' Product Review: STILLMOTION Yoga Mat by Sequence (GIVEAWAY!) | Adventures with FitNyx

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Product Review: STILLMOTION Yoga Mat by Sequence (GIVEAWAY!)

In February, I stepped outside of my comfort zone to lead a yoga challenge.  It was a major learning experience that challenged me in a lot of different ways (including testing my ability to commit to a daily exercise), and I came out of it with a new perspective on yoga's place in my life.  Not only am I incorporating yoga into daily practice whenever possible, but I'm actually looking into becoming a yoga instructor!  That journey will be longer and even more revealing when the time comes, but that's a story for later.  Meanwhile, it's time to tell you all about the STILLMOTION yoga mat I got to play with during the challenge last month!


Disclaimer: I was provided a STILLMOTION mat free of charge by Sequence in exchange for my review, but I did not receive any other compensation nor am I affiliated with Sequence.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

The STILLMOTION mat is an interesting and uniquely designed bit of "technology" for the modern yogi.  Unlike other mats that have a layer (of varying thickness) of rubber or cloth to provide a place of practice, the STILLMOTION mat is composed of two layers: a soft, spongy outer layer for cushion and comfort, and a rubberized inner layer that provides additional cushion but also pokes through the top of the mat to provide additional gripping surfaces to increase stability.  Between the very plush outer layer and the thick but soft inner layer, this mat is incredibly comfortable!

Additionally, the rows of rubber grippies poking out have a secondary purpose: arranged in straight lines, this grid actually helps practitioners visualize better alignment in poses.  By providing a "ruler" of sorts, it is much easier to see where your hands and feet are in relation to each other when performing poses such as downward dog.  Proper alignment can help improve form - which not only multiplies the benefits of yoga, but also reduces the risk of injury from incorrect distribution of weight.


My experience with the STILLMOTION mat has been a little more diverse than intended.  Of course, I use it for yoga, and it's my go-to mat now.  I LOVE the cushion, especially for seated poses - I've broken my tailbone a couple times, and there's not much you can do to "reset" it, so seated exercises have been a unique challenge for many years.  This mat helps eliminate the pain from rolling over the injury; the cushion also helps my poor knees that have chronically struggled with less plush mats.

I also found the mat to stay put nicely.  My initial reaction was that since the rubber was on the TOP but not on the bottom of the mat, I'd have better stability in poses but the mat itself would slide all over the floor.  This was delightfully not so, even on slick gym floors.  The mat didn't slide, nor did it stretch out with tension.  As for the hand and foot grip - I'm not entirely sure it's much better than my old mat for stability until you get sweaty.  The rubber seems to be activated by moisture, at least in my experience with the mat.  Once my palms had a bit of a sheen worked up, I was much better able to feel the grip of the exposed rubber spots.  I definitely found the alignment grid useful, though my flexibility still has a long way to go before I'm actually "properly aligned"!


Beyond yoga, however, I found this mat to have even more benefits.  I teach boot camp classes, and we always end with ab exercises, which usually benefit from some cushioning between my students and the very hard, often dirty, gym floor - so I started bringing the STILLMOTION mat for demoing exercises.  I found the cushioning to be more than adequate for a wide variety of exercises, while also absorbing the sweat of a tough workout to minimize slipping.  Using a basic yoga mat cleaner, I've been able to keep away any noticeable odor (so far), but I have noticed I scuff the mat a lot more during boot camps than I do practicing yoga.  At home, we've had to pull up most of our carpeting while we house-break our puppy, so the STILLMOTION mat has been pulling extra duty for stretching and at-home exercises as well.

Overall, I find the thickness of the mat and the no-slip bottom to be the biggest pros of this yoga mat: having the cushion and the stability makes it even more versatile.  If I had to pick a con, it would have to be bulkiness!  Because of the rubberized core, the mat doesn't roll up as nicely as other mats; instead it has to be rolled more loosely to prevent creasing, so it doesn't fit into many standard yoga mat bags, and straps tend to be too tight (leaving imprints along the surface).  Fortunately, Sequence provides a mesh bag with every mat, which is more than ample to fit the rolled mat - but it still takes up a LOT of space!


Here's the best part: as always, I love being able to put products I enjoyed into the hands of my readers, and Sequence has agreed to give away a STILLMOTION yoga mat to a lucky reader!  You can enter using the Rafflecopter below.  Winner must be able to provide a valid shipping address and phone number.  Giveaway ends 4/10/2015 at 11:59PM.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


How has yoga helped change your life?  Do you practice daily?  What kinds of challenges have you faced during your practice?

53 comments:

  1. I've never tried yoga. I always thought you had to be slim to do it, but I recently saw an article about plus size women and yoga, while showing them in various yoga poses. My gym offers classes and I will try one.

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    1. Yes! You should give it a try! I always thought yoga was for flexible people (and I am NOT AT ALL) but once I learned more about the variety of poses and flows, and how yoga is meant to be about your relationship to your body instead of how long you can hold a headstand, I developed a much deeper appreciation for it. GOOD LUCK!

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  2. I've been loving yoga lately. I would love to win this mat!

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  3. I am not flexible due to a million years of running and my right ankle has limited mobility which makes some poses tough!

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    1. Ugh flexibility is such a tough issue with yoga. But we do what we can!

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  4. I was really into yoga for a few years and want to get back into it. Great giveaway!

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  5. Rug burn from not being able to find my mat! LOL

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    1. This one is big enough that you'll never have that problem again ;)

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  6. Balance and focus are always challenging for me!

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  7. My hands and feet get sweaty and then they slip

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  8. I'd love to master a headstand this year.

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  9. My hands slip and sometimes my knee hurts when I am kneeling on the ground in certain poses.

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  10. My biggest challenge in yoga is accepting that I'm not going to be "the best" at every pose. It's one thing to challenge yourself, but sometimes I need to accept my limits even if someone around me is more flexible or able to do certain binds that I cannot.

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    1. Definitely a tough one. My very first yoga class, I got so down on myself for not instantly being good at a fitness class (I'm an athlete, it should be natural, right?) and actually left in tears. Once I realized that yoga isn't about being the best, and accepted that it's called "practice" for a reason, I learned very quickly to love yoga!

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  11. I have a chronic illness that has limited my mobility and changed my life completely, so my biggest challenge in doing yoga now is lack of flexibility and tightness in my muscles. Standing and changing positions is also tough on me when I'm on a thin mat or hard floor.

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    1. Hard flooring is a challenge even for healthy joints, it's even worse if you're not in top shape. I'm sorry to hear you have to deal with that, hopefully you will find the right balance. *hugs*

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  12. I have chronic shoulder dislocations from an injury 3 years ago. So some of the poses I can do or do completely and I can't stretch my arm overhead.

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    1. That's gotta be frustrating. I had shoulder issues for a long time, but I've slowly built up some strength - but it's been a hard battle, and the limitations are very real. I hope you can eventually recover. *hugs*

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  13. Interesting! I've never heard of a mat like this before! I'm very curious to see how it would work. I've never encountered problems sliding, but do agree that yoga mats in boot camps, ab classes, etc. are always difficult! Sounds like it would be perfect for that! :D (And kicking up into handstands!)

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    1. Yeah, Sequence has come up with a very unique product here! It's been so nice to have the extra cushion and soft feel under my hands and feet, way better than the generic rubber mats!

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  14. My challenge is just finding yoga classes that fit into my crazy running schedule.

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    1. I would recommend doyogawithme.com for a great selection of videos - you can search by length, type, level, or theme. I've been using it for a while now to continue my practice in my own crazy schedule. Good luck!

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  15. My hips are really tight so I struggle opening them. I also have huge balance issues.

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  16. I have only ever taken hot yoga classes - and loooove it! This mat sounds fabulous, and I'd love to give it a try! =)

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  17. I'm not as flexible as I wish, nor do I have the core strength that I'd like!

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  18. I love my yoga. It goes perfectly with running. My biggest challenge has got to be the balancing poses.

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  19. I think my main issue is that I just don't do it often enough!!

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  20. Slipping is definitely an issue I run into. Would love to try this mat!

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  21. I still have troubles keeping my balance!

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  22. I haven't been big into yoga before. I have a hard time being "still". I have heard how good it would be for me - with fitness, helping with my bipolar, anxiety, etc - so I am really looking to give it a try. This yoga mat looks awesome!

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    1. Not all yoga is about being "still" - in fact, I've found most classes to really focus on flow over holding single poses. You may have to try a couple different classes or instructors, but you'd be surprised how much variety there is in the yoga world, you can probably find something that suits you :)

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  23. I have frozen shoulder so I cannot do many of the extensions with my arm

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  24. My biggest challenge is getting started =/

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  25. I had a double mastectomy with reconstruction using my latissimus dorsi (back muscles) so my upper body strength is very weak. I hate the downward dog position Rosanne rosans4@comcast.net

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  26. I'm not very flexible and I have issues with my right hip so I deal with these issues every time I do yoga.

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  27. I always have trouble deciding to do yoga vs a cardio workout!

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    1. Combine them, and make up your own "flow" - maybe add rock climbers in during plank pose, or high knees before you settle into tree pose, little things like that. Get creative!

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  28. Being able to stay still and meditate during yoga is hard because I want to move and sweat. I think being more patient will help.

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    1. There are plenty of yoga classes that don't focus on stillness and instead develop flows. You can definitely work up a sweat and get the heart rate up, but you might have to try a couple different instructors or styles to find your niche!

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  29. My "hardest" thing is how do you learn new poses? In class I feel like it's "if you know how to do x pose do it, if not try this modification" which makes sense, but I also don't want to try it at home because I don't know what I'm doing...other than that I really enjoy yoga and really do not mind being that person who is falling over because I'm going out on a limb...

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    1. Check out some online resources, or other classes and instructors. I struggled to comprehend some of the intermediate or advanced poses because my original instructor simply didn't explain it in a way that made sense. I found a new instructor who just "clicked" with me, and I was able to figure out the right motion. If you can't make it to a variety of classes to find the right one, try online. I love doyogawithme.com for their great videos. They have lots of instructors posting too, so if one doesn't speak to you, try another :)

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  30. Always wanted to try yoga-this will motivate me!

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  31. I'm not very flexible but I still try. I feel like I'm getting better every class. My knees aren't very strong but my instructor is really great at modifications.

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  32. I always end up a touch too sweaty, so my hands end up slipping all over the place! But I love vinyasa flow - just the right amount of movement to keep me engaged while doing lots of good stretching and strengthening.

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    1. This mat will definitely help with the sweaty slipping!

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  33. I am working on my flexibility I am proud of how far I have came from very being able to bend and touch my knees to know being able to grab my ankles

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  34. I seem to wander off my mat.

    rtrexel@gmail.com

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  35. One of you biggest challenge is that I get muscle spasms in my calves from certain poses. It got so bad that years ago, I had to give up practicing all together,

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