Yoga and its positive impacts—an amalgamation of physical, mental, and spiritual wellness—can be perceived as the elixir of life. An integral part of this practice is the use of yoga props, such as yoga blocks. Made from foam, wood, or cork, yoga blocks deliver support, making it easier for beginners to perform various asanas. They deepen your stretches, improve alignment, and provide aid to maintain balance in difficult poses.
Understanding Yoga Blocks
For beginners unsure about their flexibility or balance, yoga blocks play a crucial role in their yoga journey. Even experienced yogis swear by these blocks as an essential part of their exercise routines. These blocks come in diverse sizes, and the most common size is 9” x 6” x 4”. However, large blocks are available that provide more surface area for support.
Materials used to create these bricks—foam, wood, and cork come with unique benefits. Foam blocks are affordable, lightweight, and provide a soft and delicate experience, suitable for restorative yoga. On the other hand, cork blocks, while slightly heavier, offer more firmness and stability, ideal for intense yoga styles. Lastly, wooden blocks are solid, bulky, and perfect for yogis looking for a robust and unyielding base.
Benefits of Using Yoga Blocks
Primarily, yoga blocks serve as an extension of the arms but also support the back, head, and hips. They balance the body during intricate poses and stretch, extend, deepen, and soften the posture or alignment. The advantages of yoga blocks for beginners are multifold.
1. Increased Comfort
For beginners striving to maintain a pose, yoga blocks bring comfort and make yoga poses more achievable. These blocks allow the yogis to enter postures at a level that suits their comfort, eventually helping improve their overall flexibility and strength.
2. Enhanced Stability
Establishing stability is a challenging task for beginners. Yoga blocks can provide the required support during balancing poses or postures that involve standing on one foot.
3. Improved Alignment
Proper body alignment is critical in yoga to prevent injuries. For beginners, yoga blocks assist in maintaining alignment, ensuring each pose is performed accurately, safely, and effectively.
4. Deepened Stretch
Beginners often face difficulties with deep stretches. Yoga blocks can be used in numerous ways to deepen a stretch or open up space in the body. For example, they can be placed under the hands in a forward fold to create extra length in the spine.
Using Yoga Blocks
1. In Seated Poses
In a seated pose like Sukhasana, placing a block under the sitting bones can help elevate the hips above the knees, releasing tension through the groin and inner thighs. This type of elevation promotes better posture and spinal alignment.
2. For Forward Bends
When doing a forward bend pose, a beginner can use a block under the hands to eliminate pressure off their hamstrings. They can adjust the height of the block to increase or decrease the intensity of the stretch, thereby promoting flexibility gradually.
3. For Support in Lying Poses
During a lying pose like the Savasana, a block can be placed under the lower back or thighs to relieve tension in the lower body. The added support helps in a deeper relaxation and recovery phase.
Tips for Beginners
Beginners should gradually increase the use of yoga blocks. While these blocks add comfort and help maintain balance, it is crucial not to rely solely on them for practice. Periodical practice without the blocks will indicate the progress made.
Choosing the right material and size is also essential. Understand your body’s flexibility, comfort, and kind of yoga style before you opt for a foam, cork, or wooden block. You might even want to consider getting a set with different sizes to paired use, which can offer support in a variety of poses.
In yoga, every body and every practice differs. It’s important to remember that the practice of yoga is a personal journey and one that is non-competitive. So, embrace the use of props like yoga blocks as they are there to support you, build your strength, increase your flexibility, and deepen your practice. While yoga blocks offer clear benefits for beginners, they are also widely used by advanced practitioners, demonstrating that the use of props is not a sign of weakness, but a tool for growth and development.
In conclusion, yoga blocks are versatile props that can enhance your yoga practice. While they provide support and promote better alignment, their use can also intensify your workout and open a new layer of challenges in your routine. Irrespective of your yoga expertise, yoga blocks can help you push your boundaries, increase your flexibility, and promote overall physical, spiritual, and mental wellness.
