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What Makes Liforme a Super Mat? Is it worth $240?

What Makes Liforme a Super Mat? Is it worth $240?

What’s a good mat? It must have grip, good cushioning, and priced reasonably.
What’s a great mat? A great mat is a good mat, and it’s good looking too.

So what’s a SUPER mat?
It’s got to be a great mat, with strong eco-sensibilities, and addresses issues we never really thought about. It’s also a mat that when you use it, you don’t think about it- it’s just… there.

That’s easier said than done! The moment we step onto a mat, we get into our zone, and ideally we don’t fall out of it. But how many times have we practised halfway, and had to interrupt our flow to quickly wipe the sweat off the mat? Our down dog’s getting longer because the hands are sliiiiiiding forward… Or we had to pause and look at the hands & feet: are they where they’re supposed to be?

We brought in Liforme (pronounced ‘Lie-form’, silent ‘e’) at the beginning of 2017, wondering if maybe this could be the mat we’ve all been waiting for.

AlignForMe Helps With Your Asana Practice

The first thing that caught our eye are the alignment markings. They are so distinctive! Yet elegant & clean. These proprietary markings are there for a reason- to guide where you put your hands and feet. For Iyengar practitioners, this is especially helpful. Right alignment means we get the maximum benefit out of the asanas, as it was intended. AlignForMe, it’s called!

Wider & Longer

And when we stepped onto the mat: it was wider, & longer than what we’re used to in studios. We don’t think about this usually, but when we practice, it subconsciously limits our movements. For example, when we’re in down dog, and we step our right foot to the outside of our right hand, into a lizard lunge, that foot is always halfway off the mat *ugh* & it’s immediately off-balance. On the Liforme mat, this didn’t happen because it was wide enough. We don’t have to re-adjust the hand inwards, so that there’s space for the foot. We just carry on with the practice. And it does make a difference.

The Sweatier, The Grippier

Whilst in that down dog, by the way, the other thing we realised quickly was that our hands and feet weren’t sliding apart. They have a patented GripForMe technology. The mat is sticky! The sweat dripping from our face wasn’t puddling anywhere; it was being absorbed by the mat (it wasn’t smelly either, after that!). The nice thing is also that whilst it’s grippy, there is also some ‘give’- some room to slide just a little, where needed.

Why Do We Like It?

This mat is way more than simply functional. From start to end of practice, nothing about the mat distracts. Which is an awesome thing, it allows us to focus on other stuff, like keeping our ujjayi breath, engaging the core, reaching up whilst grounding down…

We love these features. We love more the fact that they put a lot of thought into the making of the mat (“By yogis, for yogis”). It was heartening to read that Liforme was created to be eco-friendly, but at the same time balancing functionality. The AlignForMe markings aren’t printed on with chemical inks, for example- they’re lasered into the mat, cleanly & concisely, so there isn’t any residue, or footprint. Each mat has a sustainable natural rubber base, which offers cushioning. It’s topped with their patented ‘eco-polyurethane’ layer. Because rubber isn’t always the best grip (or hygiene, when all that sweat drips into it). And because this layer doesn’t just absorb sweat, it wicks it off (think ‘Dri-Fit’ technology).

And it’s Eco!

It sounded a bit too “un-eco” so we did some investigation, and found that most polyurethane is a non-biodegradable synthetic material, which requires toxic chemicals to manufacture. The Liforme version, however, is co-created with a company that responsibly recovers & re-uses these toxic solvents, and will also eventually break-down (not the same way natural materials will, but quicker than generic polyurethane). Hence the patent.

BIG Question: Is it Worth It?

By now, you’re probably thinking – there MUST be some downside to the mat?! There are probably 2.

First is the price. At sgd $240, it’s not a cheap mat (sgd $215 for the Travel version). But we’d say if you consider that it comes with a complimentary mat bag, it’s pretty good value (most mat bags cost upwards of sgd $50, some over sgd $100). And if you only use it 3x weekly, over 2 years, it works out to 77 cents each time (if you look after your mat, it’ll last you double that probably!).

Next is the fact that it’s rubber, so it will break down after some time (depending on your individual practice), and you have to replace it. And we're quite happy about this: because yay! We can get a new mat, in a new colour, to practice on!

Maybe we’re biased. Don’t trust us. Don’t believe us when we say it’s worth sgd $240. We say YOU are worth sgd $240. Come have a feel of the Liforme Yoga Mat & the Liforme Travel Mat at Touch The Toes inside The Green Collective Funan (unit 02-18).

Outstanding Feedback

Some customers believe it’s the best thing for your practice:

“The travel mat is the BEST mat I have ever used so far! Highly recommended to people who are looking for a new mat/ first mat purchase. I’d say forego the Manduka PRO or any other brand and just go straight to Liforme :) sure it is pricy but trust me, it’s worth every penny of it!

So far I’ve used it for ashtanga self-practice, advanced vinyasa flow class and bikram. I’m the super sweaty type and the mat works wonderfully!!! They really mean it when they highlight the ‘Grip For Me’ feature. I don’t need mat towel at all when I’m on a Liforme mat.

-Sidney Kuan

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