I am finally home, after three weeks exploring southern California with baby and husband in tow. The idea was to get away from the spring rain here in the northwest which has actually felt more like November rain recently; and to get in some yoga classes from some of my favourite teachers, oh yes and surf too.

One thing I didn’t count on however, was the added amount of luggage we had in tow, given our now three month old babe – half his bag really consisted of cloth diapers :-). And in the rush of leaving, I forgot to stuff my yoga mat into my suitcase and so I arrived in the Yoga-land of Venice, California; sans a mat to practice on. So instead of borrowing my husbands mat – he was with it enough to bring one – I put my new eQua yoga mat/towel that Manduka recently sent over, to use.

I’m a minimalist with my yoga practice, a mat and yoga strap is all I keep handy. Yet here was a microfibre towel with a difference, it contained yarn made from natural coconut fibre, with activated carbon to wick away moisture and bacteria.

So I tested it out, without reading the directions of use of course. This wasn’t such a great idea, as the mat towel is slippery when dry. You actually have to spray it gently with water to get a good, grippy feel. It worked fine on the floor, but was better on a carpet – I understand why hot yoga folks like these microfibre towels. And I do think it is a good travel prop, especially for the germophobes – to have your own cover to use on studio mats. It definitely works best when layered atop a mat and during a vigorous practice with some hand balances, I found that my palms did not get sweaty. So while I always tell students to root more with their hands, I would say this towel definitely can help. .

The towel comes in a few fun colours, I chose a pretty dusky pink, there’s also a beige and blue available.

eQua Plus towel @ Manduka: US$48
www.manduka.com