5 Household Items to Use as Home Yoga Props

Transcript

whether you want to go deeper in a restorative pose or you need a little help reaching the ground then using props can come in super handy to help you progress in your yoga practice today i want to show you five household items that you can use to enhance your yoga practice my name is jamie i teach hatha yoga and meditation and my goal is to help you guys establish a healthy home yoga practice by sharing a few alignment tips and helping you build awareness in your body so if you like this video give it a thumbs up and you don't need to spend lots of money on fancy yoga props like bolsters blocks straps eye pillows you can totally make do with whatever you have at home in fact right here i have five household items that you can use to enhance your home yoga practice in just a moment i'm going to go through each and every one of these items to show you how they're used our first prop is a cushion and this is one of my favorite home yoga props it's really great item to come and sit on to give you a little bit more height which is often a lot more comfortable if you're not used to sitting on the floor a second option is to perhaps use the cushion to support your butt cheek in maybe a pigeon pose this helps keep your hips level and a third option could be to use a cushion to support your knee when you're in a seated forward bend for example with one leg bent our second item is an alternative to a yoga strap so you can use a belt or perhaps a bathrobe tie this item is really great for shoulder exercises so for example if you struggle to reach your hands to touch behind your back then you can place a strap over one shoulder and then grab onto the strap instead this will help you go a little bit deeper a second option is to grab onto either ends of your strap and then reach your arms overhead up and over just to open up your chest and shoulders a third option is to use it for a hamstring stretch so placing the strap over the ball of one foot as you grab onto either sides of the strap and then extend one leg to the sky our third prop is a block or a stack of books now if you are going to buy any props then i would recommend buying a blog just because it's a lot easier than using stacks of books but you can use stacks of books to start with now blocks are one of the most versatile props you can use them to support your head in a child's pose for example this keeps your neck in alignment with your spine supports the neck if you find it uncomfortable to bring your forehead down to the mat you can also use blocks in a low lunge for example on either height the highest height the lowest height depending on the length of your arms and this gives you a little bit more space another option is to use a block for example in half moon pose this will alleviate some tension in your hips and shoulders and it'll give you more of a sensation of expansion as you hold the balancing posture our fourth item is a small hand towel now this one is really great for rolling up and placing underneath your neck as you lie down flat on the mat and then just rocking your head from side to side it will give you a nice massage on the base of your skull feels really really good you can also roll up a hand towel and place it just underneath your shoulder blade so where your bra strap is as you lie on the mat knees bent and this provides a mild back bend and a nice release of the thoracic spine or when you're in child's pose if you feel discomfort on the front of your feet if the front of your feet are quite tight you can also place a rolled blanket underneath your ankles and that provides a little bit of padding and support as well our last item is a blanket which we're gonna roll up to create a bolster like this now you can lie on top of your bolster perhaps in a supine butterfly pose this provides a nice massage for your spine and a gentle chest opener it's one of my favorite ways to start or end my practice another option is to bring your bolster or rolled blanket underneath your knees in corpse pose this alleviates tension in your low back if you've worked your lower back a lot feels really nice and then another option is to place your rolled blanket underneath your hips in bridge pose and then raise your feet up towards the ceiling to come into a supported shoulder stand and then if you want to you can bring your feet overhead perhaps you rest them on a wall pressing your feet into the wall getting a nice stretch all the way down the backs of your legs and your lower back as well and that's it guys that's how you turn five household items into yoga props to help you enhance your yoga practice go have fun with it and i'll see you next time have a wonderful day