Di Hickman
I’ve been using this method for years to keep my mats clean and un-kinked and no damage to my mat. There is a slight ‘bump’ in the middle but the mat stays unrolled during use (unlike the traditional rolling method). But I also use my mat almost daily…
agirlrunner
I’m one of those people who knows I should do more yoga but it somehow keeps falling to the side. Love this tutorial on how to roll my mat. I usually just fold it & shove it in a corner rather than fuss with it. Thanks for the tips
Di Hickman
You’re welcome. I know I teach yoga and I see people do the same thing with their mats at the end of class. Using this method the mat stays put and clean 🙂