trüFORMAT: A Mat to Train your Brain and Body!
“We designed the very first mat to engage and train your body and your brain.”
Back in 2018 when we attended Simon Park’s 50hr Advanced Asana, Assists & Energetics Teacher Training in Sydney’s Body Mind Life I couldn’t help but notice the simple yet grippy yoga mat Simon was using in the workshop! I quickly learned that this yoga mat was called trüFORMAT founded by a team of passionate yogis and designers based out of Philadelphia, Simon’s home state too. I ordered the scorpion mat not just once but twice since the workshop and have traveled to various workshops and training with it. Did I mention the team also has great customer service and it is clear they are very passionate about sharing their mat and group training classes with their community, to be inclusive of moments for all! Read more about why Ally, Gina, and Gordon founded trüFORMAT back in 2017 and where they hope to grow in this new decade!
Curito
Hi trüFORMAT team! Could you introduce yourselves and tell us how you guys met and what you were doing before you founded truFORMAT?
trüFORMAT:
Hello! We are Ally, Gina and Gordon. We hail from Chicago, Charlotte and New York, and we are passionate about yoga and brain health. We met in North Carolina in a yoga class (led by Gordon!) and realized very quickly how much we had in common in terms of interests and values. Prior to starting trüFORMAT, Ally and Gina were designing business systems, while Gordon was running a printing/sign company and a yoga studio. There was a lot of natural overlap and complimentary skillsets.
Curito
What sparked the creation of trüFORMAT and how did that journey begin? Why did you call your yoga mat The Scorpion Mat?
trüFORMAT:
trüFORMAT started as a conversation. We still laugh about the day when we stopped in the middle of a crowded NYC sidewalk to debate the positioning of the back foot in Warrior I pose. We realized at that moment that having points of reference helps us all make better decisions. At that moment, we knew we wanted (and needed!) more than a blank mat. We thought, "Yoga can be confusing: there are a lot of postures and instructions - and they are different depending on the class or instructor. Plus my mat doesn't give me any information and the material is flimsy." So, we designed the very first mat to engage and train your body and your brain.
There are great mat products on the market that address anti-slip, cushioning, color preferences, and environmental awareness, but nothing that recognizes that the brain is the command center for all movement in the body.
The mat's name is inspired by scorpions, which are incredibly resilient creatures and highly adaptive (they exist on all but one continent!). This felt very representative of our attitudes towards life and living, and the empowerment we wanted to instill in all of our mat users!
“The mat’s name is inspired by scorpions, which are incredibly resilient creatures and highly adaptive (they exist on all but one continent!). This felt very representative of our attitudes towards life and living, and the empowerment we wanted to instill in all of our mat users!”
Curito
Yoga mat is a pretty saturated market, what were some of the challenges you guys encountered, and what did you learn in the process?
trüFORMAT:
We believe quality inputs create quality outputs. We chose the best materials to provide the best user experience and definitely had some real learning moments along the way. You can only imagine the experiments we ran to get the ink to stick to the mat - lots of fun and funny pictures from the mishaps, too. It was a worthwhile experience so that we knew we were putting the best possible product out on the market.
Curito
How is trüFORMAT different from other yoga mats?
trüFORMAT:
Our patented Scorpion mat design and system set us apart from other exercise and yoga mats because it was designed for the brain. This is important for a number of reasons:
The Scorpion mat encourages the user to develop awareness about their body in space (the fancy word for this is proprioception)
The mat holds practitioners accountable for their movements and the natural imbalances in their bodies
The mat provides a measuring and progress-tracking mechanism to keep the brain engaged and to nurture a sense of accomplishment - something all brains love to feel!
Curito
Describe a trüFORMAT customer, why do they pick trüFORMAT over some of the more popular brands like Manduka, Jade, Liforme?
trüFORMAT:
Our customers choose the Scorpion mat and classes because they want to move with purpose. Our clients are a diverse and varied group, but common throughout is a desire to live deliberately, to be in charge of and take responsibility for oneself. We see this reflected in peoples' quest for brain health, better proprioception, increased range of motion: just a handful of the goals we work with our clients to achieve.
Curito
Who are some of the other brands in the market (doesn't have to be yoga-related) that you guys admire and what inspires you guys to continue producing trüFORMAT?
trüFORMAT:
We love Rhône and Ghostflower and similar companies that inspire us to make our best better.
Curito
How has covid affected trüFORMAT and its community?
trüFORMAT:
While the pandemic has created many challenges for our team and our clients, we are proud to see the trüFORMAT community continue to grow and move together. It is more important than ever to tap into a yoga practice to help manage these stressful times. We are grateful to be in a position to encourage and maintain brain and body health.
Curito
Will you guys start introducing other product lines to your collection?
trüFORMAT:
Our focus remains on our core Scorpion mat and various Scorpion training classes. We are exploring a certification program to invite other instructors into the trüFORMAT methodology and philosophy.
Curito
What are your goals for trüFORMAT in this new decade?
trüFORMAT:
We are excited to expand our mat product and offerings into an integrated lifestyle; think travel wellness events, memberships, and a new mountain-based headquarters and sensory training facility. We also have plans to expand our work with children and seniors, two communities of movers that we are very passionate about.
Curito
How can our readers follow trüFORMAT offerings and ways to order your mats and collaborate with you guys?
trüFORMAT:
We love connecting! Join our monthly newsletter "The Brain Break" (sign up on our website!), drop us an email, or join us for a class.
Curito
This is really exciting, I can’t wait to see you guys dive deeper into expanding your product line and offerings to children and seniors to encourage and maintain brain and body health which will continue to grow! Thank you for sharing your stories and insights, I hope to collaborate with you guys in the near future too, perhaps training and workshops in Taiwan!?
First published on October 23, 2020
