What are the essential elements to practice Yoga?
Yoga is an ancient discipline that dates back more than 2,500 years. At that time, all the elements that exist today for the practice of Yoga did not exist. The fundamental part of the discipline was meditation and pranayamas and according to sacred texts, such as the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads, to sit down to practice, a piece of already dead animal skin, deer or tiger, was used. These had a spiritual meaning.
Whether you are thinking of getting started in the practice of yoga, or if you have been practicing for a long time, surely at some point you have asked yourself the million dollar question:What do you need to practice Yoga?Well, precisely one of the attractions of this ancient discipline is precisely the fact that, in principle, all you need is some comfortable clothing and your own body.
However, beyond the basics, there is also a whole series of accessories or ¨Props¨ that can help us at different times and for different purposes of practice.
These extra elements are not really essential, but they can help us improve, for example, our balance, facilitate meditation exercises, or join us to deepen our stretching exercises.
Here I leave you some of the most used Yoga Props:
1. YOGA MAT
This is the first item that every yoga practitioner should acquire. Although I insist that one of the things I like most about this life tool is that you only need your desire to start practicing and you can even do without a Mat, after years of practice, I can affirm that a good Mat makes the experience a much more pleasant journey.
Having your own Mat elevates your practice, making it your sacred space and knowing that the magic will always be there waiting to be unrolled.
There exist a wide variety of Mats from different colors, sizes and materials. To choose yours you should take into account: material, thickness, weight, grip, cleanliness and price.
If you want to know more in depth you can go through this article where I tell you better which Yoga Mat to choose and why.
2. YOGA STRAP
- Improves flexibility:The yoga strap is ideal to help you improve your flexibility by stretching your joints. In principle, it is used to reach the extremities, that is, the hands with the feet, in case you cannot reach them.
- Body alignment:The strap is also a useful tool in yoga, helping you stay in a pose to maintain good alignment throughout the body.
- Support aid to achieve postures: With the strap we can reach the extremities of the body to achieve certain more advanced postures and it also allows us to hold ourselves in relaxation postures.
Various styles of yoga straps exist, from the thinnest 25mm to the widest 40mm, and are used depending on the asana to be practiced. Straps are designed in cotton with a solid loop and round or rectangular metal buckles, or even strong plastic-reinforced clips.
3. YOGA BLOCK
This element is made of materials such as cork, PVC and wood. It is used to support the hands and feet and serves as an extension when you cannot reach the ground with your limbs naturally. The ideal is to use two bricks during a yoga posture to experience its benefits:
- Increases flexibility: It works like a "elevator floor", which allows you to gradually increase your flexibility.
- Increases strength and endurance: works as a pressure element to add more difficulty to your postures in order to increase strength and endurance.
- Stabilizer:It can be used as a base to stabilize the body during some poses. When practicing the "sitting" lotus position, for example, this brick works as a support under the buttocks to get relief in the hips.
- Supports the joints:These blocks are a great companion item for elemental yoga at home, incorporating into a personal practice, or for use in the studio . Wherever they are used, be sure to keep them close by to help lengthen, extend, deepen, and soften your joints.
4. BOLSTER
Bolsters are yoga cushions cylindrical or rectangular, filled with a consistent and versatile material that gives you the support you need for your restorative or alignment postures or for your moment of meditation.
There are many uses and forms depending on whether your goal is to intensify your practice, create space for a pose, adapt your yoga to some physical limitation, simply relax, or get a good stretch.
A yoga bolster will be an ideal companion for those people who start their practice in yoga and need to complete an asana correctly or stay longer in a posture that they have not yet fully mastered due to lack of flexibility.
It helps you achieve the correct alignment of your hips, knees or neck in order to get the maximum benefit from each asana and avoid some typical injuries that are generated when we force the body.
5. ZAFU
Zafu is a round cushion used for meditation. It is a Japanese word that literally means "seat". It is made of cattail (material with which it was originally made). Legend has it that the zafu was invented by the Buddha when he made a cushion of dried herbs on which to sit comfortably and meditate. zafu It is a cushion to meditate filled with different materials. They are mainly used for meditation sessions but can also be used for some specific Yoga postures and even as a seat.
6. BLANKET
Meditation blankets, in addition to being an element that you surely have in your home to add to your practices, are usually available in all yoga studios and very often they are also used as cushions, especially when looking to provide a base somewhat higher, but without reaching the height of the cushion. Beyond this, the blankets are used to wrap you up and provide a feeling of comfort during the final meditation, or shavasana.
7.YOGA WHEEL
This accessory, something more modern and peculiar than the rest, also known as a yoga ring, is very effective for exercises that help strengthen the core, open the entire area of the chest, abdomen, hip flexors and shoulders It also improves balance and relieves stress, among other benefits.
It is specially designed to adapt to the contours of the spine, and the good news is that you don't need to practice yoga or be flexible to reap its benefits, anyone can use it to gain flexibility, strength, balance and mobility, all at the same time! In other words, it is a revolutionary 'yoga prop' and it never ceases to amaze at all times.
I hope that these recommendations on the elements to practice yoga will help you to start or expand your practice.
If you want to try one of my classes, you can join for FREE to try the Vinyasa Yoga style on this LINK Leave me your email and I will contact you to send you the Zoom Link to the class.
I hope you experiment, let yourself go through each of the sensations and enjoy playing, breathing and flowing on the Mat.
Namasté Yoguis
I wish you a beautiful practice
🕉
