How to Buy a Yoga Mat (Without Having a Panic Attack)

As a yoga teacher, one of the questions I get asked the most ( besides “do I have to be flexible to start yoga?”) is “what mat should I buy?”.
Back in the good old days, there wasn’t much choice — you had one size (small), style (purple) and material (PVC). It was a simpler time when yoga was only practised by skint hippies with humble tastes in church basements. But while…