adpapa Editor
19 December 2020
Without a question, once you’ve used one, you’ll find a yoga strap to be a valuable “prop” in your yoga practice. However, before we discuss the benefits of using a yoga strap, let’s talk a little about Yoga, itself.
What Yoga Practice Can Do for You
Yoga practitioners find that habitual yoga practice awakens both mind and body! Doing each pose perfectly requires your complete attention, and such focus awakens your mental awareness. Regular yoga practice fosters a healthy body through proper breathing for more oxygenation. And greater flexibility for ease of motion, added muscle strength for confident movement, and perfect alignment for enhanced energy flow. The goal of yoga practice is to create a union between the body, mind and spirit.
If you desire to master a yoga pose, you will require extraordinary patience, plus time and dedication. Do not expect perfect poses in the beginning. But, slowly over time, as you practice and attempt to perform each pose correctly, without pushing yourself too far physically or beating yourself up mentally, you will find that you are developing flexibility, strength, and energy physically and feeling more peaceful and clear mentally.
The best environment for doing your practice is a fresh, quiet place with a bare floor and accessible wall. Avoid distractions, such as cell phones, during your yoga practice. Preferably, you should not eat for at least 2 hours before practicing. If this is not possible, then try to eat something light, such as a piece of fruit. However no more than 1 hour before you start your yoga practice.
If you should experience pain or discomfort as you undertake a pose, pause or stop, then try again with more mindful movement.
Yoga props and yoga accessories, such as yoga mats, yoga bolsters, yoga straps, yoga blocks, yoga mat bags, and even yoga towels are made with the intention to help you. Helping mostly with moving deeper into a pose, in performing a perfect pose, and in practicing in a wholesome way.
A yoga strap can help
High on the list of the many benefits of using yoga props is that most are made to assist you. Mostly with relieving any pain or discomfort you may have while you are perfectly in a yoga pose.
Yoga props also aid in the prevention of injury. This happens when you are occasionally tempted to push too hard to “get it right.”
Doing yoga releases tension, and using props aids with stress relief by offering the support necessary for you to relax (but not be lazy) in your practice.
The plumb line, that is, “head-over-heels” body alignment, is important in doing yoga poses perfectly. Yoga props encourage appropriate alignment.
Yoga props assist in augmenting movement. When your joints move with ease, instead of “rubbing you the wrong way,” your yoga poses are more fluid. Certain props actually open space in the joints.
As we mentioned earlier, yoga practice is about unifying the mind, body and spirit through the development of a deeper awareness and the evolution of mindfulness. How do yoga props assist in this great goal? When you are able to simply focus your awareness on doing your yoga poses correctly, rather than concerning yourself with transitory limitations, you will go deeper into that balance of mind, body, and spirit.
About The Yoga Strap
A yoga strap is one of the most useful yoga props you can have to give you additional help as a beginner or to boost your regular routine. The more flexible you are in your yoga poses, the more you’ll benefit. One reason some people stay away from practicing yoga is that they are worried about their flexibility. That’s where a yoga strap can really assist you. It is easily the most beneficial yoga accessory for increasing flexibility. In fact, without a yoga strap, some beginners will find certain poses impossible.
If you have limbs you currently can’t reach, a yoga strap will permit you to grip those limbs, and it can also help you to hold a pose longer. That is to say, a yoga strap has a variety of useful uses. Case in point, a yoga strap can make a hamstring stretch far more gainful if you hook it around your foot while your leg is held straight. Then as you lean forward and pull on the strap, you will get a healthier hamstring stretch.
A yoga strap can also help in bound poses, as well, such as cow face, or Gomukhasana. Particularly if your hands are not able to typically clasp each other. A yoga strap is also used to hold your leg in a Trikosana. To stretch your shoulder in the Shoulder Stretch Exercise, and a lot of other yoga postures.
Yoga straps are generally available in fabrics such as nylon and hemp, and often have buckles on the end to assist in storage and transportation.
