Fit Gear Review: The Manduka Yogitoes Yoga Towel

Prior to this unpleasant pinched nerve in my neck, I’d been taking my yoga practice up a notch. I don’t know, call it a moment of inspiration after I’d enjoyed the Yoga Journal conference here a few weeks back, but I’d really been putting in work on that little mat of mine. And, as we all know, putting in work means putting in sweat.

Before, I’d always had a slip-resistant mat, and combined with an industrial strength sweatband, rarely struggled with the challenges that sweat presented… that is, until now. Now, I’m trying so many poses and sequences, and I’m doing them at so many different speeds, that I’m now finding myself relying on a different kind of precision that can only come with a dry mat.

So, when I was offered the opportunity to review Manduka’s yogitoes yoga towel, I was glad I agreed.

The towel has two different sides – one side soft to the touch, the other side complete with lots of grippy sticky bumps to provide traction. In a soft gray with a lovely neon green stitching around the border, the soft side feels plush and was quick-absorbing of any sweat I doled out. The sticky side, however, was what mattered to me – in the middle of a particularly rough yoga class, my teacher noticed I was slipping a bit, and grabbed a gym towel and laid it over the head and foot areas of my yoga mat. It wasn’t perfect, mainly because it was a towel, not built for traction, but boy did it help.

The little grippy traction bumps on the bottom allow you to lay the towel across the front of the mat and both suck up any sweat that drips when you’re in your lateral angle or downward facing dog poses, while also still managing to keep you from sliding in any direction. Needless to say, I think I’m in love with this thing. I feel sturdier in my asanas, which makes me feel safer, which makes me feel even more courageous in trying something new. All that from a towel, huh? Who’d’ve thought?

The towel is great for people who practice hot yoga, and also works wonders for those of us who are more inclined to do mountain climbers on the mat instead of adho mukho svanasana.

The Manduka yogitoes Thunder Hand Towel retails for $24, and is available at Manduka.com.

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