One day heading to yoga class you realize that you are just carrying way too much stuff now.  Wouldn't it be great to have something that can carry all your yoga equipment, your yoga mat and then some?  Wouldn't it be great if that something was also stylist and classy looking?

That's where the yoga bag comes in.  With yoga becoming so popular, there has been an explosion in choices for yoga bags in the past few years.  Yoga bags come in all shapes and sizes.  You should decide whether you want the mat to be carried on the inside or the outside of the bag.  Yoga bags usually employ straps to carry the mat on the outside on the messenger type yoga bags. 

The long and round shaped yoga bags usually can carry a yoga mat and a towel but don't have room for your other yoga accessories.  It is generally a round duffle bag with a drawstring opening on the ends.  In order to put your yoga mat into these bags, you must roll the yoga mat into a diameter that is smaller than the bag.  This yoga bag is best suited for the thinner mats.  You will also have alot of trouble placing a sticky yoga mat into this type of bag because you need to slide the full length of the mat into the bag.

The canvas bag yoga bag is exactly that.  It is a long shopping bag with an opening at the top.  These types of bags generally have a simple closing mechanism like a snap, button or tie.  With these bags one just opens up and puts the yoga mat in.  This is best suited for large thick mats and is probably the easiest bag for the sticky mat.

The purse type yoga bag is more stylist and usually looks like a long purse.  It general has a zippered closure which runs almost the entire length of the bag.  The opening is also at the top and placing the mat into the bag is fairly easy.

The messenger type yoga bag holds the yoga mat on the outside.  They use two straps that secure the rolled up mat to the bag on the outside.  This is the most versatile bag as it can carry any size and thickness yoga mat.  However, the drawback to this bag is that the yoga mat is on the outside of the bag.  So if you have an ugly yoga mat you might want to use one of the other bags.  If you have yoga blocks, yoga blankets, yoga bolsters, yoga wedges or towels. You'll probably want the messenger bag type.