Yoga Mat Straps Are the Hands-Free Prop You Need

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I transported my yoga mat in a carrying strap for years. Slipping each loop around my rolled up mat was a welcome alternative to lugging it around with my hands or cumbersomely shoving it into a mat bag. Never (not once!) did it occur to me that my mat strap could be used to relieve stress from my keyboard-weary hands and wrists in class. That is, until I acted on advice from a yoga teacher whose student practices with one.

Equipped with the Mat Strap Plus, which is kinda like two giant hair scrunchies attached to each other by a rope made of hair-scrunchie material, I tested Reclining-Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose on my yoga mat at home. The experience made me realize I’d been doing the pose wrong for the 12 years I’ve practiced yoga. (I know, I know, we try to avoid calling things like “wrong” in yoga. But I was jerking my shoulder forward from its socket, lifting my lifted leg’s hip toward the ceiling, and cramping my hand trying to keep hold of my sweaty foot, all while sipping shallow stutters of air in between flecks of pain. So, yeah, I’d say wrong.)

By slipping my hands through the loops of my mat strap, I was able to hold onto the giant scrunchies during the stretch. This allowed for better grip and zero strain on my hands and wrists—unlike with typical straps, where my hands often clench way too tightly to keep from sliding. I could even push the scrunchies further up and over my forearms to give my hands and wrists a break altogether.

Suddenly, I could rest my shoulder blades against the mat, level my hips, and maintain the lift of my leg by pressing my foot into the strap. Plus, I could lower my lifted leg away from my face instead of pretending that I could comfortably grasp my toes in that position. (I can’t.)

Yoga mat straps actually work better than regular straps. And if I wasn’t so happy about this revelation, I would be angry that no one had told me this sooner.

Using Yoga Mat Straps to Relieve Hands and Wrists

Unlike the typical yoga straps you borrow at your studio, a mat carrying strap typically has (at least) two loops on either end that offer more traction. “A student can place each hand through the loops of the strap and use their forearms as leverage. Also, you can wrap the loop ends of a strap around the palms, distributing pressure to the whole hand and relying less on grip strength,” says Lori Brandt, sports medicine therapist and yoga teacher.

This can benefit students who experience grip strength issues, arthritis, carpal tunnel, tendon or ligament injuries to the elbow, wrist, or hand, even cervical spine conditions resulting in hand weakness, says Brandt.

Poses in which Brandt finds the yoga mat strap loops particularly helpful to take the pressure off her hands and wrists include:

Like other yoga straps, mat carrying straps also support better alignment. That way you can feel the stretch where you’re supposed to—minus the struggle.

“If we can reach the foot without compromising anatomical alignment, we’re able to gain benefit from the pose without causing more strain somewhere else,” says Denver Clark, yoga teacher and founder/director of the Embodied Yoga Institute in Bradenton, Florida.

Types of Yoga Mat Carrying Straps

Brandt recommends mat straps that have multiple loops and not just one on each end, especially for anyone with upper body injuries.

“The lower the loop, the more leverage you get to take strain off the cervical spine and shoulders,” Brandt explains.  She mentions the Stretch Out Strap as an example.

Though I’m pleased with my Mat Strap Plus, it does tend to slide down to my wrists when I attempt to wrap the loops around my forearms in Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe, for example.

I do love the Mat Strap Plus’s stretchiness; it seems to double its size when fully extended. And the scrunched fabric allows for better grip than I’ve experienced with non-scrunchie polyester straps. On the other hand, a lot of non-scrunchie fabric straps have adjustable loops, which you can use to tighten the hold around your hands. (The Mat Strap Plus loops aren’t adjustable.)

Safety Considerations

A yoga mat strap can help you come into a pose more safely. Still, as with any type of strap, there are best practices to keep in mind.

• Slippage “People need to be mindful that the strap is secure around their foot so it doesn’t slip off,” says Brandt.
• Risk of Overstretching There may be a tendency to use the leverage of a strap to push your body more deeply into a stretch, so be mindful of not overstretching, explains Brant.
• Risk of Strain “I like to remind my students, ‘A strap is not a torture device,’ meaning we need to hold it gently to avoid adding strain in the forearms,” says Clark.

As for me, using a yoga mat strap in various poses reminds me that there’s a lot more room than I previously thought to feel comfortable and supported, a lesson I suspect applies to life off the mat, too.