Plank Yoga Mats: Review & Giveaway!

~* This giveaway is now close. Thank you to Plank and everyone who participated! *~

Welcome to the new era of yoga!

Who says every yoga session has to be a quiet, introspective -- or worse -- boring one? Definitely not Doreen Hing, designer of the fun and stylish Plank (TM) yoga mats and accessories. Hing believes that, "Yoga first and foremost can be useful, fun, creative and achievable for those real people with busy lives ~ no matter their passion."

Fueled by her love of fashion, art, design and her belief in conscious consumerism, Hing designed a series of Gripping Art Yoga Mats (pictured above) that combine high quality photography with a functional, gripping mat. She also has a fabulous line of accessories.

Plank loaned me a mat to try out for this review and, while I was hoping for the one that resembles a wooden plank, I received the also tongue-in-cheek "spilled pills" mat. At first I felt like I was doing yoga on a crack house bathroom floor, but the more I used it, the more it made me laugh. It also eerily reflects the colorful chaos of my house. Doing yoga on a mat like this seems fitting when you have three kids doing laps around you screaming "Look Mom! I can do exercises too! Feel my muscles!"

{Yoga on my deck...best start to the day!}

Here are some thoughts I had about the mat~

Length - Plank mats are nice and long. At 5'9" I'm not abnormally tall by any means, but mat length always seems to be a issue for me. Maybe it's because I've always used a cheap Target brand mat?

Feel - Enough cushion to be comfortable on the knees, spine and so on, but firm enough hold a pose without any balance issues.

Slip factor - I found this to be slightly better than other mats. My hands and feet tend to get a little sweaty during a more intense session, but I didn't find myself slipping or sliding any more than I normally would. For some of my less intense sessions I had no slimey slippage. The mat itself didn't slip on my hardwood floors at all, which made me very happy! I seem to jump forward a bit reluctantly, causing my mats to bunch up at times. I'm working on that...

Environmental aspect - The mats are made from eco-friendly, natural rubber, plus 10% recycled content.

To me, the best thing about the Plank mats was the reminder not to take yourself, or your yoga practice, too seriously -- at least not all of the time.

So you're probably wondering, "How do I get my hands {and feet} on one of these rad mats?"

First, you can WIN the Cobra Luxe Yoga Mat right here at My So Called Green Life. Hooray! Just leave a comment below. Unless we're BFFs, please make sure I have a way to get in touch with you, or be sure to check back next Wednesday, August 17th to see if you've won. You'll have one week to claim your prize, then I'll have to pick another name.

You can score additional chances to win by becoming a follower of this blog {I love new friends!}, or by sharing this post on Twitter (cc: @cmkellie) or Facebook. Leave me a separate comment for each that you do so I can reward you accordingly.

I wish I could give each and ever reader a Plant yoga mat but, if you don't win, you can visit the Plank website to purchase mats and accessories. Click on Get Connected to sign up for their newsletter and they'll give you a super secret 10% off code right then and there to use on your purchase. While you're there, check out Plank's Summer Blowout Sale where prices start at 60% off! {Christmas and Hanukkah are only 4 months away!}

Good luck & Namaste!