My top two favorite forms of exercise are resistance training (i.e. lifting weights) and yoga. The former I do on a fairly regular schedule while the latter is definitely feeling a little neglect. As much as I love it I don’t make the time to do it. Okay, so it’s more that I don’t find it relaxing to do at home with kids crawling over and under me and I’m too cheap to pay the extra class fee at the gym. But now that I have a new yoga mat from The Bolder Mat Company I’ve already made an early New Year’s resolution to switch gym memberships and get back on a regular yoga schedule.

One look at these fantastic, fun, seriously cool yoga mats will have you sending salutations to the sun weekly if not daily. The Bolder Mat Company let me choose one of their mats for review and I went for the Fish Wish. I loved the whimsical design and colors and admit to having a weakness for butterflies. Their Flower Power mat was a close second, but once my Fish Wish mat arrived I was so glad I had gone with my first choice. (Guess it’s as true with yoga mats as it is with test answers!) The koi fish and “Om” butterfly were the perfect, peaceful combination.

When I unrolled the mat the first thing I noticed was the lack of a strong smell, chemical or rubber. I reviewed another yoga mat on the Daily Dish and while it was eco-friendly I found the strong natural rubber too much for my delicate sense of smell. The Bolder Mat Company’s yoga mats are also eco-friendly and use non-toxic paints (as sticky as the mat so you’re not slipping out of warrior) printed on an extra-thick 1/4″ mat. Though I do carry fat in certain places, my butt isn’t one of them and I appreciate a little extra cushion between it and the floor when do any seated poses or stretches.

The second thing I noticed about the Fish Wish mat is it can stand up to some serious wear and tear. No, I didn’t test it by doing over 1,500 poses but my two youngest children thoroughly tested it by rolling on it, jumping on it and using it as a play mat–and it still looked like new when they tired of it! This is truly my favorite yoga mat. Like I said, it’s inspired me to get back into regular yoga practice!

Along with having ultra luxurious mats for both adults and kids, The Bolder Mat Company has a wonderful community outreach program. Because the company wants to share the benefits of yoga with anyone who’s interested in practicing they started Renew and Recycle, a program that refurbishes your old yoga mat and donates it to yoga outreach programs in jails, detention center, shelters and schools. By donating your old mat you’ll not only send out some good karma but you’ll also receive a coupon for $5 off your next purchase.

I’ve always wanted to get my girls as excited about doing yoga as I am and a kids’ mat from The Bolder Mat Company may just do the trick. How can you resist child’s pose when you have dreamy pink starfish on your mat? –Emily

* Promotion!!! The Bolder Mat Company is offering Daily Dish readers $5 off their online purchase; simply use code BMC5 when checking out.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 at 1:00 am and is filed under Daily Dish. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.