Bolsters, Blocks, and Blankets, Oh My! Yoga Props Explained

Transcript

hello thanks for joining me today I thought I would do a real quick introduction of some of the props that you might find in a yoga studio including if you come and practice with me because sometimes I will put props out that I know we might definitely want to use that day for the practice but even if you don't see that those props are already set out that you're supposed to grab one of those if you know that for your practice a certain prop always makes it more comfortable you can always grab a prop even if it's not going to be used by everyone in the class every yoga practice should be one that you feel most comfortable for your body in so starting with a blanket a blanket can have lots of uses it can be used in shavasana at the end to have draped over you so you have just this extra cozy experience in shavasana but it can also be used really effectively for just some extra cushion on the knees and so if your knees kind of bother you you can always grab a blanket and then anytime that the class involves being on the knees you can extend that blanket across the mat where your knees are gonna fall and the nice thing about the blanket is you can adjust the thickness right maybe you want it a little thinner maybe you want it a little thicker right so the blanket is always really good for that you also can find other cushions that are specific for the knees they sometimes look like these little paddles and you place them and they're a little thicker a little spongy err and they're designed specifically for each knee right so those can be really useful too but a lot of times yoga studios won't have enough of these for everyone in the class and so blankets are a little more flexible in that sense if you don't see something like this but you see a blanket just grab one of one of those and for your home practice you don't need to feel like you have to invest in something if you have a blanket at home already then there's the yoga strap which a lot of times is used to help aid in stretches right maybe in the shoulder flossing and a lot of times in those leg stretches and this is a prop that often we will set out as yoga instructors and say hey today we're definitely going to want a strap but even if we don't usually there's going to be some leg stretches involved in a class and so if you are going to want one then just grab one because what the strap does is if you in a forward fold can't reach your feet and you're here somewhere on the lake you can sometimes feel like you're not getting that leverage to help breathe into the stretch and fold more fully and so you can always use a strap even if they didn't specifically say you would want one for that day right and it just goes on the balls of the feet and then you have that tall spine and you hinge forward at the hips and walk down that strap there are also usually blocks at a yoga studio you might have foam or cork and if you really want to feel a lot of support in using a block then you're going to want the cork otherwise the foam is perfectly fine and I'm going to have links to all of these in the notes section so if you're like where do I find these things I'll have some links for you the cork is going to cost you a little bit more but they are very sturdy they could ask be little doorstops right but they give you a lot of support the foam is a little cushier basically what the block can do is two things it can make a it can bring it the floor closer to you it also in some instances can help you advance a pose as well so in the idea of bringing the floor closer to you if you are in a lunge and it's hard to reach the ground right the block can be there right and it just brings that floor higher so that I have the support as if I were on the mat right and with a block there's three Heights so they're short there's medium and there's tall right so I can adjust that for wherever I feel I need the help in that pose and as my practice evolves I can adjust right so that's really nice and then the other prop you might see especially if you take restorative classes are the bolsters he's kind of big rectangular pillows that are fairly firm and they can be really nice especially for those who have lower back pain who might struggle in shavasana that your back isn't like fully flat on the mat and so it starts to hurt the longer you lay there I really like using the bolster for folks that struggle with that because you can put the bolster under the legs and then that's going to help that lower back connect with the mat and make savasana more comfortable you can also make seated more comfortable if you start many practices as my classes do in an easy seat if that's difficult sometimes it's better if your city seat is key something on a bolster and you kind of let the hips go down and you're more comfortable this way and of course there are lots more potential uses for all of these props and you'll see that as you go to class and get comfortable with them and use them but the main thing I wanted to do today is just kind of introduce them to you a little bit and make sure you know that you have permission to always grab whatever props you need in the studio to make your practice the safest and most enjoyable that you can for yourself so feel free hop in the comments ask me any questions or reach out to me ask me in class whatever I'm always here to help make your practice the best it can be Thanks