By 
Doing yoga is one of the most calming and relaxing exercise routines one can do. It helps maintain and establish flexibility, helps mitigate back pain, builds endurance, and has myriad other health benefits. When you’re doing your yoga exercises, it’s crucial to have a nice, open workout space. Filling that space up with accessories that will help you have a better overall workout just makes sense. Today, we’re going to talk about five amazing yoga accessories that can enhance the look and feel of your workout space. Read it below.
Yoga Mat
When you’re practicing your yoga poses, using the hard floor of your enclosed patio isn’t always conducive to comfortably sustaining a pose. Yoga mats are almost essential when it comes to practicing a yoga routine. Yoga mats are soft and supply traction so you don’t slip or hurt yourself while practicing poses. Yoga mats actually came about as the result of someone who wanted to practice but had a medical condition that made it more difficult because she couldn’t sweat from her hands or feet. The combination of dry hands/feet and dry floors rendered several poses unattainable (and slippery!). So, she developed what would become the yoga mat to create a practice area that would have more traction and enable attaining certain poses easier. Getting one for your workout area should probably be at the top of your list, as they provide so many benefits it would be silly not to have one in your yoga arsenal.
Bolster Pillow
An often overlooked, but quite amazing accessory for your yoga practice is a bolster pillow. Bolster pillows are often found in decorative spaces or used as accent pillows. But they can also serve a practical function for yoga practitioners. In fact, some bolster pillows are specifically designed for yoga. While they can come in different shapes (round, rectangular) and sizes (small, medium, largish) they all serve a critical function: support and circulation improvement. A quality, comfortable yoga bolster pillow adds more ways to support yourself during difficult and standard poses. Placing it below your knee during the Savasana can vastly improve circulation. It works the same way for other parts of the body in conjunction with different poses. Bolster pillows help with more than circulation. They can assist with breathing and tension release, improve posture, and help reduce strain from more difficult poses. The fish pose, for instance, is tough for beginners but with the aid of a bolster pillow you can reduce strain on your neck and back, ultimately making it easier to get the pose right. Bolster pillows are durable, inexpensive, easy to clean, and can be constructed with eco-friendly materials like buckwheat hulls and natural cotton. They’re worth adding to your yoga space and workout routine today.
Therapy Roller
At the end of a long work day or a tough workout, you need to do some recovery. Alleviating soreness is a big part of that. You can’t always splurge for a massage at the local parlor or gym, but you can go the DIY route with a foam therapy roller. Using a foam roller after exercising can help ease muscle pain, improve motion range, and help you relax. They are shockingly easy to use and don’t require any fancy equipment or additional personnel. The health benefits of using a foam therapy roller are actually quite extensive and adding one of these to your workout space is a fantastic way to boost your recovery efforts following an intense workout.
Yoga Block
Another unique accessory is the yoga block. It serves a similar function to the bolster pillow. Only a block is thin with a flat surface. The reason is so the block can act as an extension of the arms to enable easier attainment of certain poses. It’s also useful for stretching. Yoga blocks can be made of foam, wood, or even bamboo. Although they are usually used for arm extensions, they can still be useful in attaining poses that stretch the hips, back, and head. They’re also ideal for settling into certain poses as you practice. They make a fantastic supplement to a bolster pillow and are uniquely suited to their own purposes.
Slip Resistant Socks
One of the issues people run into when skin meets the floor is the potential for slipping. Using a yoga mat can help, of course, but there are other options as well. Namely, slip resistant socks. Yoga socks can be beneficial during practice to help increase your balance and assist you with maintaining your grip on the floor or mat. You can later use them in inground pools. There are plenty of other reasons to wear yoga socks during practice, but these are the most important. Deciding on the apparel and accessories you use for your yoga practice is ultimately up to you, but hopefully the suggestions have helped provide a guideline for getting started with enhancing your workout space now and into the future.
Comments