How to Use Yoga Blocks: Demonstration

hi I’m Rebecca Brayton and welcome to
watchmojo.com and today our host
Veronica and Jen lorac are showing us
how to use yoga blocks to help our daily
practice perfect example of using a
block in standing poses is trikonasana
which the beautiful Veronica will
demonstrate now so here the block can be
used in three different ways because
it’ll have three different levels to it
the first level is on the highest point
so all she does is just place the hand
on the block and hug the legs to the
midline lengthen out the top of the head
then you can readjust the block just
down on the edge so this is the place in
the middle this is the the middle way so
after the hamstrings the back of the leg
has opened a bit more you can turn the
block down and then the next level is to
spin the block flat so that these
different stages are a catalyst to
eventually over time you don’t need to
rush it bring the hand to the floor this
helps you be in the pose more
comfortably without over stretching
without injuring so it really does help
give you space what I’m going to show
you now is a way that you can support
and even use the block as helping you in
a therapeutic kind of way when we have
hyperextensions at the back of the legs
like Veronica and myself so um what
veronica is going to do is just inhale
lift the arms up and then exhale stretch
the hips back and bring the hand to the
floor and so what you’re going to do
here is if I roll her pant leg up a bit
you know see that she hyperextension the
knee back the back of the knee back what
I’m gonna ask her to do is just then
that knee a little bit and then I’m
going to put the block and now she can
push the back of the leg into the block
and it stops her from hyperextending so
it basically gives her a trigger – okay
don’t you know don’t move the knee back
down straighten the leg too much and
then even here if she were struggling to
touch the floor you could also put a
second block underneath the hand and
then she’s going to expand more bring
the shoulder back and bring the throat
back and bring the head back and stretch
from
harder to the fingertips so so this is
another way it once again that it can be
used as a therapeutic as a little bit
more of a helper so this is just an
example of how a prop can give you
length in another way or rather space in
another way so um what I’m going to do
is Veronica is going to demo her this
pose first without the blocks and then
will notice the difference with the
block so she’s just going to place her
hands alongside her hips and what I want
her to do is push down into the floor
and lift the hips and the feet even up
off the floor so she’s going to try to
do this and see how she only gets her
bum up and she can’t get everything up
so sometimes this is not necessarily a
strength issue it can be but rather it
can be just that the torso can be too
long and the hands to reach the floor it
just collapses everything that it takes
extra power to lift yourself up so the
blocks can be placed right at the hips
once again where the hands would
normally be and she can do it like this
and lift up obviously easy for her and
then you know that for sure she can even
do it this way so you’re just going to
turn the block down and lift right up
and hold good and then come back so
again that’s just another way that can
give you space and make life a little
bit easier in the yoga class and that’s
it