Find out what you need to begin yoga — these are our must-haves

Here, a woman is in plank pose on her yoga mat. — (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Yoga mats
Yoga blocks
Fitness trackers
Non-essentials
The bottom line

Yoga is now a popular form of exercise in the West, and one that doesn't need much equipment to get started. However, knowing exactly what you need to go to your first yoga class, or even to practice at home, can still feel overwhelming at the start — especially when there are so many yoga props you could buy. This is why we've put together our recommendations on what the must-haves are for a yoga beginner, and which items you can consider buying later.

One of the most obvious things you will need is one of the best yoga mats, but it can also help to have some yoga blocks to make the postures more accessible to you. As a beginner, you want to keep your practice simple, so using yoga blocks can be a real benefit.

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What to buy as a yoga beginner: Yoga mats

Yoga for back pain: Image shows person rolling yoga mat — A yoga mat is the number one essential to get for starting yoga. (Image credit: Getty)

While, technically, you could practice yoga on any floor, having one of the best yoga mats makes it much easier to hold postures like downward dog, as they provide extra grip. We don't know if you've ever tried doing downward dog on carpet, but it's definitely more of a workout!

One of the main things you'll need in a yoga mat, as a beginner or otherwise, is good grip. Alignment lines can also be helpful as you learn the postures and where to place your hands and feet. The alignment lines can help you find the right distance between hands and feet, but they are only there as a guide — it's important to listen to what feels best in your body.

Other than grip, you will also want to consider how much padding a yoga mat offers you. Anything between 4 and 6 millimeters should offer sufficient padding, but when you start yoga, you'll find your joints are more sensitive before they get used to the pressure placed on them in certain postures. Therefore, consider a thicker yoga mat or having a blanket nearby for postures where your joints are not as happy.

Here are our recommendations for the best yoga mats you can buy as a beginner.

While this is an expensive investment for someone new to yoga, the price of this yoga mat is worth it. Offering 6 mm of padding, which is comfortable for any sensitive joints, the Manduka Pro yoga mat offers adequate cushioning, great grip and generous width. Although the price tag doesn't suggest this mat is for beginners, if you were to buy this mat you would get many years of use out of it. Made from eco-friendly materials, you'll also be helping the planet in true yogi style. Although designed for yoga, you can also use this mat for other exercises as you need, making it multiple-purpose.

Even non-yogis may have heard of the Liforme yoga mats — like the Heathyoga mat, they have alignment lines to help guide you into postures with the right distance between your hands and feet. Unlike the Heathyoga mat, however, these are expensive mats. But, similarly to the Manduka Pro yoga mat, spending the extra money means you are getting long-lasting quality — rather than buying a mat and then needing to buy another one six months or a year later, investing in a Liforme mat will save you money in the long run. Other features of this mat are that it is 4.2 mm thick, sweat-resistant and made from eco-friendly materials, and that it offers superb grip.

What to buy as a yoga beginner: Yoga blocks

A picture of a young woman exercising using a yoga block — Yoga blocks can help to make postures more accessible for beginners. (Image credit: Getty Images)

For beginners to yoga, props are essential — your body will not be accustomed to the postures, and things will feel tight. Having props available will make your introduction to the practice easier. There are many forms of yoga props available for purchase, but we recommend starting with yoga blocks. These are versatile as you're able to use them for both seated and standing postures.

There are different types of yoga blocks available, so it's important to know the distinctions between them. While most yoga blocks are known as such, you can also get something called "yoga bricks." These are thicker than yoga blocks, which tend to be thinner and wider. Yoga bricks are great for standing postures to bring the floor closer to you, while yoga blocks are better suited for seated postures, especially if you have a pelvic tilt when sitting on the floor, which means it's hard for you to sit with a straight spine. Depending on your budget, you may want to get one of each. However, you can use either for both standing and seated postures if you're restricted by finances.

Another consideration is the material the yoga blocks are made out of. You can get yoga blocks and bricks made out of cork or EVA foam — both offer good support, so it's really down to personal preference and the impact on the environment, with cork being the more eco-friendly option.

Here are our top recommendations for yoga blocks.

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What to buy as a yoga beginner: Fitness trackers

track a workout using a fitness tracker — Fitness trackers can help those new to yoga work out how it impacts their health and wellbeing. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Some of the best fitness trackers can be used to track your yoga practice. As a beginner, you may be more interested than an experienced yogi in understanding how yoga is impacting your fitness. With a fitness tracker, you can track how many sessions a week you are doing, how long you are practicing for in each session, your heart rate throughout yoga classes and calories burned. This can give you an idea of how yoga is helping your fitness journey and the impact it might be having on your overall health.

While some fitness trackers can be really expensive, you can also track your yoga classes with one of the best budget fitness trackers. In fact, we can recommend the Motorola Moto Watch Fit as the best fitness tracker for yoga.

If you're looking for a fitness tracker for other exercise and not just yoga, you may want to invest in one of the best Garmin watches, where you will get a lot for your money.

Here are our favorite fitness trackers for tracking your yoga practice.

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For those wanting a fitness tracker for more than just yoga, the Garmin Vivoactive 6 is a good choice. While more expensive than our other picks, we voted it as the best fitness tracker for beginners thanks to its reliability and beginner-friendly features. It has animated workouts and guided walks to help your fitness journey. We also noted that it's sleek and lightweight on the wrist — ideal for yoga as you don't want anything too distracting, or bulky buttons that you can accidentally knock when your wrists are bent.

What not to buy as a yoga beginner (right away)

A young woman stretching her leg with a rubber band — There are plenty of yoga props you could buy to help your practice. (Image credit: Getty Images)

It may feel like you need a lot of equipment to be able to practice yoga, but in reality you can get started on very little. We've outlined the must-haves you need to get started as a beginner, but as you develop a more regular practice, you may feel you need more props and items, which is a natural progression. This is where our list of non-essentials come in — you can buy them now or wait until you're more familiar with the practice.

Once you've been practicing for a while, you may want to consider specific yoga workout clothes, a yoga chair, a yoga bolster or even a yoga belt. While these are great to have, we would argue they are not essential for a beginner and can be bought over time. You can, of course, get them at the start of your yoga journey, but they are not necessary.

To start with, you can practice yoga in any comfortable workout gear, but in time, you may prefer to get some yoga pants. These are comfortable to wear and can help prevent your feet from slipping down your leg in balance postures like tree pose.

When it comes to other yoga props such as a yoga chair, yoga bolster and yoga belt, these can help you to explore the postures with added support and ease. While they are not must-haves for beginners (many postures can be adopted without the need for props), they can be useful once you've built up a regular practice to help you target areas in your body that feel resistant to the postures without the extra support.

For example, a yoga chair can help make some backbends or seated postures more accessible. A yoga bolster can help to relieve upper back discomfort in some more reclined backbends, or can be used to support you in postures like child pose. And a yoga belt can help make shoulder or hamstring stretches more accessible.

What to buy as a yoga beginner: The bottom line

Yoga is one exercise where you don't need a huge amount of equipment to get started, but as your practice develops, you may find you want to invest in more yoga props to help support your body and deepen your practice. We recommend starting with the basics and expanding your collection over time.

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Kat has a Master's degree in Psychology from the University of Glasgow, with her dissertation focusing on the impact of mental health and deprivation on connection with urban nature. She also has over 10 years of yoga teaching experience with further training in supporting injured students. She is qualified to teach Yin Yoga, Hormone Yoga Therapy and more traditional forms of Hatha yoga. Published in T3, Fit and Well, Tech Radar and Ekhart Yoga to name a few, she also has a certificate as a Yoga Therapy Practitioner. Kat previously worked with those impacted by severe mental illness.