When people ask me why art matters so much at Big Raven Yoga, my answer is always the same. It is because we spend our lives surrounded by objects that carry the weight of our stories. Think of the mug you reach for every morning, the painting in the hallway, the quilt your grandmother made, or that favorite chair by the window. None of these things are strictly necessary for survival, and yet, they matter. They act as anchors, reminding us of who we are and helping us slow down long enough to notice what is right in front of us.
I have always believed that a yoga mat can do the exact same thing. While most see a mat as mere equipment, like a cushion for the knees or a barrier against a slippery floor, I see it as a sacred space. It is the one place where you consistently return to yourself. If you are going to come back to that space day after day, why shouldn't it be beautiful?
Art at the Heart of Every Design
At Big Raven Yoga, art is at the top of our mind with all of our designs. We are deeply intentional about every pattern, every color palette, and every composition. Whether a design is inspired by the dense forests surrounding our home here in southeastern Minnesota, or it is the vision of a guest artist capturing the shifting colors of wildflowers, the arc of a raven in flight, or the stillness of a moonlit sky, the art is not an afterthought.
I didn't choose this path because I wanted prettier yoga mats. I chose it because I know how much our surroundings dictate our internal state. Walking into a sterile, fluorescent-lit room feels entirely different than stepping into a sun-drenched cabin filled with fresh flowers. While the room does not ask you to do anything, your body naturally responds to the environment. When you unroll a mat that features artwork you love, you are changing the weather inside your own head before you even strike your first pose. You are signaling to your nervous system that this time is different.
A Place for Your Mind to Land
This becomes especially important when we unroll our mats to practice. How often have you started your yoga, only to find your grocery list, a difficult conversation from yesterday, or the looming anxiety of tomorrow’s meeting creeping onto the mat with you? We have been taught that meditation is about stopping thought, but that has never been my experience.
The real practice is the gentle, repeated act of noticing when your attention has drifted and bringing it back. Traditionally, people have used the breath or a candle flame as that focal point. I believe your yoga mat can serve that same purpose. Instead of staring blankly through your practice, try actually looking at the artwork beneath your hands. Notice the brushstrokes. Feel the texture. Follow the lines of the landscape or the pattern of the petals. Without realizing it, you have given your wandering mind a beautiful, peaceful place to land. It turns your practice from a chore into a homecoming.
The Science of Paying Attention
Science is finally catching up to what ancient traditions have known for millennia. Research shows that mindfulness practices, the act of choosing where to place your attention, strengthen our ability to sustain focus and redirect it after distractions.
While no study can claim a specific design will fix your meditation, we know that where we place our attention matters. For me, that is what beautiful artwork offers. It is not magic, and it is not perfection, but it is a gentle, recurring invitation to come home to the present. By choosing an artistic yoga mat, you are essentially setting up a visual trigger for your brain, making it easier to slip into that flow state we all crave. When we look at something that speaks to our souls, our brain waves and our breathing tend to shift toward a more regulated, calm state.
Nature as a Teacher
I love watching people choose their mats because they rarely pick the one I expect. Someone might gravitate toward a field of wildflowers because it pulls them back to their grandparents' farm, while another chooses a moonlit forest to soothe a busy mind.
The artwork does not dictate what you should think; it simply creates a space for you to discover what you are already feeling. My own teacher has always been nature, the sound of birds, the way sunlight filters through leaves, the quiet of the moss, and I hope our designs offer that same respite. Whether it is a raven feather or a soft watercolor, the goal is the same. I want to help you pause, breathe, and be exactly where your feet are. When we bring the outside in, we remind ourselves that we are part of something much larger than our daily to-do lists.
Building a Ritual of Presence
Ultimately, your mat becomes a cornerstone of your ritual. Rituals do not have to be complex to be powerful. They are simply the actions our brains recognize as the signal to shift gears.
Whether you are practicing on your porch with morning coffee or in the living room after a long day, the mat is the familiar thread connecting every practice. It stops being about where you are and becomes about how you arrive. This feeling of arrival is something I explored in my recent blog, The Anti-Schedule Challenge: Yoga on Your Own Terms. In that post, we talked about giving ourselves permission to let yoga fit our lives, rather than forcing ourselves into a rigid, perfect routine. Finding the right mat is the next step in that journey. Once you have embraced the freedom to practice anywhere, your mat becomes the reliable home base that reminds you, wherever you are, that this time is yours.
Why Beauty Isn't Frivolous
I don't believe in the idea that beautiful things are frivolous. I think they quietly shape our days. The handmade mug that makes coffee taste better, the garden we tend, the artwork that inspires us, these things change how we experience the ordinary, and enough ordinary moments become a beautiful life.
When you surround yourself with things that carry meaning, you are actively curating your own well-being. A plain mat might keep you from slipping, but an artistic mat invites you to stay. It invites you to linger in Savasana a little longer, to deepen your breath, and to notice the light hitting the floor.
Create Your Own Sacred Space
So, the next time you step onto your mat, don’t rush into the first pose. Pause. Take one slow breath. Look closely at the artwork beneath your hands, follow the lines, and let your attention settle. Your practice does not begin with movement; it begins with the decision to pay attention.
Are you ready to transform your practice? If you have been practicing on a plain mat that fades into the background, I invite you to browse the Big Raven Yoga collection. Find a design that resonates with who you are today and who you are becoming. Sometimes, the simple act of choosing a mat that brings you joy is the catalyst that helps you show up more fully for yourself.
Your mat is waiting. Let’s make every practice a beautiful one.
Sources: Lutz, A., et al. (2013). The plasticity of attentional functions in mindfulness and meditation. Frontiers in Psychology; de Mello, G., et al. (2025). Neurophysiological effects of yoga and meditation: A systematic review.