Could heated yoga mat make you stretch more?

No time to get to hot yoga class? Well, an industrious manufacturer says he has you covered. SolarSpa LLC is selling a heated yoga mat.

The idea behind hot yoga is warm muscles are more limber and stretchy -- during class at a studio, the air temperature is turned way up while you do your poses.

The company says its SolarFlex mat uses far infrared heat to do the job in your house. It can be set to 68 to 140 degrees. The technology is used in a lot of therapy products, and some others also are pitching the idea of a heated mat for exercise.

This mat weights five pounds and costs $249.95 plus shipping – I figure that's about 16 or 17 hot yoga classes at $15 a class, without the shipping and the $20 regular yoga mat.

The company suggests you plug it in, lie down and then when you feel good and warm and relaxed, then you can start exercising.

I ran the mat past Kim Manfredi, owner and instructor at Charm City Yoga, which offers hot yoga, and she said she had not heard of it but was intrigued. Though, she wasn't clear exactly how it would work.

As for taking up your hot yoga practice outside of the studio, she said there is no reason not to.

"I used to put a space heater in our tiny bathroom before there was any Hot Yoga in Baltimore," she said. "Of course you always want to be careful about contraindications to the practice, illness or special needs, and when you get good and sweaty you also want to be careful not to slip on the floor."

Think this can replace hot yoga class. Would it make you practice more, or put you right to sleep on your floor?

Photo courtesy of SolarFlex