The Best Yoga Gear for Practicing at Home, According to Experts and Testing

When it comes to easy and low-impact workouts, yoga is hard to beat. The practice boasts plenty of health benefits, from improving strength and flexibility to relieving stress—and it’s so accessible and easy to do at home, too.

“Yoga has many physical and mental benefits,” says Kenta Seki, a celebrity health and fitness coach and certified yoga instructor. “It builds strength, flexibility, and balance at the same time. It improves mobility and posture, supports joint health, and helps with recovery from harder training. The breathwork involved can also help calm your nervous system, lower stress, and improve sleep.”

Meet the Experts: Kenta Seki, celebrity health and fitness coach and certified yoga instructor, and Sara Koehl, P.T., D.P.T., a physical therapist and yoga therapist at WAVE Physical Therapy.

Sara Koehl, P.T., D.P.T., a physical therapist and yoga therapist at WAVE Physical Therapy, also highly recommends yoga in her practice for its many benefits. “As a physical therapist, I love yoga because it gives you so much bang for your buck. So much of what I treat can be helped with yoga: strength, mobility, balance, and nervous system regulation,” she says. “[It’s] my personal favorite type of exercise because you can do it at home.”

In fact, you can easily create a yoga setup at home with a few basic pieces of equipment. “Yoga is one of the easiest activities to do at home. All you need is a little floor space and a mat if you like,” notes Seki. “Blocks and a strap are a great next step because they make poses more accessible and help you get into better alignment.”

To help you get started with practicing yoga at home, we rounded up all the best yoga gear, apparel, and accessories, as recommended by experts and tested and loved by our own editors here at Prevention. Ahead, find all the best yoga essentials for your next at-home flow, from mats and blocks to straps, bolsters, and more.

A comfortable yoga mat is one of the most basic essentials for practicing yoga at home. When it comes to choosing one, “grip is one of the most important things to look for,” says Koehl. “You want just a little cushion—too much and it becomes harder to keep your balance. Also consider the surface you’ll be practicing on. If you’re doing yoga on carpet, you don’t need as much cushion as you would practicing on hardwood.” Seki generally recommends mats with a thickness of 4-6mm, which he says is “the sweet spot for cushion and stability.”

One popular best-seller is Lululemon’s The Mat, a personal favorite that I’ve recently tested and love for its grippy, non-slip, and comfortable surface—it comes recommended by Koehl, too, who says “its ability to soak up sweat while maintaining grip” is especially great for hot yoga. Seki also likes Manduka’s best-selling mats, noting that they are “dense, supportive, and lasts for years, and the grip gets better the more you use it.” And if you’re looking for a more affordable pick, Gaiam’s Yoga Mat is a “good budget option” and “perfect if you’re just starting out and want to try yoga without a big investment,” Seki says.

Beyond a yoga mat, a set of yoga blocks is a useful addition to your at-home setup. “Blocks bring the floor closer so you can keep good alignment in poses like triangle and half moon,” explains Seki. “They can also make things harder—for example, standing on a block instead of the ground for a balance activity,” adds Koehl.

Yoga blocks typically come in foam or cork material: Foam yoga blocks are lightweight and soft, making them ideal for beginners, while blocks made of cork are denser and heavier, offering greater stability and grip.

Amazon’s current number one best-seller is Gaiam’s foam yoga blocks, which Seki notes are “affordable and easy to find.” He also recommends Manduka’s foam blocks as they’re “lightweight, firm, and soft enough on your hands.” Manduka also offers a cork option that I’ve tried myself at my yoga classes—I’ve found them to be really sturdy and stable, while still feeling soft and comfortable on my hands in various poses. Another great cork option that Seki recommends is Hugger Mugger’s cork yoga blocks. “[They’re] heavier and more stable than foam, with great grip,” he says.

A yoga strap is another helpful addition to your at-home setup. These nonelastic bands can help you reach and extend more comfortably in stretches, maintain alignment, and improve flexibility. “Straps extend your reach for hamstring and shoulder stretches so you’re not forcing range,” explains Seki.

Both Seki and Koehl recommend straps from Gaiam, which come in 6- or 8-ft options. “[They’re] budget-friendly and quick to adjust—perfect for beginners,” Seki notes. He also recommends the Hugger Mugger Cotton D-Ring Strap as it’s “simple, durable, and easy to adjust”—plus, it also comes in three different length options. Another popular pick is Manduka’s Align Yoga Strap.

“Cushions, blankets, and bolsters add support and comfort—they elevate your hips for seated work, cushion your knees, and let you fully relax in restorative poses,” Seki explains. “[They] are commonly used for more passive, relaxation-focused postures to add comfort,” adds Koehl.

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When it comes to finding a good bolster or cushion, Koehl recommends making sure that it has some density to it. A blanket is also handy for different yoga poses—in fact, it’s “one of the most versatile props,” says Seki. “[You can] fold it under your knees, sit on it, or use it for warmth in savasana.”

When it comes to yoga apparel, our experts recommend stretchy, breathable fabrics that comfortably move with you through your yoga poses. Some of our favorite editor-tested brands for leggings, tops, bras, and more include Lululemon, Alo Yoga, and Athleta.

For yoga leggings, one of my personal favorites is Lululemon’s Align No Line High-Rise Pant 28”, which are truly so buttery-soft and lightweight, without that annoying front seam that most leggings have. I also love Alo Yoga’s 7/8 High-Waist Airlift Legging for its more compressive, supportive fit.

Koehl personally “loves to practice in Athleta leggings.” The Salutation Stash High Rise Legging is one of the brand’s best-selling options—and it’s one of our picks for the best squat-proof leggings, with a glowing review from our Senior Commerce Editor Charlotte Finigan. “The material is like a second skin…The fabric is light and airy enough to stretch with you instead of falling down, but they compress enough to feel supportive,” she previously shared.

Editor-Favorite Squat-Proof Leggings

While it’s common to practice yoga barefoot, you can also opt to wear yoga socks, which are specialized socks made with rubber or silicone grip dots on the soles to prevent slipping on a yoga mat or the floor.

“ToeSox makes some great Full or Half Toe Grip Socks,” Seki says. These popular socks, which are our pick for the best workout socks for yoga and pilates, have a non-slip grippy sole as well as a five-toe design that allows the toes to move and spread naturally. Seki also notes that Alo Yoga has some stylish grip socks as well. The Lettuce Edge Grip Sock, for instance, is designed with bottom grips to prevent slipping while also featuring a subtle ruffled trim.

We spoke to Kenta Seki, celebrity health and fitness coach and certified yoga instructor, and Sara Koehl, P.T., D.P.T., a physical therapist and yoga therapist at WAVE Physical Therapy. We consulted them on what to look for in the best yoga gear, as well as their top recommended picks for mats, blocks, straps, bolsters, and more. Additionally, we tapped Prevention editors for their own favorite yoga gear that they’ve tested, and also combed through reviews, ratings, and specs.