What are the best Yoga props today? In short, there are many good preferences. Some of the favorites among teachers are walls, chairs, balls, and bolsters, but anything you can use to improve student experience is worth it’s weight in gold. For teachers, the most versatile props are worth investing in. Let’s take a deep look at some of the best Yoga props today, some unique props, and some of the most versatile props in classes today.
One of the most beautiful aspects of Yoga is that you do not need anything other than your own body to practice it. With that said, props can help you have a deeper Yoga experience. This benefit is enhanced by how varied Yoga props are, providing an engaging variety of experiences, many of which would simply not be possible without them. For example, they can help you expand your flexibility, better support your weight, deepen your poses and otherwise experiment as they provide you with new ways to practice Yoga.
Yoga Mat
Yoga mats are so ubiquitous that many do not even consider them a prop, but a Yoga mat is in fact a nonessential part of your experience. However, they do greatly enhance many student experiences in a number of ways, which is why their use is as widespread as it is. The main benefit that they offer is added stickiness to your experience, allowing your hands and feet to better stick to where you want them to. This feature also helps you remain balanced, particularly if the surface below it is slippery. That and their padding provide relief to your joints as well.
Yoga Blanket
A Yoga blanket is similar to a mat in how it is used by practitioners, but it provides a bit more flexibility. That is because it can add just enough additional height to the floor and to your poses, not too much and not too little, without affecting those poses nearly as much as other props might. It can provide a cushion for your hands, knees and other body parts as well. Of course, blankets can also be used to create a sense of warmth and comfort. An additional benefit that this prop offers is that the sweat that you have given off while practicing can be absorbed by it.
Yoga Block
Another commonly used prop is the Yoga block, which tends to be made with cork, wood or synthetic materials. Its uses are varied. Beginners and others not able to extend as fully as poses would ask them to can use one to more easily stretch to their limits by essentially bringing the floor closer. Everybody can also use one to enhance stretches in other parts of their body, which can be done by placing it under their back, between their legs or elsewhere.
Yoga Wedge
A Yoga wedge is a great prop for those looking to make the transition to more intense poses, such as ones that result in your body weight being completely focused on your hands and toes. In other words, the use of a wedge can allow you to continue to practice proper posture as you transition to more intense poses. This prop can also be used to relieve pressure on the wrists, which is of special benefit for those who suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome. Achilles tendons and calves can be helped by it as well. Additionally, wedges can be used under a mat or blanket in a seated posture.
The main benefit of using a Yoga bolster is to receive greater support around your stomach, a feature that is particularly useful for those who are practicing yoga while pregnant. These firm pillow-like props help you more easily open up your posture and stretch muscles related to doing so. Many report that using them also helps them more easily achieve a peaceful state of mind. Other benefits include improving your blood circulation and metabolism and reducing swelling or inflammation.
Yoga Strap
Although a Yoga strap appears to be a simple prop, its usefulness is impressive. Its main features are helping you maintain your poses for longer periods of time than may have been possible without it and helping you expand your range of motion. It also helps align your posture, loosen your shoulders and, for some, more easily get back into yoga after being sidelined with an injury. In addition, those who are looking to increase their muscle strength can use one to create resistance.
Yoga neck pillows provide support for your neck as well as help you experience a greater sense of relaxation and peace. Some will also or instead use one to help support other parts of their bodies, such as their spine, knees or ankles. Yoga neck pillows can be filled with different substances, which can include buckwheat hulls or flaxseed. Depending on how they are manufactured, they could also be heated or chilled.
Meditation Pillow
A meditation pillow, as can be surmised from its name, is designed to help you get into a meditative state. One of the ways that it does so is by helping limit any discomfort that you have otherwise experienced while undergoing newer or more challenging poses. Another feature of note is that it can be used in a variety of ways; feel free to experiment with it as you continue to learn poses to help you get the most out of them.
Yoga Wheel
One of the newer props – the Yoga wheel was created in 2014 – is quite versatile. It helps build your core strength, improve your posture and reduce any back pain that you may have been experiencing. How it does this is by opening up your front, expanding it significantly, while rolling and massaging your spine in its entirety. In most cases, it can also reach between your shoulder blades, something that Yoga props tend to not be able to do.
Yoga Ball
One of the more common props today is a Yoga ball. Its main benefits are helping improve your sense of balance and your core stability. This is due to it forcing you to balance yourself when you otherwise would not need to. If you have some favorite poses that are becoming, for lack of a better phrase, too easy for you, incorporate a Yoga ball into it, and it will instantly become much more difficult and rewarding.
Another way that you can increase the intensity of any poses that you are doing is by incorporating weights. For example, doing the warrior pose while holding some weights can add a considerable amount of challenge to it, particularly if you are holding the pose for an extended period of time. Do note that it is recommended that those who do decide to incorporate weights use light ones.
Yoga Knee Pad
A Yoga knee pad provides a lot of value for its small size. In this case, that is focused relief on your knees while this prop can also double as an elbow and wrist pad, protecting those areas instead. In fact, if you do not have a Yoga mat, cannot use one where you are practicing or choose not to, you could solely use a knee pad to ensure that those valuable parts of your body are protected.
Yoga Headband
Depending on how much hair you have and how it is styled, you can sometimes have much of it falling in front of your face or otherwise distracting you while you are trying to focus on your poses. A Yoga headband helps eradicate those issues for the duration of your session. Another benefit that it offers is helping reduce how much sweat your head is putting off, oftentimes onto your mat. Of course, that latter benefit will be of particular usefulness for those engaged in hot Yoga.
Yoga Gloves
Many Yoga props are designed to limit the possibility of you slipping while practicing Yoga, and gloves fit in that category as they help you stay adhered to where you want to be. Not only do Yoga gloves help your hands become less slippery than they normally are, but they also ensure that any sweat that your hands may experience while you are in poses does not result in slippages. As a result of this, perhaps the greatest benefit that Yoga gloves offer is the ability to more easily practice yoga without a mat.
Yoga Socks
Yoga socks are another set of props that help you adhere to the mat or whatever surface you are practicing Yoga on. They also provide a layer of protection between any sweat that your feet produce and the surface that your feet are coming into contact with. This improvement in stickiness will help you get into and maintain Yoga poses and reduce the risk of suffering any injuries while doing so.
Many experienced teachers can modify 30 or more Yoga poses without any problem. A certified chair Yoga teacher knows how to teach classes that are entirely chair-based. A chair can expand your teaching skills as it helps students discover new horizons in their training. This includes being able to practice asanas that knee-related issues would otherwise restrict and engaging in back bends and restorative poses more easily. A Yoga chair can also help with any balance issues. For example, if you need to hold onto something while in a pose, this can be the solution. There are many options for a variety of chairs with open backs, lower back rest support, wheel chairs, and more. Chair, Iyengar, Adaptive, and Restorative Yoga classes commonly use chairs and some studios have a variety of chairs for different purposes.
Indo Yoga Board
Indo Yoga boards have been designed to mimic the unsteadiness of practicing Yoga while on water, resulting in those who are using this Yoga prop to be able to more greatly control their balance in other settings. Of course, the Indo Yoga board is not a perfect duplication of being on water, but it is as close as you can come while on dry land. This prop, which is made out of wood, has four rockers underneath it creating that water-like sensation.
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