Having a yoga brick in your practice is a great tool to have at hand to support height, length, squeeze, and strength. All of which will aid and improve more space, comfort and structural flexibility.
In this blog I show you why and how to use a block in pregnancy, to better your practice, as well as tips for buying one.
Benefits of using a block
Yoga blocks are effective at limiting injury, by maintaining structural alignment, improving flexibility and deepening your practice.
How to use a block when exercising
A common symptom in pregnancy is a sore back. Exercises to help back pain are useful to practice.
By popping the yoga block under your booty it can help create height and length AKA space and more comfort to the back, and improve posture.
If you are not able to touch the floor with your hands yet, a block can be placed on the floor at a height that your hand can reach to assist connection to the pose.
If your knee doesn’t quite reach the floor yet, popping a block underneath your knee, can help to facilitate the ability to press and move more into your stretch.
Prenatal stretching using a block
There are pregnancy exercises that having a block for are highly beneficial, especially as your baby bump gets bigger.
Exercise 1 butterfly legs
Sitting on the floor, bring the soles of your feet together. Let your knees move outwards and towards the floor.
If theres quite a lot of space between your knees and the floor, placing the yoga blocks underneath your knees, will then allow you to press and connect the outer thigh to feel the inner thigh stretch.
If you don’t feel comfortable whilst sitting on the floor, putting the block under your bum in butterfly pose, can give more height to your hips facilitating room for the pelvis and baby and encourage lengthening effect for the back.
Exercise 2 Side angled pose
Stand in warrior 2 for a few breathes before reaching the front arm forward and pivoting the arms, connecting the elbow crease with the inside of the knee joint.
Rather than reaching the hand to the floor as this picture shows, place a block on the inside of the foot, at a height that suits you.
This will encourage more height hence space within this pose.
Hold for 3-5 breathes before switching sides.
Exercise 3 triangle pose
Come back into warrior 2 pose for a few breathes before straightening the front leg.
On your inhale find space and as you exhale reach as far forward as you can, by hinging at the hip crease.
The reach comes from the hinge.
As you exhale, pivot your arms wherever they naturally go.
Could be above/below the knee, could be the shin or the foot.
Rather than reaching to the floor place a block at a height that suits you to help you to press and find more space.
⚠️ By using a block at your leaning foot, it encourages more height to your reach, giving length to the pose. Rather than dumping into the hip as you reach for the floor.
A common mistake in this pose is not reaching first before pivoting. By doing this it’s very easy to dump into your hip, rather than reaching out from the hip where you will find the space and length before pivoting.
Exercise 3 Childs pose
Child’s pose opens the hips and lengthens the back.
However if your bum doesn’t sit on your feet when you reach forward, putting a block in between your feet and bum, will give you the ability to feel the the connection and stretch effectively.
Alternatively if your head doesn’t reach the floor because your baby belly is blossoming, placing a yoga block at your forehead at whatever height you need will help deepen your stretch and give you height to stretch forward from.
Exercise 4 puppy pose
Puppy pose using a block is great as you grow bigger as it gives more height and length for baby belly.
Puppy pose is a great alternative to child pose in pregnancy because it supports more room for your baby belly.
I found this photo with a great explanation here
Top tips for buying a block
Just like your practice the type of block used, is a subjective choice.
“B.K.S Iyengar’s stated the ideal size for a yoga block is 9 x 4.5 x 3 inches. The most common yoga block dimensions are 4″ x 6″ x 9″ but you will find blocks that are both larger and smaller than this. Choosing a larger or smaller block will depend on the size of your hands and the level of your flexibility.”
3 types of blocks
There are 3 types of blocks and i’m going to explain them in more detail below in terms of,
- Weight
- Thickness
- Material
Cork block
- Manduka Cork Yoga Block
- 8.9 x 4.7 x 3 inches in size and weighs around 1.3 lb (600 g)
- Great for balancing as supports your weight
- Easy to grip with contoured edges
- Sturdy yet light
- Ideal for beginners and advanced yogis
- Effective at limiting injury by maintaining structural alignment and strengthening your practice
Wooden Block
- Hugger Mugger Bamboo Yoga Block
- Product Dimension:- 10 x 6 x 4 inches
- Rectangular yoga Block
- Made from bamboo
- lightweight as it is hallow
- Great for restorative poses as the round edges create comfort
Foam block
- Manduka Recycled Foam Yoga Block
- Size 9” x 6” x 4”
- Weight 0. 9 lbs
- Ideal for restorative yoga and backbends
- Ideal for comfort and support
- Non slip grip
Personally I love Manduka Cork Yoga Block because of its weightfulness feeling. Im naturally more flexible and this block helps to create depth and strength, to advance my practice further.
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