A lot of people view props in yoga as a bad thing. Props can teach the muscles to properly activate, help your form, or just make the pose more comfortable in your body. I took Risa Albertson’s Hatha Yoga Level 1 class at YogaWorks Valencia today, and she worked all the poses with a block.
In her class, she focused on the importance of “spinning your inner thighs back.”
Really didn’t think a small foam block could make my thighs burn so much, and activate my core…but it did….
Here’s a few poses she focused on, and why the block helped!!
- Plank – The tendency in plank is for people to work mostly their arms and shoulders. However, plank is supposed to work your CORE and LEGS. Yes, your legs. Engage engage engage!!! Place the block in-between your thighs, and “spin the inner thighs back” so your legs and core engage. http://instagram.com/p/l55kmVtDso/
- Bridge – Bridge = Death grip in the butt. Seriously, everyone does this so that their hips lift up without engaging their core, back, or quads. Risa had us place a block in-between our thighs, and lift our hips just a few inches off the ground. Immediately, I felt a lot of things working. http://instagram.com/p/l55RY4NDsC/
- Down Dog – I’ve been working a lot on my down dog form. Allison Nelson helped me the other day with my arms (my forearms were almost flat on the mat…), and this time, Risa worked legs. Same concept here as plank. Your body’s weight in down dog should be pretty evenly distributed amongst your arms and legs, but no one seems to engage their LEGS. It’s very hard to feel, but the block helped a lot. http://instagram.com/p/l551nONDtJ/