PRO Yoga Mat – Premium 6mm Thick Mat, High Performance Grip, Ultra Dense Cushioning for Support and Stability in Yoga, Pilates, Gym and Any General Fitness

Great product!

I decided to try a Manduka Pro mat because my Ashtanga teacher and another one of my experienced yoga teachers highly recommended the mat for durability, comfortability, and practice experience. My Ashtanga teacher has 2 Pro mats that she’s used for 15 years, and they hardly look worn at all. I was concerned about cushion for the knees - like, is the Pro mat too hard? (I need some extra padding for my knees. They hurt kneeling on hard surfaces because they were injured years ago in a fall.) My teacher friends assured me it was comfortable, even on knees. I know people usually get a Pro Lite for use outside the home/at the studio, but I wanted the extra cushion for my knees, so I got a Pro (6mm) for the extra padding (and extra width!). I love it!! It is a heavier mat than most, but I still take it to the studio without a problem. (Even my 12yr old brings her Pro mat to the studio for Ashtanga practice without a problem.) I use the Pro mat for meditating, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Hatha, and several other styles of yoga. I use it for Yin sometimes too, but I usually bring my extra squishy mat for that practice, just to give a more comfortable feel while I hold poses for 5 min. Either that or sometimes I put a blanket on my Pro mat. The Pro mat did come with a slippery residue on it. I did the salt treatment and also scrubbed it with a bit of water and grease cutting dish soap. That worked pretty well to get maybe 75% of the slippery residue off. That was enough to use it for my practice. Beyond that, in my mat bag I keep a dish sponge with a (blue) gentle scratchy pad on one side, and I just gently scrub the mat when I’m done with practice. That has helped a lot to get the last bit of slippery coating off my mat. I love that the Pro is good for my knees but still a good surface for doing balance poses on. I don’t have much of a problem doing tree pose on the Pro. On squishier mats, that felt ok on my knees, I’d have to step onto the floor for some of the longer held or more complicated balance poses/sequences. I don’t have to step off the Pro mat. I love this mat! I got the “colorfield” blue one because I thought it was pretty and I figured I’d have the mat for a long time, so I might as well get one I really enjoyed! Another note: I was also able to try a Pro Lite before I decided on purchasing the Pro. I think the Pro Lite is an excellent choice for someone who doesn’t need the extra knee support or cushion, or wants a lighter mat to carry to practice, but still wants the same surface the Pro mat has.

I got the XL 85” Pro mat and I love the extra space and the thickness/durability of the mat. It was however slick upon first opening of the package and I went through a 2 day process of fixing this issue and it worked great! I started by following the salt scrub instructions on the inside of the package and when it was time to take the salt off I scrubbed HARD with lots of elbow grease, not taking it easy on the mat at all. Rinsed and let air dry. Followed this with a scrub of Dawn dishwashing liquid and rinse well. Let air dry. Then clean with Manduka Mat wash and let air dry. Lastly I cleaned heavily with a 50/50 mix of apple cider vinegar and filtered water as an acid to break down any left over oils or soap residue. I know this sounds like quite the process but my mat is now as grippy as it can get and just as grippy as my Eko mat. I hope this helps someone out with the slick factor. I’ve used the mat several times and have no problems with down dog or sliding off the mat. I can totally see how this mat would last a lifetime. I highly recommend the extra long for the added space as it has been SO nice even for a shorter 5’6” yogi.

Pros: - Good balance of firm yet supportive. My knees don't hurt in kneeling poses, while at the same time in standing poses my feet aren't sinking in into too much cushion. - Stays put on the floor and doesn't move under my hands and feet like my cheap old mats used to do. - Longer and wider than my old mat - a perfect size for my height (5'8) - "Lifetime" warranty Cons: - Main: A little slippery if my hands get moist (more on that below) - Minor: Much heavier than my cheap old 3mm mat, but that's totally understandable given the much greater size and thickness and thus not a big deal. - Minor: Random stuff (hair, fuzzballs, etc.) sticks to it like glue. Light color highlights that. - Minor: Manduka recommends folding it with the top surface facing out, and it is a mild inconvenience having to turn the top side onto the unclean studio floor. Now more on the slipperiness topic since that seems to be a top issue of concern for many folks. First, a note about my sweating level and yoga style, so you can put my review in context: I sweat very little. In the past I have attended some very hot (90-100+ degrees) classes and always been fine with not having any towel on my cheap old Gaiam and Reebok mats. These days I do not attend hot yoga classes, but just mildly heated ashtanga and power vinyasa and I barely squeeze out a few drops of sweat here and there. After getting my new Manduka mat I went to a few classes before I had time to do the salt scrub. Slipperiness was not a big concern. I was completely fine for most of the class, except some slipperiness when my hands got a little moist towards the end. Nothing too bad though. I decided to do the recommended salt scrub. I put the mat out on the patio, sprinkled it generously with coarse sea salt, scrubbed it around a bit, and left it like that for a day (I live in Southern California, so freezing weather is not a concern). I used a wet rag to scrub vigorously and wipe the salt away. Here is a tip I found the hard way: Make sure to completely wash off the mat surface, not just wipe it with the rag, because salt will remain. The next time I used the mat I discovered that the little bit of salt film that was left on the mat triggered a bizarre reaction in my palms and feet - it made them sweat profusely! I don't know if it has to do with osmosis or what, but my palms and feet were drenched with water (while the rest of my body was completely dry) and I was slipping all over the place. Ironically the salt scrub made the mat far more slippery than it was previously! I couldn't wait to get home and thoroughly rinse it off with water to get any remaining salt off. After I did that, the mat returned back to normal. I can't tell if the salt scrub made any difference from the pre-scrub level. I use it just fine for most of my practice, and if my palms get a bit moist towards the end and things start to get a bit slippery, I move my hands to a different (dry) spot. I don't know how the mat would perform if I take it to a true hot yoga class - I suspect it may get quite slippery and perhaps I would need a towel. But like I said, for my purposes (non-heated or mildly heated ashtanga and power vinyasa) and my sweat level (low), it is largely fine. Also, I've only had the mat for a few weeks, so I may see improvement as time goes by.

The reviews about slipping on this mat when it is new scared me a lot. But, I really wanted the 85x26 inch size and the really awesome density of this mat. Upon receipt the mat was stupid slippery. Like unable to even hold a warrior 2 pose slippery! I read all the salt scrub conversations and wasn’t really sold on that as a solution. Then I read a reddit review from a guy who believes the slippery film is a non stick agent used in manufacturing to prevent the mats from gumming up the machinery. That made sense to me. He suggested scrubbing it down with dish or laundry detergent designed to remove oily residue. Well, I paid a lot for this mat and if I couldn’t use it I would have been pretty mad. So.... I took it outside and washed it with dawn and a dish sponge with an abrasive (but non scratch) side. I used hot tap water and scrubbed really well. I sluiced it with hot water to rinse and dried outside for a few hours. The next day the mat looked perfect, no discernible effects of the scrubbing showed. I tried it out and it was much better but not quite there. I repeated the process without the fear of hurting the mat that might have made me a bit gentler the day before. I scrubbed hard! Over every inch with the sponge and a brush. Sluiced and dried as before. I am very pleased to say my mat is now no slipperier(?) than any previous mat I’ve had to break in. Not perfect yet but I’m confident it will be soon. I now LOVE this mat. It is stupid heavy but I drive to class so not an issue. Do yourself a favor and put the mat in your Amazon cart and just visit it periodically. The price changes several times a week, up and down between $146 and $104 and points in between. I pulled the trigger at $104. I’m pretty happy.

Love the color and thickness of this mat - feels very substantial and I have friends who have had this same mat for more than 5 years and its still in nearly perfect shape. The only negative is that the mat is a little slippery if you are sweating. Again, everyone I know with this mat says it needs time to break in and many of the reviews note this as well. My previous Jade mat had a great grip from the beginning and was not slippery at all but after about 2 years it both looked and felt worn. So, if this mat takes a little time to break in but lasts for years, that seems like a good trade off to me.

I LOVE the Manduka Pro mat! I've been practicing yoga and pilates for over 20 years but only recently purchased this mat... wish I'd bitten the bullet long ago! The Manduka is expensive but worth it to not have my mat slip on the hardwood floors and to be better able to hold poses because my hands & feet don't slip. The mat is dense & firm -- no need to step off the mat to do balance poses. The density makes it heavy, but this isn't an issue for me as I'm not hauling it long distances. Because of the firmness, I find the mat a little uncomfortable when I have to be on my knees with the mat on a hard floor (no problems on carpet). I've been using a towel to cushion my knees.

I had heard so much about Manduka that I was in total awe of it by the time I finally decided to buy a mat. This was supposed to be the best yoga mat in the world, and I was expecting an out-of-this-world performance. I've had this mat for over a month and don't quite know what to say. The main reason I was looking for a top-quality mat was that my knees, elbows, ankles - all of my body in fact - are very sensitive to pressure and I needed a mat that provided superior cushioning while still providing good stability. The Manduka Pro is the densest mat there is, and so I was hoping to get the comfort I needed to stay in yoga postures. One good thing about this mat is it stays in place, it grips the floor and is never going to move or curl. That's about all I can think of on the positive side. The biggest problem I encountered right away was slippage. I had done the salt rub, as instructed, and left my mat out in the burning Arizona sun for quite some time before using it for the first time, but I was slipping and sliding all over the place. It seemed that any time I placed my hands and/or feet on the mat, a puddle of moisture immediately formed underneath, and at that point there was no controlling the slippage. I have practiced on the mat a number of times, I have left it out in the sun a number of times, but the problem is still present, particularly if I practice in a warm studio (I do not practice hot yoga). I've been in contact with the manufacturer about this problem, and one of the things they've told me is that they use a closed-cell technology in manufacturing the mat, meaning it does not absorb any moisture at all. To me it means I'll always be slipping and sliding, for sweating while exercising is human and cannot be avoided. They suggested I buy the (super expensive) Manduka yoga towel to place on top of my mat to prevent the slippage. First, I am very skeptical about the towel's ability to grip the mat under all circumstances, but besides, I've bought the Rolls-Royce of yoga mats that is supposed to last me a lifetime so that I don't have to buy, or carry around anything else. In terms of comfort, the mat feels very hard; maybe it will break in with time and become more comfortable, but so far it feels just about as hard as the floor. Another thing that's odd is that, in addition to being slippery when any perspiration is present, the mat is quite sticky when it comes in contact with any clothing, and so I've been having trouble gliding through my vinyasas. This has never happened with any other mat I've had. The mat is quite heavy by manageable, and that would never bother me if it had performed otherwise. I love the extra length, which allows me to stay on the mat at all times, and the purple color is very pretty. If only it performed better...