If you practice yoga in the west, you have probably heard of Teeki or seen one of their yoga pants. Teeki is a company who makes cool (and unfortunately pricey) yoga pants made of recycled plastic bottle, with amazing design.When I’m in LA (where the company is from) i can’t walk in a yoga class without seing at least one person wearing a Teeki pant, and it sometimes includes me.
I mean for a yogini who likes wearing cool stuff (I know that we are supposed to be not attached to material things, and I really made a lot of progress on that point, but I’m still a work in progress in the yoga sutras world 😀), the idea of having nice pants made of recycled plastic bottles, it kind of makes you feel good.
I heard 6 months ago that they were working on a yoga mat. I have to say that i was not impressed by the idea, there are more and more yoga mats with cool designs, and I thought they were gonna be just one of them.
As a daily yoga practicionner and yoga teacher I’m a Manduka devotee. I know they are super heavy and it’s a bummer to walk around with them, but on the other hand they are the best.
When I saw the design of the Teeki’s (the one with the buffalo skull) it was love at first sight! When I saw the price I held back! More expensive than a regular Maduka eeew (110$). But after having a bad day I decided to indulge myself and order it. My alibi was (i always need an alibi lol) that I was traveling to LA for another teacher training with Shiva Rea, and that if i had it delivered there i wouldn’t have to travel with my heavy Manduka!
When I opened the package the first good surprise was that it comes with a little strap to tie it after you roll it and I really appreciate that. It’s a simple thing but it’s so useful!!! When I enrolled it I was in love again. It’s so pretty. The design is amazing. The material made me think of a tyre or something like that. But Teeki is a green brand so their mats are 100% green, made of tree rubber and shell powder (as a vegetarian I just pray that no animals were killed in that process, I need to investigate that).
I’m using it for 10 days now, every single day, many hours a day (I was doing a training with Shiva Rea and we were practicing sometimes 5/6 hours daily), and I have to say that I can’t wait to be back home and compare with my Manduka because I think it’s almost as good! Or may be better because the Eko Manduka is not as comfy. I use the Pro at home. The only thing is that the Manduka might be a little bit harder (but I need to try them both at the same time to be sure) which helps me for arm balances and inversions.
The + :
Very comfortable, the recycled material, the design, not slippery even the first days you use it except when you step on the design who’s in the middle, the little strap, hard and soft at the same time, not as heavy as a Manduka pro (but not super light either), it’s a wide mat.
The – :
The price, the smell the first days.
I seriously think that Teeki did an awesome job with their mats and I’m sure they will have many more designs to come! Good job!
Soon I will share with you my experience with my favorite brands of yoga pants! Stay tuned. Namaste
Cheyenne yoga 
Love the info… Thanks my Yogini…
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Thanks so much for your post! I’ve been looking at the mat for several months and I think I’m ready to pull the trigger. Do you still love your mat?
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I was a little bit disappointed because after 3 months of a non regular practice (I use it for my home practice, not in class) some holes are appearing on top (where my feet, and hands in DFD), so I wrote Teeki but they answered that it was a normal process since it’s all made of natural material!!! But for more than a 100$ you would expect thatiot stays in goog congition for more than 3 months right? They gave me a discount code for 50% on my next purchase tho, but it doesn’t change the fact that this mat is way to fragile for a 100$ mat. I hoped this helped, please feel free to contact me if you have other questions! Have a beautiful day!
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Wow that is a bit disappointing to say the least. I’m so grateful for your feedback. I was given the Liforme mat over Christmas 3 years ago and I love it. It’s still in tact but a little worn and less sticky so I’m looking for a new mat but I highly recommend the Liforme mat. I use it everyday including in heated classes. It’s also lighter than the Manduka 🙂 Hope you have a beautiful day as well!
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It’s funny you said that because I was thinking to buy it but it’s really overpriced, so Im gonna stick to Manduka. But if they become more reason,able I will probably think about it. Thank you!
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