Can We Do Yoga On Bare Floor

by M Choudhary
(Thane, India)

Why yoga should not be practiced on bare floor?


Answer

It is not advisable to practice yoga on bare floor. Always use a good quality yoga mat for doing yoga. You may do yoga by spreading your mat on concrete or wooden floor in your room or on grass bed in your well maintained green lawn.

Your yoga mat must make you comfortable while sitting, lying down or when doing advanced poses like chakarasana. Here are few reasons why yoga should not be practiced on bare floor.

Comfort While Doing Yoga
1. You must be absolutely comfortable when doing yoga. If you try to practice on a hard surface, such as concrete or wooden floor there will be no cushioning for your body parts. Body parts coming in contact with the hard floor will not let you concentrate while doing an asana. Yoga mats provide the required cushioning and thermal isolation between you and the cold floor. A good mat provides the much needed cushioning if you want to sit for long time in any sitting pose for meditation.

2. The mat should not be too thick that you do not feel the leveled floor, but is must be slightly thick so as to provide the necessary cushioning.

Energy Leakage
2. A cold and hard floor will make you uncomfortable and you cannot concentrate on your yoga practice. The hard floor does not provide any breathing space and any sweat from the body make your clothes sticky and uncomfortable. A yoga mat provides you insulation from the cold floor and also ensures that your body's energy is not leaked to the ground.

Improving Balance And Co-ordination.
3. Bare floor can prove to be slippery. A sticky yoga mat is ideal as it does not slip when you are doing yoga. The mat will help in improving balance and coordination. This will help you to maintain balance in various yoga poses by keeping hands and feet firmly in position.

Hygienic Considerations
4. Yoga practice lays stress on cleanliness and good personal hygiene. A clean mat will reduce any possibility of exposure to germs, bacterial or fungal infections as it avoids contact with ground or bare floor. It is advisable not to share mats for hygiene reasons.

5. A yoga mat earmarks your personal space for doing yoga.

Wishing you healthy yoga practice.

Namaste
Daljit