How do you use yoga blocks? Yoga blocks are helpful tools in yoga. They make poses easier or let you go deeper. You use them to bring the ground closer, give your body support, or help your body line up right. They are important props for yoga poses. Using blocks well helps you practice yoga safely and comfortably.
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What are Yoga Blocks?
Yoga blocks are firm shapes. They are often made of foam, cork, or wood. Foam blocks are light. Cork blocks are firm and stable. Wood blocks are very sturdy. They come in different sizes. A common size is about 9 inches long, 6 inches wide, and 4 inches high.
Blocks have three different heights you can use. You can lay the block flat on its widest side. This is the lowest height. You can turn it onto its middle side. This is a medium height. You can stand it up on its narrowest side. This is the highest height. You choose the height you need for each pose.
Blocks help you reach the floor. They support parts of your body. They help you find balance. They make some poses possible for you. They can also help you feel a stretch more.
Why Use Yoga Blocks?
Using yoga blocks offers many good things for your yoga practice.
- They Offer Help: Blocks give your body something to rest on. This is using blocks for support.
- They Make Poses Possible: Some poses are hard to do fully at first. Blocks help you do a version of the pose. This is modifying yoga poses with blocks.
- They Improve How You Stand or Sit: Blocks can help you get your body in the right line. This is called yoga block alignment.
- They Help You Stretch More: In some poses, blocks let you stretch just a bit further without hurting yourself. This is how you can deepen stretches with blocks.
- They Make Practice Safer: Blocks lower the chance of pulling a muscle or falling.
- They Take Away Stress: When a pose feels easy with a block, your body can relax more.
- They Help New Students: Yoga block modifications for beginners are very useful. They make starting yoga less scary. Blocks help new people learn the poses correctly from the start.
Blocks are basic props for yoga poses. They are not a sign you are not good at yoga. They show you are smart about your body. They show you want to practice safely.
How to Use Blocks Well: Basic Ideas
Using blocks the right way makes a big difference.
- Pick the Right Height: Think about how much space you need to fill. Or think about how much support you need. Blocks have three heights. Start with the height that feels easiest. You can change it if you need more or less help.
- Put Them in the Right Spot: Yoga block placement matters a lot. The block should be right where your body needs it. This might be under your hands, hips, shoulders, or head. It should feel stable.
- Be Steady: Make sure the block is on a flat surface. Push down on it before you put your full weight on it. It should not rock or feel shaky.
- Listen to Your Body: The block should make the pose feel better or possible. It should not cause pain. If a pose feels bad even with a block, try a different change or skip the pose.
- Blocks Help, Not Replace: Blocks are tools to help you. They don’t do the work for you. Keep some strength in your body parts, even with support.
These simple ideas help you use blocks safely and well in any pose.
Giving Support with Blocks
Blocks are great for giving support. They hold you up when you can’t reach the floor or need a rest.
- Support for Hands: In poses where your hands go to the floor, like a Forward Fold (Uttanasana) or Triangle Pose (Trikonasana), blocks bring the floor closer. You put them under your hands. This lets you keep your back straight. It takes pressure off your hamstrings. It helps your breath flow easier.
- Support for Hips: In sitting poses like Easy Pose (Sukhasana) or Thunderbolt Pose (Vajrasana), sitting on a block lifts your hips. This helps your spine sit up tall. It makes it easier on your knees and ankles. It allows your hips to open more naturally.
- Support for Shoulders or Back: In poses like Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana), you can put a block under your lower back. This makes it a supported backbend. It lets your chest open without using as much muscle. This is a very nice way to use blocks for support.
- Support for Head or Neck: In poses like a Forward Fold or Child’s Pose (Balasana), resting your forehead on a block can calm your mind. It releases tension in your neck.
Using blocks for support makes many poses less effort. This lets you stay in the pose longer. You can focus on your breath. You can feel the pose in a gentle way.
Changing Poses with Blocks
Modifying yoga poses with blocks makes poses fit your body today. Not everyone can do every pose in the ‘full’ way. Blocks give you steps along the way.
- Making Reaching Easier: In Triangle Pose, if your hand doesn’t reach your shin, ankle, or the floor easily, put a block outside your front foot. Place your hand on the block. Choose the block height you need. This lets you keep your side body long. It helps you open your chest to the sky.
- Helping Hips Open: In poses like Bound Angle Pose (Baddha Konasana), if your knees are high off the floor, put blocks under your knees. This supports your legs. It lets your hip muscles relax instead of holding your legs up. This helps your hips open over time.
- Shortening the Way: In poses like Half Moon Pose (Ardha Chandrasana), putting a block under your bottom hand makes balancing easier. It shortens the distance you need to reach down. This lets you focus on lifting your top leg and opening your body sideways.
- Sitting Tall: For anyone who finds sitting on the floor hard, using blocks in sitting poses is a simple change. It instantly helps you sit with a straight back. This makes seated breathing exercises or meditation much more comfortable. This is a key yoga block modification for beginners.
These are just a few examples. Blocks can change almost any pose to make it work for you. They help you learn the actions of a pose step-by-step.
Getting Your Body in Line with Blocks
Yoga block alignment is important. Good alignment protects your joints and muscles. Blocks can help you feel what good alignment is like.
- Between Thighs: Putting a block between your upper thighs in poses like Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) or Chair Pose (Utkatasana) helps you use your inner thigh muscles. Squeeze the block lightly. This helps line up your hips and knees. It stops your knees from falling inward or outward.
- Under Shoulders or Hips: In poses lying on your back, putting blocks under your shoulders or hips can help set your bones in a good position. For example, in Supported Fish Pose (Matsyasana variation), a block under your upper back helps open your chest safely.
- Under Hands in Planks/Downward Dog: Using blocks under your hands in Plank or Downward Dog can help if your wrists hurt. It changes the angle slightly. It can also help if your shoulders feel tight by raising the floor. Yoga block placement under the hands should be with the block flat or on its middle height, wrist aligned with the front edge.
- Against a Wall: Sometimes blocks are used with a wall for alignment feedback. For example, a block between your back and the wall in a standing pose can help you feel if your back is straight.
Blocks act like little guides for your body. They give you something to push into or rest on that helps you feel the correct shape of the pose. This improves your yoga block alignment.
Going Deeper in Stretches with Blocks
Once you can do a pose easily, you can use blocks to deepen stretches with blocks. This means feeling the stretch more strongly or reaching further safely.
- Forward Folds: In a seated forward fold (Paschimottanasana), if you reach past your feet, you can place a block past your feet. Then, wrap a strap around the block and hold the strap. This lets you pull gently and maybe fold a bit deeper from your hips.
- Standing Forward Fold (Uttanasana): If your hands are flat on the floor and your back is straight, you can stand on blocks. Stand with the balls of your feet or your whole foot on the blocks. Then fold forward. This makes the stretch in your hamstrings much stronger because your body has further to fold. Make sure you can still keep your back straight.
- Supported Backbends: In Supported Bridge Pose, using a block on its medium or high setting lets your back bend more deeply with support. This gives a deeper opening in the front of your body.
- Standing Poses: In poses like Triangle Pose, if your hand is already on the floor easily, you might try placing the block on its highest setting or even standing on a block with your front foot and reaching for the floor or a block beside it. This increases the angle and the stretch in your side body and legs. Only do this if you feel very stable.
Using blocks to deepen stretches means you have control. You are not forcing yourself. The block just gives you a new place to go from. Always listen to your body. If it feels too much, use the block in a different way or height.
Using Blocks in Different Poses
Here is how to use yoga blocks for different poses, broken down by pose type. This also covers many yoga block modifications for beginners.
Using Blocks in Sitting Poses
Sitting on the floor can be hard for many people. Hips might be tight, or knees might hurt. Using blocks in sitting poses makes sitting possible and comfortable.
- Easy Pose (Sukhasana): Sit near the front edge of one or two blocks. Your hips should be higher than your knees. This helps your lower back curve naturally and your spine stack up. You can sit here for breathing or meditation.
- Hero Pose (Vajrasana): If sitting with your seat between your feet is too much for your knees or ankles, place a block (or two stacked) between your feet. Sit on the block(s). This shortens the stretch on your knees and ankles.
- Seated Forward Fold (Paschimottanasana): Sit on the front edge of a block. This lifts your hips. It lets your pelvis tilt forward more easily. This helps you fold from your hips, not your lower back. If you can reach your feet, you can also place a block past your feet to reach for, as mentioned before.
- Staff Pose (Dandasana): Sitting on a block helps you sit up straight with your legs out in front. It’s easier to keep your back tall when your hips are lifted.
Blocks make sitting poses less about fighting discomfort and more about being present and breathing.
Using Blocks in Standing Poses
Standing poses need stability and reach. Blocks help with both. Using blocks in standing poses is very common.
- Standing Forward Fold (Uttanasana): Place one or two blocks under your hands. Choose the height so you can put your hands on the blocks and straighten your back. Your knees can be bent a little. This lets you stretch your hamstrings and back safely.
- Triangle Pose (Trikonasana): Place a block on the outside of your front foot. Put your bottom hand on the block. The height depends on how much you need to reach. This lets you keep your side body long and open your chest.
- Half Moon Pose (Ardha Chandrasana): Place a block under your bottom hand, about a foot or so in front of your standing foot. Put your hand on the block as you lift your back leg. This helps you find balance. It allows you to focus on opening your body sideways.
- Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II): While not typical placement in the pose itself, blocks can help prepare for Warrior II. Practicing hip opening sitting on a block can help. Also, placing a block under the back knee in Low Lunge (which often leads into standing poses) helps stretch the hip flexor needed for the stance.
Yoga block placement in standing poses is usually under the hands to bring the ground up or provide stability.
Using Blocks in Balancing Poses
Balancing needs a steady base. Blocks can make the base wider or higher, making balancing easier.
- Tree Pose (Vrksasana): If you find it hard to balance or place your foot high on your leg, you can place a block near your standing foot. Rest the toes of your lifted foot on the block, keeping the heel on the floor. This gives you support and helps you practice the hip opening without worrying about falling.
- Dancer’s Pose (Natarajasana): This is an advanced pose. Blocks can be used under the standing hand if practicing near a wall or chair for support. More often, preparatory poses using blocks help build strength and flexibility needed for Dancer’s Pose.
Blocks reduce the fear of falling. This lets you practice balancing poses with more ease and focus.
Using Blocks in Backbends
Backbends open the front of the body. Blocks can support this opening gently.
- Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana): This is a classic. Lift your hips and slide one or two blocks under your lower back (sacrum). Make sure the block is stable. You can choose the height (low, medium, high). Let your weight rest on the block. This is a supported, resting backbend.
- Supported Fish Pose (Matsyasana variation): Place one block flat under your upper back, between your shoulder blades. Place another block under your head to support your neck, maybe on a lower height. Lay back over the blocks. This gently opens your chest and throat.
Using blocks in backbends makes them restorative and passive. It lets your body relax into the pose.
Using Blocks in Restorative Poses
Restorative yoga is about deep rest and healing. Blocks provide comfort and full support.
- Savasana (Corpse Pose) Variation: Place a block under each hand, palm facing up. This helps your shoulders relax. Or place a block under your knees. This takes pressure off your lower back.
- Supported Bound Angle Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana): Lay back over a block placed lengthwise under your spine (as in Supported Fish). Or place blocks under your knees (as in Bound Angle Pose, but lying down). These supports help your body fully relax in the shape.
- Child’s Pose (Balasana): If your hips don’t reach your heels or if your forehead doesn’t reach the floor, place a block under your forehead or under your hips. This provides gentle support and comfort.
In restorative poses, the block’s purpose is to help your body feel completely held and at ease.
Detailed Yoga Block Placement Guide
Knowing exactly where to put the block makes it most effective. Yoga block placement depends on the pose and what you need the block to do (support, alignment, deepen).
- Under Hands:
- Purpose: Bring the ground closer, support weight, improve spine length.
- Where: Usually under the palms. In forward folds or downward dog variations, hands are flat on blocks placed flat or on their side. In Triangle or Half Moon, a block is usually on the outside of the foot for the bottom hand.
- Tip: Wrists should be straight. Fingers can grip the block edges for stability.
- Under Hips/Pelvis:
- Purpose: Lift hips higher than knees in sitting poses, provide support in supported backbends.
- Where: In sitting poses, sit on the front edge of the block. In Bridge Pose, slide the block under the bony part at the back of your pelvis (sacrum), not your lower back curve.
- Tip: Widen the block on its lowest height first. If you need more lift, go to the medium height. Check that the block feels stable under your weight.
- Under Shoulders/Upper Back:
- Purpose: Open chest, support spine in backbends.
- Where: In Supported Fish Pose, place one block flat or on its side under your shoulder blades.
- Tip: Position it carefully so it feels comfortable under your upper back bones. You might need another block for your head.
- Under Head/Neck:
- Purpose: Support the natural curve of the neck, promote relaxation.
- Where: In lying down poses (Savasana, Supported Fish, Supine Bound Angle) or forward folds (Child’s Pose, Standing Forward Fold) where the head hangs or needs a rest. Place the block under the forehead or the back of the head, finding a height that feels best.
- Tip: The neck should feel long, not squished or strained.
- Under Knees:
- Purpose: Support joints, release hip tension, increase comfort in sitting or lying poses.
- Where: In sitting poses like Bound Angle, place a block under each knee if they are high off the floor. In Savasana, placing a block or rolled blanket under the knees helps release the lower back.
- Tip: The block doesn’t need to hold the full weight, just provide gentle support.
- Between Thighs/Knees:
- Purpose: Engage inner thighs, improve leg and hip alignment.
- Where: Place a block (on any height, often medium or high) between your inner thighs in poses like Downward Dog, Chair Pose, or even Shoulderstand preparations. Place a block between your knees in poses like Bridge Pose to keep knees from splaying.
- Tip: Gently squeeze the block to feel the inner leg muscles working.
This guide shows how varied yoga block placement can be. Each spot serves a specific goal for safety, support, or deeper sensation.
Picking the Right Block
Blocks come in different stuff and feel different.
- Foam: Light, soft, good for support where you don’t need maximum firmness (like under the head or back). They are portable and affordable. They can lose shape over time if used for heavy support.
- Cork: Firmer than foam, more stable, eco-friendly. Good for supporting hands, hips, or using between thighs where you need solid resistance. Can be a bit heavier and harder.
- Wood: Most firm and stable. Very durable. Best for strong support under hands or for standing on. Can be hard on joints if used directly under bones without padding.
Most people start with foam blocks. They are versatile. Cork blocks are a popular next step for more stability. Having two blocks is helpful, as many poses use a block on each side or stacked.
Things Not to Do with Blocks
Using blocks helps, but misuse can still cause problems.
- Don’t Force It: The block should make the pose easier or more available. Don’t push into a block so much that you feel pain.
- Don’t Be Shaky: Always check that the block is stable before putting your weight on it. A wobbly block is not safe.
- Don’t Skip Proper Form: The block helps alignment, but you still need to try to get the pose shape right. Don’t rely on the block to do all the work if your body can do some of it.
- Don’t Ignore Your Body’s Signals: If a pose feels wrong even with a block, something is not right. Maybe you need a different modification or should skip that pose today.
- Don’t Use Them to Show Off: Blocks are tools for your practice, not a measure of how good you are. Use them when you need them, no matter how long you’ve practiced.
Use blocks wisely. They are there to help your body feel good and safe.
Making Blocks Part of Your Yoga
Don’t think of blocks as just for beginners or people who aren’t flexible. Everyone can use blocks. Trying different yoga block modifications for beginners and advanced students alike can open new doors in your practice.
- Experiment: Try using blocks in poses you usually do without them. See how it changes the pose. Maybe it makes it easier, or maybe it lets you hold it longer. Maybe it helps you feel a muscle working differently.
- Ask Your Teacher: Yoga teachers know many ways to use blocks. Ask them for ideas for specific poses you find challenging.
- Be Patient: It takes time to learn how blocks help you. Keep using them. Notice how your body feels with and without them.
- Two is Better Than One: Most yoga practices use two blocks. This lets you support both hands or both knees at the same time.
Props for yoga poses, like blocks, straps, blankets, and bolsters, are there to make yoga work for you. Embrace them as part of your yoga journey. They are key to safely unlock poses.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: Do I really need yoga blocks?
A: You don’t need them to start yoga, but they help a lot. They make poses safer, more accessible, and can deepen stretches. Many teachers recommend them, especially for beginners.
Q: How many yoga blocks do I need?
A: Most people find two blocks are best. Many poses use two blocks at once (like under both hands or both knees).
Q: What is the best material for yoga blocks?
A: Foam is good for softness and portability. Cork is firm and eco-friendly. Wood is very sturdy. Foam is often suggested for beginners as it’s softer. It depends on what you like and how you plan to use them most.
Q: Which height should I use?
A: Start with the lowest height (flat). If you still can’t reach comfortably or need more lift, try the medium height. The highest height is for when you need maximum reach or support. Listen to your body and choose the height that makes the pose feel good and safe.
Q: Can I use blocks if I’m not a beginner?
A: Yes! Blocks are for everyone. More advanced students use blocks for challenging variations, to improve alignment, or to get deeper into stretches safely. They are useful at any level.
Q: Can blocks prevent injuries?
A: Using blocks correctly helps you practice with better alignment and less strain, which can reduce the risk of injury. They help you avoid forcing your body into positions it’s not ready for.
In Closing
Yoga blocks are simple yet powerful tools. They are essential props for yoga poses that can truly help you safely unlock poses. By using blocks for support, modifying yoga poses with blocks, focusing on yoga block alignment, and learning how to deepen stretches with blocks, you make your practice smarter and more joyful. Whether you are using blocks in sitting poses or using blocks in standing poses, they help you meet your body where it is today. Yoga block modifications for beginners open the door to yoga. Learning how to use yoga blocks for different poses lets you explore the wide world of yoga safely and with more ease. Add blocks to your practice. See how they help you grow.