Coming to my mat is my favorite. The amount of energy I feel on this mat is almost like hugging a person. My mat has hugged me. It has absorbed fat, sweat and tears. My mat has been with me in more moments of transformation than any person that I know. It really does have a persona of its own.
While I know that my mat doesn’t have feelings and a personality, I wish it did. To say that I’m attached to my mat would be a lie but I have a closet full of mats. I have cloth mats, rubber mats and grip cloth mats. I always turn to my 1.8mm blue paisley mat. My advice to you is to find a mat that you can commit to.
Find a mat that is beautiful to you regardless of detachment. Just as relationships, there will be days that you don’t want to think of your mat. There will be days that you just want to stay as far away from it as possible. Regardless of my countless positive experiences, I have had my fair share of negative experiences or feelings on that mat as well.
I have hated people on that mat and fell in love with people on that mat all the same. A commitment to a mat is the same kind of commitment that you make to anything else. There will be days that you just don’t want to. There will be days that you have to drag your mat like a chain into the studio. Do it anyways.
After you and your mat are committed to your practice. Start introducing props into your routine. These make your practice fresh if you start to feel like you are stagnating. Wheels, blocks and straps are a great way to start.