How to Unblock Yourself
Yoga invites the use of many props to enhance your ability to express a yoga pose. One of the most popular yoga props to use in class is the yoga block.
Made from foam, bamboo, wood, or cork, the block is often used as an extension of the arms, but can also support the back, head, and hips to help the body settle into a pose. They can also be used to add resistance to give you more of a challenge.
If you’re a beginner or have been practicing yoga for a while yet can’t seem to improve your flexibility or strength, you are probably under utilizing a very important tool, the yoga block(s). It’s true, using yoga blocks can transform and improve your yoga practice! Many think using any probs devalues the practice or makes us weak. The truth is the very opposite. Yoga blocks not only improve your practice, but also support your practice in many ways. Utilizing blocks can deepen your practice to a whole new level.
Yoga Blocks are awesome and here are a few reasons why:
Support range of motion, thereby shortening the distance between you and the floor (“bringing the floor closer to you”)
Assist in establishing correct alignment, we all know how important this is!
Helps make yoga accessible to ALL levels, and to those experiencing injury or other physical boundaries/limitations.
Bring awareness to properly engage and support muscles in a specific pose.
Creates opportunities to challenge and engage the body in deeper expressions.
Protect and build strength in the body, especially the wrist.
Can be placed at the low, medium, and high positions to accommodate more or less support.
Yoga blocks can be used in a variety of ways, but in the end, to benefit you, it really boils down to three main things: lengthening, strengthening, and support.
Lengthen: When you feel like you are struggling in a pose and there is ANY force involved, it’s time to back out of the pose gently and reassess. When you force a pose, you are most likely not in good alignment and therefore not obtaining the full benefit of the pose. Using yoga blocks to lengthen the body will bring you into the correct and improved alignment, help you get deeper into the poses, and gain more flexibility. Therefore, anytime you feel you’re unable to touch the floor with ease, blocks are the connection to bring you closer to your goals.
Strengthen: Have you ever been guided to use a block in chair or boat pose? If your answer is yes, you know the strength it takes and how it deepens the pose. If your answer is no, please check out the un-block yourself yoga class! Yoga blocks are a great tool to use to build strength throughout your entire body! A lot of yoga poses are great for improving strength, but you may not be reaping the benefits if you are unable to maintain proper alignment or bring awareness to the appropriate muscles. Yoga blocks are not shy. They will let you know right away how the pose should feel and how much alignment matters to get the most out of your practice.
Support: A lot of yoga poses that are classified as restorative can actually be pretty strenuous. For example, legs up the wall pose uses a lot of core strength. These kind of poses can be ineffective if you lack flexibility or are having a tight day. The yoga block is here to help you get into the posture, support you, and help you experience the full benefits of the postures whether restorative or active. There are several ways you can use yoga blocks in each pose to give you the support you need to deepen into the pose and and unleash the tightness in your body while also having the support you need to do so.
So when it comes to your practice un-block yourself!
Grab some yoga blocks, jump on your mat, and watch your practice transform in so many ways.
Questions? Leave us a comment or shoot us a message via our contact page.
Don’t forget to check out our un-block yourself yoga class here.
