Beginner - sweat, slipping in poses

[Labyrinthian]

I am an utterly useless beginner, not at all flexible, but 3 classes in and I really enjoy it. But because I'm a bit useless everything is so hard, I sweat a lot, and my feet especially keep slipping in downward dog and other poses. What do I do? Shoukd I wear socks? No one seems to put towels on their mats but would that work?

Thanks

yes to a yoga towel (long microfiber one).

A friend of mine uses climbers chalk. I think you can buy it on the web.

Just a small amount on hands and feet is helpful. She said it has transformed postures like downward facing dog which need a strong grip.

I use a lululemon yoga towel on top of my mat

I just use a small towel under my hands.

I used a small hand towel over the top bit of my mat when I was starting out - some yoga towels can actually be quite slippery so make sure you give it a try before you buy. If you want to invest then you can get proper non-slip mats - Lululemon have the best. They're expensive but I use mine every day so I think it was worth it!

Yes to the chalk. I find towels a pain as they just slip around when you move in other poses. And the little socks and gloves you can get grip to the mat but then your hands and feet slip inside them so defeats the purpose.

What mat are you using? Ironically I find it's usually either the insanely expansive mats (£100 crazy expensive) or the very cheap thin ones (£10 Argos/ tesco type thing) which are the most grippy. I recently got a lovely grippy one from Mountain Warehouse. A lot of midrange fancy branded ones that say they're very grippy are utterly useless. I spent £35 quid on a Giam one which is shocking. Also a lot depends on wearing the mat in - washing them improves grip. Bung it in the washing machine a few times.

I'm just using mats from the yoga studios, we are travelling for a few months, so I can't buy my own but all the places we visit I'm trying some classes and using the studio mats. Seems like the immediate solution is a microfibre towel, and I'll look into my own mat when I get home. Thanks so much everyone

When you do settle down and can buy a mat, I definitely recommend the Lululemon ones. They are magic. Whatever you do, however much you sweat, you can't slip on them even if you try.

Yoga shouldn't make you sweat. I wear socks because I get cold feet, but slipper socks might help.

"Yoga shouldn't make you sweat"

Um... what?

I must be doing it wrong then cause it certainly makes me sweat! And I've seen other people in class sweating for sure

MaybeI Im doing it wrong. More likely you are doing a different type of yoga to me. I do hatha yoga.

I persevered with studio mats for ages slipping and sliding before eventually buying a Jade Yoga mat. It's natural rubber and totally non slip. It's amazing. I tried out loads with my teacher one day (including pricier Manduka Black Mat Pro etc) and it was by far the best.

Nickname - Try an Ashtanga class one day and see if you sweat

Our gym only offers hatha yoga

If you live near a yoga studio, I would really recommend trying out a couple of different classes. It might very well turn out that you love Hatha the most, but I think the others are also worth a try.

I have friends who swear by Kundalini and Yin Yoga, but personally I find Vinyasa and Ashtanga the most fulfilling and invigorating.

I forgot to mention that I do pilates as well. I always feel that I have had a good workout after pilates, plus I cycle to and from the classes.

I doubt very much that there would be such a thing as a yoga studio that offers different variations of yoga where I live. This isn't London

I wear yoga socks, they're kinda like fingerless gloves but for feet, the toes are all seperate but the ends of the toes are open and the sole has rubber grippy stuff. I started because I had a fungal foot infection but quite like using them now. Have also used liquid chalk on hands before.