I’d been doing yoga for about 10 years when balancing poses finally clicked. You root down to reach up. Your foundation is what enables play, risk, and freedom. In the most literal sense, your mat is that foundation, and when it’s stable, you can feel it. No matter how sweaty you are, or how frazzled, that mat is where you find your ground.
A yoga mat is a simple object—and yet. There is a diabolical alchemy between sweaty palms and certain mats, an exponential slide that messes with form, gets in your head, and may even lead to injury. My wandering thoughts are treacherous enough without the ground literally shifting beneath my feet. But for years, I took the slip-and-slide mat situation as a fact of summer practice.
Then, in a jewel box of a yoga studio in New York City’s Chinatown, I found the JadeYoga Harmony Mat. The space, ringed with single-pane glass, was essentially a greenhouse full of sweaty bodies. The AC unit was no match for us. But the studio provided powder-blue mats with a textured rubber that was grippy without being sticky, cushioned without being squishy. I’d expected to wobble, but I’d found my new favorite studio, and my new favorite mat.
In the decade since buying my own Harmony Mat, I have not looked back. My mat has stood up to my evolving practice, no matter how hot and sweaty I get, even after I’ve added interval training and Pilates. With unbeatable performance, grip, and durability, the Harmony Mat has been a pick in our guide to yoga mats since 2016 and was promoted to top pick in 2024. This is why.
