How to do Yoga with Sweaty Hands
Most yogis only worry about sweat when they’re hitting the mat for a hot yoga class. But others, myself included, find sweat sneaks in even with a gentle vinyasa flow. I always end up with sweaty palms and feet that have me slipping all over my mat. A firm grip with a sticky mat is essential for a safe yoga practice. Luckily there are a few different options to help you keep your grip even when your hands are slippery–and I’ve tried out all of them!
Antiperspirant Wipes
If your sweating is mild, you may be able to quell it with antiperspirant wipes. If you buy individually wrapped wipes, you can easily toss a few in your gym bag. I would apply them to my hands just before the beginning of class and it helped my hands stay “sticky” for the full hour. It does feel a bit weird on your hands and you need to reapply it before each practice. Eventually, I got sick of having to remember to wipe my hands before each class, but it did work to reduce my sweaty palms and feet, so it’s worth considering.
Hand Towel
If you’re not doing hot yoga, but just deal with extra sweaty palms, using a towel can help you maintain your grip. Try it out with a towel from around the house. A microfiber towel usually grips a yoga mat the best, but you could even try a simple bathroom hand towel. Once your hands start to feel slippery, lay the towel on your mat where you normally place your hands during down dog. The towel will help absorb your sweat while giving a “grippy” surface.
If you find a regular towel bunches up or slides too much, you can try a yoga hand towel. They’re made from absorbent microfiber to soak up your sweat. I’m a big fan of the
Yoga Mat Towel
If your whole body gets sweaty during hot yoga classes, or you find both your hands and feet slipping around your mat, a full yoga mat towel might work better for you. There’s a variety of options available at different price points, but a common feature among these larger towels is that they don’t become “grippy” until they’re wet. Many people will spray the towel with water before class to help it grip before they get sweaty. I really like how these towels will soak up any sweat that drips off your body. Once you find a towel you like, I recommend buying a few of them so you can easily toss them in the washing machine after class to clean them.
Check out the best yoga towels for sweaty hands to see my recommendations.
Yoga Gloves
If you’re just dealing with slippery hands and find that using a towel on top of your mat just creates more problems (nothing is more distracting than a towel bunching up under your hands!), yoga gloves are a great alternative. These fingerless gloves cover your palms and absorb sweat while you practice. I especially like the Gaiam Grippy Gloves because they have plastic-like grippy nubs on the pads to give you extra stickiness. They also make yoga socks to help with sweaty feet.
Mats for Hot Yoga and Sweaty Hands
If you don’t want to deal with extra accessories, your best bet to deal with your sweaty palms is a yoga mat made specifically for hot yoga and sweaty yogis. You’re going to want to consider either a mat made from real rubber or with a microfiber side. Rubber mats tend to be stickier even when they get a little wet. Microfiber mats get stickier the wetter they get–some yogis even spray them down with water before they start their practice. (I’ve also talked to yogis who recommend cork mats for sweaty hands, but I’m not a big fan of the texture.)
Check out the best yoga mats for sweaty hands and hot yoga for our favorites.
Improve your sweaty yoga practice with these yoga mats for sweaty hands and feets and yoga mat towels.
Learn how to break in a slippery Manduka yoga mat.