Pass on the good yoga vibes to your pets; for the cat, cut a piece to put outside of the litter box so the litter comes off paws and doesn't go all over the house but also cushions little paws! If you use pet crates or carriers (for either cat or dog), the mat can also line the bottom of the crate/carrier so they don't slide around. It also gives padding & cushioning for their comfort!
Good luck finding your next mat!!

What about folding it a couple of times and then rolling it up to form a thicker rolled mat? It can then be taped up and used as a prop for activating the inner lines of the legs during ab exercises, etc. It can also be used in chest openers and more restorative-type poses.

My original plan was to bestow my old mat to recycleyourmat.com but if I were to get more creative… The first idea that came to mind was to use fun cookie cutter shapes to trace designs for beverage coasters. That might take up about 11% of the mat 🙂 The rest I would cut up to fit as drawer liners after spritzing with my favorite essential oils to make my clothes smell nice. Last piece would go in the shower as a barrier to prevent slips. Alas, now I can honor my mat in its after-life bed, bath & beyond!

~Christina

I keep my old mat in the back of my car. It comes in handy for lots of things, like when I take my kayak off the roof but don't want to put it directly on asphalt. Once you have yours stashed back there, you'll find a hundred uses for it.

I give my mat to a friend that hasn't tried yoga yet…tell them to keep it, try it out, and if (I mean when they become hooked 🙂 they can buy a new one and give their old one to the next person and get them addicted to yoga, and so on…paying it forward to share the wonderful experience of yoga with as many people as I can 🙂 Jessica

Whoo hoo! Congrats on the new mat! I still have my holey Jade mat in the closet…I can't quite unload it. I may put it back into use for kundalini since I use blankets on top of it anyway 🙂

Hope you and the bebe-ini are well ♥♥♥

I have two mats in my kitchen – in front of my sink, and in front of my stove. They slid around on the tile, but when I got my kitties that was the end. I would find them across the kitchen from the kitties running and sliding on the tiles! I cut up my old mat and put pieces under my kitchen mats. No more sliding, and now my kitchen mats have a bit more cushion to them.

I also used part outside my cats' box. One cat would pee on anything fabric, but he seems to be quite happy with the yoga mat. Yay!

I donated my old mat to my neighborhood gym (they offer a few yoga classes & also mat Pilates) so that people who wanted to try yoga but didn't have a mat would have one to use!

I'd recommend putting it in the back seat of your car for Penny to sit on during car rides! And, if you stop somewhere for an impromptu picnic, you have something to sit on!

Make a vision board! As an example of what you could do… Cut pieces of your mat into 6 mini-mats, each to represent a year that this mat has served you and your practice. You can combine this with photos over the six years as you have developed as a student of yoga or images that have inspired you. Even words. Then as a final touch you can then add a section for your future goals. Perhaps an honorary 7th mat for all of the coming years of practice. Vision boards are a great way to find perspective, motivation, direction, or about honouring something or someone; they can be whatever you need them to be! And they can look so nice too!

You could cut to use under a loose throw rug. or as mat to put wet or muddy shoes outside or in the garage. mine was thin enough to use as padding between dishes I wanted to store!