How to Use a Yoga Block

Here’s how to use your yoga block to “unblock” your body. I picked up my yoga block the other day during practice and decided to explore its many uses systematically.

To date, my use of the enigmatic yoga block had been admittedly limited. As I found out, there is so much more to discover.

Certainly, the yoga block is fantastic as a balancing aid when you need the floor to come closer to you. It’s also a useful support when resting deeply, as the forgiving edges and corners of a cork or foam block can be used as acupressure and massage tools.

Using yoga blocks in this way deepens your ability to open and release and go further in your practice. There are no rules with a block, making it such an inviting yoga prop.

With this is mind, here are a few of my favourite yoga block experiments for you to try yourself:

The Melt Your Heart-Opener

Come into puppy-dog pose after opening in child’s pose and place a foam or cork block under your chest at the breastbone. Lengthen your spine, and you should find an ease in the pose as the block supports you.

Soften your heart centre and melt it against the block, letting your shoulders release. If you are tight in the front of your shoulders, you should get a sweet massage by rolling your shoulders in slow wide circles.

Back Cracker

Sit on your mat and place your yoga block behind you, lengthwise, approximately where your shoulder blades would reach the mat. Lie down and adjust yourself so that the lower corners of the block match up with the lower tips of your shoulder blades. Get comfy in your lower back and try to relax.

I say this because anyone who does anything — typing, shopping, building, serving, driving — has tight upper back and shoulders. If you can breathe deeply and work on this one enough, you will be able to use the edges and corners of the block to get right into your deepest tension. Breathe, relax and enjoy the release.

Sciatic Bliss

Come to a comfortable seated position. Sit up on the block at its lowest height, and bring your hands to the floor directly behind you and your feet to the floor in front. Using your limbs to steer your torso, play around by shifting your weight side to side and back to front.

Again, like the previous poses, investigate using the soft corners and edges to place pressure on the locus of tension. To give yourself an acupressure treatment, hold on one spot for 5 breaths and slowly release. Work all the way down your hamstrings by moving backwards on your yoga block and straightening your legs. Alternatively, you can move forward to work on your sacrum.

Have fun with your yoga block and get creative. It may help you master standing splits, hold you in supported shoulder stand, or even help release some deep seated tension.

Be a Balanced Yogi, Inside and Out

Balance is a very popular word. Balance has become the modern mantra for artists, bankers, bartenders and everyone in between. We all seem to be trying to balance something, whether it be our work life and family life, our diet, or our finances.

The Balancing Process

Balance is not a static state, not something that you work hard to achieve and then once you’ve found it you have it for life. Balance is more like a very slow pendulum, slowly rocking from one extreme to the other, finding the center point for a moment, before falling out again.

You might recognize this in your yoga practice. Have you ever noticed when you hold tree pose, for example, and are trying to stay balanced, you can do it — but then once you are steady, and stop trying, you fall out? This is because balance is only achieved through the constant effort and striving for balance.

A Lifelong Commitment

Just when you feel confident in tree pose or in your balanced diet, you usually release a bit of effort, and eventually, lose your steadiness. This is why balance is not a static state but rather a lifelong process. It is something you strive for on and off your yoga mat.

It all begins with a commitment to self-observation. We have to want to change, want to do to work to steady ourselves, to explore the challenges of struggle, and trust the outcomes.

Recognizing Imbalance

The best part about striving for balance is that it gives you the chance to see where you are out of balance. This can be hard, because we may love our misalignments. Perhaps it’s about only wanting to do slow and relaxing yoga, or being purposely misaligned in a pose as we strain to achieve an advanced expression that is beyond our current limits.

Vary Your Practice

To be a balanced yogi can mean that you not only are great at tree pose or standing splits, but also that your asana practice has a good level of variety, that you are seeking to find a calm center point emotionally, and that you are practicing other types of yoga outside of your Hatha yoga asana practice. Now and again, explore the practices of Karma or Bhakti yoga and notice how the pendulum swings.

Your Center Point

The next time you are working on a standing balance pose or full inversion, like forearm balances, headstand or handstand, try this technique to find your center line. Imagine a line, perhaps a metal cable pulled taught between your big toes, your navel and your nose.

Releasing Frustration

Balancing in yoga poses always brings up anger and frustration. It’s natural to want to perfect something while avoiding the feeling of failure when you fall out of a pose. Remember, if you are not falling (on or off your yoga mat), you are not trying.

Avoid reacting to losing balance with anger or frustration. When you do this, you make it harder to regain your balance, because you have started a little war with the pose and with yourself through this subtle aggression.

Know Your Yoga: Hatha, Karma, Bhakti and Jnana

There seems to be a little confusion in the yoga world between ‘types’ of yoga and ‘brands’ of yoga. Here is a guide to help you sort out the differences. This will provide you with a basic understanding of the 4 different types of yoga and how you can practice them.

Hatha Yoga

Hatha yoga makes up the bulk of all the yoga being practiced these days. Hatha yoga is what you are practicing when you do your yoga poses (asanas), breathing exercises (pranayama) or concentration techniques (dharana). Basically, anything done on your yoga mat is Hatha.

Within Hatha yoga, there are now many different yoga brands. Each brand may focus on a particular aspect of Hatha yoga, like which poses you do, how exactly you do them and how fast. Regardless of their divergences, they are all forms of Hatha yoga.

Karma Yoga

The concept of Karma is pretty well-known, and you may have noticed the term being used by yoga studios to describe their work-exchange programs.

This is because Karma yoga is the practice of selfless service. The fundamental principle is that you are devoting your time and energy towards the spiritual and practical well-being of others, without seeking any personal benefits for yourself.

Your practice of Karma yoga could involve organized volunteer work or simply helping a stranger in need. The interesting inner-work you gain from this type of yoga is noticing how your intention to help others can often be driven by selfish motives.

Karma yoga is about releasing your attachment to the results or outcomes of your actions — all of which is easier said than done.

Bhakti Yoga

Bhakti yoga is the yoga of devotion. This type of practice is meant to connect you to the divine and to tap into universal love.

Anytime you are partaking in rituals that are heart-centered and reverential, like chanting, praying or repeating mantras, you are engaged in Bhakti yoga. Bhakti is about sincerely opening your heart to the world.

Jnana Yoga

Jnana yoga means the ‘path of knowledge and wisdom’. Interestingly, this type of yoga recognizes two sources of knowledge. One is gained through reading and studying the yogic texts, such as the Upanishads and the Yoga Sutras. The other is gained through self-observation.

This is why Jnana yoga usually begins later in your yoga practice, once you have already worked at length with Hatha, Karma, and Bhakti yoga. Based on your personal experiences with these types of yoga, you start to ‘see’ yourself — or the aspects of yourself that are hidden behind the mind. Once you start to peek into this aspect of yourself, deep transformation is bound to happen.

Challenge yourself to not only explore the numerous brands of yoga, but also the 4 types of yoga. Which brands incorporate more than one type of yoga? Which types of yoga resonate with you the most?

Answering these questions will deepen your knowledge of yoga and help you find the type and style best for you.

The Hardest Yoga Pose (You Already Practice!)

You may not know it, but you may have already practiced the hardest yoga pose there is: Shavasana, or corpse pose. This is the final pose of any yoga practice, also called relaxation pose, which has you lying flat on your yoga mat with your eyes closed, looking like you are asleep.

The Most Difficult Yoga Pose

Sometimes, you might actually fall asleep in these blissful ten minutes that follow your asana practice. If so, this is a good sign that you are not getting enough sleep. Otherwise, corpse pose is a relaxation pose designed to rejuvenate your body and your brain through profound relaxation.

Thinking about Not Thinking

It is called the hardest yoga pose, because in Shavasana you are meant to completely surrender all physical and mental effort. When you enter this pose, I am sure you immediately notice how much your body wants to hold onto little pockets of tension. Even more so, you may notice how much your mind wants to keep thinking about the details of your life, like what you should make for dinner.

Tranquility Tips

A skilled yoga teacher should be able to lead you into a deep state of concentration that seamlessly flows from your asana series through verbal cues and visualization techniques. If you are practicing on your own, or having difficulty letting go into corpse pose, then try the following:

If you wear glasses, take them off so your facial muscles are totally relaxed. If you have a yoga strap, or an extra piece of clothing, drape it across your eyes to block out light and keep your eyelids closed.

To control the runaway train of thoughts that will inevitably gain speed once you stop moving, let your awareness drop into your body. Avoid thinking about relaxing by scanning your body from tip to toe, noticing particular sensations that are present there, and inviting each part to be heavy and soft. Soon, you will find yourself in a peaceful state called yoga nidra.

Yoga Nidra

Yoga Nidra, also called yogic sleep, is the state between being awake and being asleep. In Yoga Nidra, you experience a state of profound rest, yet maintain lucidity. The goal of Shivasana is to enter this state of relaxation, which replenishes your energy and allows your body to absorb the benefits of your yoga practice.

Relaxation and Stress

Relaxation is a natural antidote for stress. When you relax, your nervous system works best. In this state, it can scan and regulate any imbalances in your body.

Relaxation also allows your endocrine system to function optimally, as it mixes and sends hormones through to regulate organ functions. These systems, when at their best, keep your immune system strong, boosting your capacity to heal by combating stress.

In sum, Shivasana is the toughest yoga pose because it asks you to perfect the art of effortless effort, a confusing and frustrating concept. Like the toughest trials in life, the toughest yoga pose has, arguably, the greatest benefits, by treating stress — the cause of so many modern-day illnesses.

Yoga at Your Desk

Practicing yoga at your desk may sound far-fetched. But think about it: How many hours a day do you spend sitting down? Between commuting time on the bus or in a car, at your home or office desk, and on your couch, the number of hours spent sitting might surprise you.

Office Yoga

While the negative effects of prolonged and long-term sitting on our physical health have been known for some time, it can still be impossible to avoid the computer. Our lifestyles, and many times our livelihoods, mean sticking ourselves in front of a monitor for much of our waking time.

As a writer I struggle with the necessity of sitting in front of my computer for hours and even days on end. Luckily, as yoga teacher, I have learned a few tricks that can help counterbalance too much chair time.

Incorporating these simple tips and stretches into your computer routine will keep your body limber and energized. These preventative measures will help ease muscular tension caused by the repetitive strain of typing and the poor posture habits we often unconsciously slip into.

Get Up

Taking short frequent standing breaks is amazing for you. They will help keep your brain and body energized so you can work productively throughout the day. I have found a great free ‘app’ that reminds you to take 15 second stretch breaks every 20 minutes and 5 minutes walking breaks every hour.

It’s truly astounding how much better you will feel when you take a few deep breaths, stretch your arms up above your head with interlaced fingers and straighten your back. This is just one of the many kinds of short breaks which provide immeasurable benefits.

Short Poses for Long Days

These seated yoga moves are amazing for long flights, sitting in traffic and especially stressful deadlines. Let your chin drop down towards your chest and breathe into the back of you neck. Then let your head roll over to the right, then the left, just letting gravity and the weight of your head create the stretch.

Bringing your head back to center and upright, start making slow circles with your shoulders, drawing them up towards your ears and then down towards your hips. Slowly exaggerate the circling motions, making them wider and moving faster. Interlace your fingers in front of you and push your knuckles away from your face as you round your upper back and get a nice juicy stretch between your shoulder blades.

Stop Slouching

Try to remember to breathe deeply at your desk. Here you should be incorporating your 3 part yogic breathing. Proper breathing will help you maintain great posture, because you can’t inhale completely while slouching! Yogic breathing will also help you deal with stress and keep your metabolism speedy.

Finally, a little yoga stretch for your eyes! Keeping your back straight, and without moving your neck, simply look up, then down, and then left and right, as far as you can. Repeat this 3 times, then start circling your eyes, clockwise, then counterclockwise.

Yoga for Insomnia

Did you know that approximately 1 in 7 Canadians suffer from insomnia? Are you one of them? Before resorting to prescription medication, why not try prescription meditation!

Causes and Consequences of Insomnia

All joking aside, insomnia and other sleep disorders are serious issues that affect the quality of your entire life and can lead to serious chronic illness.

There are many factors that contribute to insomnia, from general stress and anxiety, to chronic pain and tension. Insomnia can create a brutal cycle as you continue to lose sleep by being stressed out about losing sleep.

Yoga can work wonders for insomnia. A dedicated bedtime yoga routine is guaranteed to calm your body and relax your mind so that you can catch some much needed z’s.

Rules to Sleep By

The key to a successful sleep is having a consistent bedtime routine. Far beyond brushing and flossing, you need to prepare your body and brain to go to bed.

Rule #1: Don’t eat anything past 9 p.m. To properly prepare for sleep, your body should be slowing down, not working to digest food or processing stimulants like sugar or caffeine. Practise discipline with the late night munchies and it will pay off.

Rule #2: Unplug. Just as you should avoid stimulating your body by not eating before bed, you will also want to stop stimulating your brain. Turn off the TV or computer at least an hour before bed and opt instead for soothing music or light reading.

Bedtime Yoga Routine

Do this yoga routine 20 minutes before you want to be asleep, every single night. In this way you will train your mind and body to fully relax, and you should quickly find yourself slipping into a sweet slumber.

Bring the front edge of your yoga mat up to an empty wall. Lie on your back with your bum a few inches from the wall. Slowly walk your legs up the wall until they are at a 90 degree angle to your torso and pressed up against the wall. Bring your hands to your lower belly and start to slow your breathing. Fill your palms with your belly as you relax your stomach and deepen your inhale. Stay here for 5 minutes.

Next, let your arms come out to the side in a ‘T’ shape and slowly bend your knees, letting them fall in towards you. Move into an easy spinal twist, letting your knees come down to rest on the ground for five minutes on either side. Begin counting while you breathe: inhaling for 4 counts, and exhaling for 6.

Finally, get into bed for Shivasana — your final relaxation pose. Lie on your back and bring your legs slightly apart, letting your feet drop out to either side. Have your arms down by your side, away from your torso, with your palms facing up. Scan your body from the top of your head to the tips of your toes, inviting each muscle, tendon, organ and bone to be incredibly heavy.

Feel yourself sinking deeper into your mattress. Keep counting your breaths, elongating the inhale to 6 and the exhale to 8, until you slip off into dreamland …

Great Outdoor Yoga

Summer is here. The pools are ready, the patios are full, the parks and picnic baskets are packed — and so are the yoga mats. It’s time for outdoor yoga.

Yoga in the Park

Outdoor yoga has been steadily gaining popularity in cities across North America. Maybe you’ve noticed a small group of students practicing yoga in the shaded groves of your local park on one of your evening strolls? Or maybe you were one of those yogis settling into pigeon pose while the late day breeze gently wrapped around you.

Vitamin D Enriched Yoga

Even if you are the most dedicated yoga student in the world, it can be pretty hard to stay in the yoga studio with the summer sun calling your name. There are so many reasons to practice yoga outdoors.

Summer’s bounty in this part of the world is fleeting, so we need to make the most of the warmer seasons. And then there’s the positive benefits of fresh air and a moderate amount of naturally-derived vitamin D.

All these things are so good for your mind and body that it would be a missed opportunity if you did not, from time to time, take your yoga practice to the great outdoors!

Your Outdoor Yoga Checklist

You could have a totally enjoyable spontaneous yoga practice by simply plopping down on the grass and rolling around; but to get the most from your outdoor practice, here’s a little park yoga checklist:

• Bring your yoga mat and a small blanket to put underneath it. This will help cushion you from bumps, stones and twigs — especially for yoga poses that have you lying on your back.

• Don’t forget your water bottle. Avoid soft plastic water bottles, which leak toxic petro-chemicals into your drinking water. A small mason jar works perfectly if you don’t want to buy a stainless steel water bottle.

• Wear a light cotton top with capped-sleeves or a sheer cotton 3/4 length top to protect you from the sun if you are doing your yoga practice in the afternoon. Such clothing will also shield you from mosquitos if you are practicing yoga in the early evening.

• In terms of sun protection, avoid using regular sunscreen, especially if you are doing a more vigorous practice that gets your pores opened up. You want to be detoxing from yoga, not filling up your body with petrochemicals and carcinogenic parabens, so opt for natural sunscreens.

• For bug protection, you could practice yoga like Elizabeth Gilbert in “Eat, Pray, Love” and let them bite you. Or you can use natural bug repellants made from essential oils like tea tree and citronella.

Your Very Own Yoga Studio

Now that you have all of your yoga supplies, you get to create your very own yoga studio. Walk around a few parks to get a feel for which one makes you comfortable. Turn off your discerning mind and let your body guide you to your perfect yoga space.

Notice where you end up. Are you under a tree or in an open field? How does this reflect your mood or general orientation to the world today? Set up your yoga space and let your practice shine.

Yoga For Men

Did you know that yoga used to be exclusively for men? Yoga grew out of the ancient Indian Shramana tradition, when young men would leave home on a spiritual pilgrimage and adopt an ascetic lifestyle.

Only in more recent times has the practice of yoga been adopted by women and, ironically, in the West it has been women who have predominated. But this too is changing fast, as more and more men are bravely stepping into the yoga studio and onto their yoga mats.

Yoga Poses Are For Men Too!

With the anatomical differences inherent to men and women, both sexes have their yogic strengths and challenges.

Women are naturally more flexible, so deep opening and impressive feats of elasticity in poses like Uttanasana (standing forward fold) and Kapotasana (pigeon pose) are much easier.

Men are more prone to extra-tight hamstrings and hips. This make forward folding incredibly frustrating and also dangerous for the lower back which, if practiced improperly, becomes the release valve for the pressure meant to stretch the legs.

Men, however, have more upper body strength and less lower body weight than women. They tend to excel in poses like arm balances: the most amazing being peacock pose, or Mayurasana. I once had a roommate who, upon finding me struggling with this pose, tried it himself and got it on the first shot. He didn’t even practice yoga!

Not Flexible Enough

The biggest excuse I get from men when I invite them to try yoga is, “I’m not flexible enough.” To their surprise, I respond by saying, “Good. Then yoga will be easy for you!”

The goal of your asana practice is to get a good stretch. If you are very flexible, it is actually harder to feel a stretch in your muscles and fascia — so, yes, you will have to wrap your legs around your head like the stereotypical yogi pretzel. If your body is tight, then all you have to do is move an inch or two to find a deep stretch. That’s way easier!

So now that you are ready to do yoga, here are a few basic principles to keep in mind that will help your yoga practice and make it a lot more enjoyable:

Use Yoga Props

A yoga block and a yoga strap are your allies. When you notice that you are straining to reach the ground or your toes, grab your yoga block (in the case of any standing pose) or your yoga strap (for seated or supine poses). Using props takes strain out of the lower back, and helps even the least flexible yogis to relax in a pose while properly aligned.

Bend Your Legs

Any yoga pose that stretches your gluts and hamstrings is best performed with a bend at the knee. Bend your knees as much as you need, in order to get your upper thigh and lower belly to touch. This also helps protect injured or achy knees, especially in seated forward folds.

Practice the Poses You Love

Even though we want to be pushing our boundaries and teaching our bodies new tricks, the key to enjoying yoga includes practicing the yoga poses you excel at. This keeps you motivated to get on your yoga mat, and it will keep you working hard when you encounter your most challenging yoga postures.

Too Hot for Yoga? Get Cool with Yin Yoga!

In extreme temperatures of summertime, it can be hard to stay motivated in your yoga practice. Most likely you will look for ways to cool down your core temperature rather than thinking about exercise. Before skipping your Sadhana (asana practice) in lieu of an icy treat, here is how you can practice yoga through the hot summer months — and stay cool while doing it.

Cooling Yin Yoga

Yin yoga has a cooling effect on the body and provides a deep stretch for your joints and connective tissue (fascia). Yin yoga is practiced by holding yoga poses from 1 to 5 minutes. While you are holding these long yoga postures, it is easy for your mind to wander and become distracted. Concentrate on relaxing your body and maintaining deep and even breaths.

Chilling Breath

Start your yin yoga practice with the following pranayama (breathing technique), which will help cool your body and release extra heat built up by the sizzling summer sun.

You can practice this breath either in easy pose or while lying down in corpse pose. Curl your tongue to form a little tube to breathe through or make an “O” shape with your mouth. Inhale through your mouth and exhale out your nose. Feel the coolness of the air in your mouth and repeat this cycle 10 times.

Icy Asanas

Because a yin practice has you holding poses for so long, you really only need six poses for a complete one-hour practice. Here is a great cooling summertime yin practice:

Start in “legs up the wall” and practice the cooling breath as you settle into this pose. To add a supported back bend, grab a yoga block and place it under your sacrum. Move from this opening pose into a deep hip opener by removing your yoga block and letting your legs fall away from each other, like you’re doing splits up the wall.

Calming and Cooling Forward Folds

Come away from the wall and find Dandasana, or staff pose. Hinging at the hips, fold forward bringing your lower belly towards your upper thighs, coming into Paschimottanasana. If your hamstrings are tight, sit on a block or a rolled yoga mat to give yourself leverage and increase your mobility.

From this base yin practice, add any of the following poses, holding each one for up to 5 minutes: cobbler’s pose (Bahdakonasana), child’s pose (Balasana) or head-to-knee pose (Janu-sirshasana).

Morning Yoga Challenge

The best time of day to do yoga, especially in the summer, is early in the morning. At an energetic level, it’s the time when the world is awakening and new energy is gathering. At a practical level, early morning is the coolest time of day.

Practicing in the early morning can profoundly change your day. You are given the chance to check in with your body and with your daily goals. You will fully awaken prana (or energy in your body) to maximize your productivity.

Challenge yourself to a morning practice of yin yoga for one week to keep yourself cool and to boost your energy for those exhausting hot days.

How to Find the Best Yoga Music

Chances are, if you are reading this, you have googled “yoga music” at some point in the not-too-distant past. I certainly have. And like me, you were probably pretty disappointed with the search results.

Yoga Music Overload

My quest for yoga music — or “free yoga music” to be totally honest with you — usually comes to an abrupt halt when I am confronted with so much choice. How can you sift through the myriad of songs and albums out there on the great world wide web without a compass?

The best yoga music I have found is not unlike good advise. It did not come from a keyword search, but rather from a real live person. Here are a few ways to navigate the expansive yoga soundscape to find the best yoga music out there. You might even have some fun while doing it!

3 People Before Google

Dismayed by seeing direct knowledge sharing between people being replaced by the much less social activity of Wikipedia and Google searching, a good friend of mine devised a new ‘rule’ for her household, she called it the “3 people before I google rule”.

Whenever anyone in her household has a question — such as “how do I make corn-bread” or “which yoga pose can help my sore back?” — they have to ask 3 people before they go online to find the answer. This actually started some great conversations, even if no one knew the answer.

Ask a Stranger, Ask your Mom

I suggest you do the same when you are looking for new yoga music. Before browsing the web, ask your yoga teacher about his or her favorite yoga CD. Ask the person beside you in your next yoga class what they love to listen to when they do yoga at home. (You may make a new friend.) You might even ask your mom what she loves to listen to when she’s by herself. Engage with the people all around you, and you will find a wealth of musical knowledge.

Listen Outside of the Box

This brings us to the next point: Do you have to listen to yoga music when you practice yoga? What do you love to listen to when you need to relax or when you need an energy boost? Experiment by doing yoga at home to a whole range of music outside of the yoga, meditation, or new-age categories. Try different options and see what resonates with your yoga practice.

Dare to Be Different

One of my favorite yoga classes during my yoga teacher training program had a soundtrack comprised entirely of ‘pop’ music. Because I knew so many of the songs, they summoned deep emotions and my practice was enlivened and made memorable by listening to yoga music that dared to be different.