Toxic Yoga Mats: Is your yoga practice putting your health and the environment at risk?

We always aim to find the right yoga practice to release stress, detox, stay healthy and to maximise the body’s full potential. Practicing Yoga has the holistic impact of relaxing and connecting with the body and mind and having the perfect environment and equipment is just as important. Unfortunately, it turns out your yoga practice to achieve wellness may be doing more harm than good. That’s because the yoga mat you are using is toxic.

Conventional Yoga Mats are commonly made with PVC

One of the most common material used in conventional yoga mats are PVC. The chemical used to make PVC, Vinyl chloride, is known to cause cancer through close human contact according to the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Although PVC is very easy to clean and a more affordable option to make yoga mats, it does more damage to the environment and your health than you might have thought as many consider PVC as one of the most toxic plastic available. PVC is already in a toxic form in the manufacturing process, it continues to be toxic to the consumer during use and toxic to the environment once disposed of.

PVC in your yoga mats can be dangerous to your health

Because of its toxic state, when we come into close contact with a PVC yoga mat, it is possible that through skin contact and inhalation that we absorb the toxic substances into our body.

Dioxons is another harmful chemical compound found in a PVC yoga mat which is a by-product of PVC yoga mats and it can cause problems with infertility, development and the immune system while also disrupting hormones and can lead to cancer. Our body doesn’t break down dioxins well, meaning that it builds up in our bodies.

Other toxic substances like Plasticizers are added to make it soft, flexible and possible for yoga use. As there a large quantity of phthalates used as plasticizers, and phthalates have been linked to birth defects, asthma, neurodevelopmental issues in newborns, fertility problems, obesity and cancer.

This is frightening as our yoga mat is where we come into constant contact during asana and breathing exercises (pranayama), so you are intensely breathing in harmful fumes while practicing yoga.

It is hard to believe and the worst part is that most people don’t know that the mat they’re using can be so harmful.

Erthe Life’s Natural Cork Yoga Mats are sustainably sourced and free from PVC

Unlike conventional yoga mat manufacturers, Erthe Life’s All-Natural Cork Yoga Mat and Block are made with 100% sustainable materials. Each Cork Yoga Mat and Block are made with sustainable cork backed with natural tree rubber. Cork is an amazing sustainable resource as we strip and treat the bark organically and naturally without a single Cork Oak Tree being cut down. Without PVC and the toxic rubbery smell, we believe the natural cork scent and texture will make you feel more connected with your mind and body during your yoga practice.

The latest version of our Cork Yoga Mats comes with a complimentary eco-friendly carry strap made from natural jute. The perfect way to carry your yoga mat and also be used during your practice.

100% Biodegradable, 100% Eco-friendly, 100% Plant-based

Check out our latest #plasticfree Yoga Collection