The mat certainly does the job of cushioning your hands and knees. (The class I take is in a room not actually intended for exercise and has a textured carpet that is hard on the hands and knees.)

The pattern, mine is a stalk of bamboo, is nice to look at and hasn't yet rubbed off with use. You don't really NEED a pattern on the mat but it's just kind of nice to have one. Most of the people in my class have plain mats so the combination of color and the bamboo pattern means that my mat is easily picked out of a jumble.

The surface is "sticky" but not quite non-skid at first, the non-skid aspect of the mat is improving with use.

My cat is, for some reason, afraid of it. This is good, as this means it's the only thing I own not covered in cat hair.

When I first got the mat, it had a not-exactly-pleasant-but-not-totally-noxious odor. Rolling it out and leaving it along for a while seemed to get it to dissipate pretty good though. I didn't have to use anything on it, just rolled it out by an open window and the smell is mostly gone.

Much better then using a beach towel. 4 stars

I was looking for something that would keep me in place while I practiced my yoga and exercise moves. I found this mat in the horrendous maze of exercise/yoga mats and purchased based on the reviews I read. It seemed like a decent enough mat for the price...

Most of the other customers were complaining about a terrible rubber smell when you opened the plastic... And this was CERTAINLY the case. As soon as I opened it, the smell hit my nostrils, filled the room, and stayed there until I finally rolled the mat up and put it in my closet. I wasn't expecting it to be such a strong smell!!!

As far as an actual "mat" is concerned, this one provided hardly any traction for me at all. As soon as I started stretching, I started to slip around right away. As it turned out, halfway through my work-out, I threw the mat aside, and continued on my floor. I had more traction on my own carpet, particularly in the Downward Dog pose, which is a pose I come back to frequently. This may be a good mat for hardwood floors or something similar, but if you've got carpet in your exercise/yoga area, find another mat, or stick with your carpet for your workout... 3 stars

Don't bother with this mat. I just purchased it and I would send it back except that I paid over $5 in shipping and another $5 to send it back would amount to half the cost of it anyway, so I'll just keep it as a spare. First of all, it has a noxious odor. It's made from PVC which is known to leach into the skin and cause adverse health affects. Not only that but it's production causes major environmental damage. When you open the package, the smell basically hits you in the face and stinks up any room you keep it in. I had to hang mine outside for a day just to calm down the smell as it gave me a serious headache. It IS toxic! Not only that, but this mat is too thin. It's only 2mm whereas most decent mats are 3mm at least. Plus it's super slippery. I tried it out and couldn't even stay in downward dog. I kept slipping all over the place. Anyway, I just bought a Jade Harmony mat. Environmentally friendly, perfect grip and padding felt great. I went to yoga this morning but went for round 2 just now because the Harmony mat is so great I didn't want to get off of it! So much better than this one from Gaiam and well worth the investment. 1 star

This is a really great mat, it looks awesome and is comfortable to sit/lay on. However, that being said, I do agree with a previous review that there is a weird smell when you first open it up. It does go away if you leave it unrolled for a day or two.
My girlfriend liked it so much, she took it and gave me hers. On a side note, I've seen this exact mat at a couple of Barnes and Nobles- and I think it was cheaper there. (The shipping is VERY expensive for a light weight mat). I think it was about $9. So after S&H it is cheaper to buy it from B&N. 5 stars

This mat costs more than a non-printed mat, but it's beautiful to look at. I really enjoy unrolling it in yoga class and stretching out over something pretty. It will also stand out from the rest of the mats in class - I have yet to meet anyone who has a similar mat and I go to a couple of different yoga studios a week.

The mat does smell strangely when you first open it, but just spread it out on your floor for a couple of days (flip it over once!) and the smell will go away.

I ordered the mat and a yoga mat harness at the same time from Amazon to get the free shipping ($25 min) and I was quite happy with both items. 5 stars