Sanuk Yoga Sling Sandals: Ridiculously Comfortable

Meet your new favorite indoor footwear.

In a pandemic summer of Safer-in-Place, the Limited Edition Sanuk Yoga Sling 2 Grateful Dead yoga mat sandals (MSRP $40) are ridiculously comfortable and as close to house slippers as you can get without wearing actual slippers. 

I’m a creature of habit (I’ve been wearing Birkenstocks since the age of 14) and have used the exact same sandals -Birkenstock and Chacos- for years. Typically, I use Birkenstocks as my summer “office sandal”, and my Chacos for my camping, post-bike, and post-hike sandal. 

Both great sandals for different purposes, but since I find myself spending more time at home and I don’t like to walk around barefoot, I wanted something suitable to be worn indoors that are both soft and comfy, yet wouldn’t overheat my feet. 

I looked around, but potential contenders were either too flat (I might as well have been wearing cardboard), or were uncomfortable to wear.

Enter Sanuk’s Yoga Sling sandal. They turned out to be way more awesome than I ever would have anticipated

My initial reaction

1. 1. These are essentially pillows for my feet! The footbed was convex and unexpectedly squishy and offered the right amount of softness. The knit straps were soft and felt amazing.
2. They let my feet breathe. No sweaty feet confined to socks or full house slippers. Clean feet are healthy feet.
3. They show off my pedicure. Who doesn’t like to admire freshly painted toes? That’s part of the fun of summer. Can’t ignore the vanity factor potential.
4. This Grateful Dead-themed tye dye print is fun. Tye dye hasn’t touched my body since rebellious 13-year-old me chose to wear a tye dye t-shirt on the first day of school. I like the vibes of the grey and white- fun but not over the top. Grateful Dead embroidery is also featured on the stretchy fabric straps.

Sanuk Yoga Sling – It’s in the Details

How can something so conceptually basic stand out from similar sandals? It all comes down to its thoughtfully constructed details- the foot bed and straps. 

Comprised from yoga mats, the sandal features a seal-edge anatomical footbed with arch support and heel pads. While the Yoga Sling 3 is designed to offer more support to hold and cradle the foot, while the Yoga Sling 2 is softer and more cushiony, thanks in part to EVA midsoles and Happy Ü sponge rubber outsoles. Flex grooves provide a wide range of motion.

The stretch knit straps are surprisingly soft and don’t dig into skin, despite different ways I positioned them. More importantly, they didn’t slip, as is so often the case with sandals after a period of time. I have rather bony feet, so sandals with non-slipping cloth straps was definitely a first. The Yoga Sling 2  is available in a variety of solid colors (goes with everything!) and prints, such as Grateful Dead and Airstream and includes Sanuk’s woven label flag.

The Yoga Sling 2 is completely packable (presumably to be taken or worn to the yoga studio) and takes up little to no space. They’re also a comfy car sandal to slip on after a long day of recreating in the outdoors. They are not, however, waterproof and the knit material straps will absorb moisture.

I found the Yoga Sling 2 to be true to size. However, if you’re in between sizes, I recommend going one size up.

Final Thoughts
The Sanuk Yoga Sling 2 is the ultimate indoor comfort sandal. 

Admittedly, I don’t practice yoga, so a sandal named “Yoga Sling” was not on my radar. But, after wearing a pair of  Yoga Sling 2 sandals, I’m not taking these off until cold weather arrives.