During the design process for our MÄTi Pro Yoga Mat for adults, we noticed something: there is a startling lack of high-performance yoga mats for children. While yes, you’ll find plenty of simple mats for sale in vibrant patterns and garish colours, these mats haven’t been designed with real benefits for kids in mind. They’re thin, flimsy, and overall distracting; they’re a novelty item, not really intended to properly support young children.

We spotted this issue and decided we would be the ones to provide a solution for parents seeking quality and purpose in a child’s yoga mat.

Say hello to the MÄTi Junior Yoga Mat, created to help children truly experience the benefits of yoga and calm. Let us introduce you to the mat, our inspiration, and why we believe it is the best choice for your children.

Our inspiration

Upon seeing how few kids’ mats were designed to support children’s movements, we got to work creating our own. We were inspired by the need for a high-quality junior mat, as well as the benefits yoga and mindfulness at a young age can bring.

To name just a few benefits, starting yoga and mindfulness as a child can help to: 

• Improve focus

• Promote mindfulness

• Develop motor skills

• Enhance well-being

• Improve memory

• Boost school performance

• Build strength

• Encourage self-regulation

This is why it is so important to give your child their own space to learn how to slow down and reconnect with themselves. They’ll learn how to check in with their own emotions to better understand and navigate them, and how to advocate for themselves when they’re feeling a certain way and need a moment of calm. Physically, yoga will help improve their motor skills, balance, flexibility, and even strength, helping to keep their growing bodies healthy. Memory and school performance have been known to improve in children who practice yoga and meditation, too, as the rhythm of movement and calming of the mind support focus and concentration.

There are so many advantages to children practising yoga that we knew we had to offer our expertise to support it. We did this through the design and creation of the MÄTi Junior Yoga Mat, which we know your child will truly love.

Small mat, big moments of calm

Life can be a lot for little minds. There’s always something going on, from busy school days to the often hectic hours between home and bedtime. This is why it is so important that children be given the opportunity to take some time and find moments of calm.

Their very own soft, comfy yoga mat can become a place of refuge amongst the hustle and bustle of being a child. Giving them their own mat to sit or lie down on when they’re feeling overstimulated teaches them the powerful lesson of self-regulation. They choose when they need a moment of calm and quiet, and learn to seek those moments out when they’re feeling too much. This is incredibly important for a child’s development and a wonderful way to improve their understanding and appreciation of mindfulness.

Designed for focus, not overstimulation

When looking for yoga mats for our young daughter, Maya, we were faced with overly bright colours and dizzying patterns again and again. How are yoga and mindful moments supposed to benefit your child if they’re too distracted or overstimulated by smiling ice creams or colourful dinosaurs? While we admit that these patterns are often cute, they are simply not conducive to focus and calm. 

This is why we decided on just two colour choices: dark blue and purple. Gender-neutral and without distracting pictures and prints, these shades were chosen to support moments of peace as well as provide a clutter-free visual when they practice their movements.

Soft support for your little yogi

Because of our unwavering dedication to this product and its benefits, there was simply no way we were going to choose anything less than the best materials for our children’s mats. Young yogis deserve a mat made of materials that support their wild limbs and growing bodies, so we chose to have the kids' mats made of the very same materials as our professional adult MÄTi yoga mats.

The mat is made from ethically sourced natural rubber to create a soft and springy base for little hands and feet. Natural rubber has a very high density, making it perfect for cushioning their joints while they practice and softening the fall should they take a tumble. On top of the rubber is a layer of PU, which both protects the rubber and provides a super-grippy surface. This means no slipping on the material and a good tacky grip when balancing. 

The MÄTi Junior Yoga Mat is available now

If your child has expressed a desire to be just like you and practice yoga, or you think they’d benefit from moments of calm in their very own designated space, then it’s time to discover our new MÄTi Junior Yoga Mat. 

Designed entirely with children in mind, this mat is set to be their new best friend through explorative movements and moments of calm, always there when they need it for some quiet time.

We hope your kids love their mat as much as our own little yogi, Maya, does.

Carlie and Adi

Maya Shanti Yoga founders