Your yoga apply doesn’t all the time should be an intense Vinyasa or Scorching yoga exercise. Some days, you simply crave some restorative poses to launch stress and calm down tense muscle tissues. A yoga bolster provides the cushion and help that you must totally soften into these postures whereas taking the stress off your low again or joint.
This straightforward prop is a staple in each yoga studio because of its versatility on the mat. Whether or not you employ it to help heart-opening poses, deepen your stretches, or reduce the pressure in your backbone, utilizing a yoga bolster is easy and feels oh-so good.
Listed here are our favourite yoga bolster poses and the right way to do them.
What’s a Yoga Bolster?
A yoga bolster is a agency pillow or cushion designed to help sure you in yoga poses. Bolsters are available quite a lot of sizes and styles, from rectangular to spherical, skinny or thick, and man-made or natural supplies.
Bolsters are very talked-about in Yin yoga, pregnant yoga, and restorative yoga lessons the place added cushion can deepen the stretch with out straining joints or bones. In addition they add peak and help to open the guts or the hip flexors.
Typically your mat simply isn’t fairly sufficient. A yoga bolster provides that additional buffer between you and the ground for max consolation and rejuvenating aid.
Greatest Yoga Bolsters
Our favourite yoga bolsters are the Manduka Enlight Rectangular Bolster, Brentwood House Crystal Cove Yoga Bolster, and Gaiam Sol Studio Spherical Yoga Bolster. Every of those bolsters affords most consolation and dense, but plush help with the added bonus of being aesthetically pleasing in your house.
For a deep dive into the very best bolsters accessible on-line, try our full overview of the High 8 Yoga Bolsters.
9 Restorative Yoga Poses with a Yoga Bolster
Restorative yoga is essentially the most restful, muscle-melting yoga fashion on the market. With a bolster, your consolation and meditative bliss can go to the subsequent degree.
Bolster Hero Pose (Virasana)
Hero pose might be tough for many individuals because of the inside rotation of the thighs and hips. Including a bolster makes it a lot simpler to take a seat between your heels and nonetheless benefit from the quadricep stretch, lumbar strengthening, and low again launch.
Start in tabletop together with your knees about hip width aside. Place a bolster lengthwise between your legs, bend your knees extra, and sit again on it beneath your tail bone. If that is uncomfortable in your joints, place a folded blanket beneath your knees for added cushion.
Permit your knees and calves to hug the bolster because the tops of your toes relaxation on the ground. Your pelvis will likely be tilted barely ahead and your again straight. Really feel your quads and thighs lengthen. Breathe and settle your hips downward.
Supported Reclined Sure Angle Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana)
For an excellent deeper leisure, you’ll find this reclined resting pose to appease your nervous system, decrease your coronary heart fee, and assist relieve nervousness.
From Hero Pose, take and deep breath and exhale to put again over the bolster into Reclining Hero Pose (Supta Virasana). If this causes any discomfort, you need to use a block beneath the bolster so as to add additional peak.
Regulate the soles of your toes to press collectively and permit your knees to drop open to every facet like a butterfly. Shift your tailbone backward and forward till your backbone lengthens alongside the bolster. Your elbows can lay open to your facet with palms up. Really feel your hip flexors and decrease again totally launch as you breathe and let your physique soften into the bolster.
Supported Pigeon Pose (Kapotasana)
Pigeon Pose might be fairly intense for anybody with tight hip flexors or sore glutes. This deep hip opening pose counteracts the results of sitting at a desk all day or difficult your self in a run. This pose may even be painful because of the exterior rotation of the thigh and stress on low again. A bolster can repair the issue instantly.
Start in a Downward Canine. Raise one leg and inhale to lean ahead and produce the leg beneath your chest, folding the knee outward and your foot throughout towards the alternative hip.
Place the bolster perpendicular to your physique and regulate it beneath your hips. Your externally rotated bent knee will likely be elevated as your glute rests on the pillow. This base will reduce the pressure in your knee and hip flexor whereas nonetheless permitting you to totally divulge heart’s contents to the decrease physique stretch.
Extensive Angle Seated Ahead Bend (Upavistha Konasana)
Extensive Angle Seated Ahead Bend is one other deep hip opener that’s tough for anybody with decreased flexibility. As an alternative of curving the backbone and forcing the physique into misalignment, you need to use a bolster to totally calm down within the pose whereas staying lengthened.
Start in a seated place together with your legs prolonged out in entrance. Regulate your physique so you’re instantly on prime of your sit bones. Widen your legs out to the facet so far as is comfy. Flex your toes and level the toes up towards the ceiling.
Place a bolster lengthwise between your legs, with the brief edge up in opposition to your groin. If desired, elevate the opposite finish of the bolster with a yoga block.
Inhale and completely lengthen the backbone. It can be crucial to not hunch right here. Exhale and hinge on the hips, reaching ahead together with your arms as you soften your torso over the bolster between your legs. Don’t fear when you can’t go very far; so long as you keep away from curving the backbone, you’re having fun with all of the hip-opening advantages of this pose. Lengthen and calm down.
Supported Fish Pose (Matsyasana)
In case you have chest or shoulder ache, heart-opening poses will help loosen up your higher physique and reverse the harm of poor posture.
Start with bolster lengthwise close to the highest of your mat. Sit in entrance of the bolster together with your legs prolonged and start to slowly lean again onto the cushion together with your hips remaining on the bottom.
As your higher physique and chest open towards the ceiling, prolong your arms straight out to the perimeters with palms up. All of your shoulder blades to soften over the bolster. Preserve the toes relaxed and evenly splayed out the facet. Totally launch and keep for 10-20 breaths.
Supported Backbend
Legs Up the Wall Pose
This straightforward asana is the final word low again ache aid. Begin sitting together with your proper facet towards a wall. Flip and swing your legs upward and raise your physique to put the bolster beneath your sacrum. Transfer your hips just a little nearer to the wall as you lay down flat in your again.
Prolong your legs upward with heels touching the wall. Permit your head and higher physique to sink down as your low again and glutes soften into the bolster. Maintain for 1-3 minutes as you breathe deeply.
This mild inversion gently stretches your hamstrings and releases your neck whereas offering sciatica ache aid. It’s recognized to extend power, assist with migraines, enhance digestion, and promote lymph circulation.
Low Lunge with Bolster (Anjaneyasana)
Knee ache could be a main supply of discomfort in yoga. However that doesn’t imply you may’t take pleasure in deep stretches by way of your interior thighs in low lunge. Merely putting a bolster or yoga pillow beneath the again knee offers extra help and makes this pose really feel soothing relatively than painful.
Start in a tabletop place with knees bent about hip-width aside. Place a bolster horizontally beneath your knees. Inhale and produce your left leg ahead to the skin of your left arm. Lunge into your proper leg as your hip flexors open and the correct knee rests into the yoga pillow. Preserve the backbone straight and take a number of breaths. Repeat on the alternative facet at any time when you’re prepared.
Supported Knee Twist
As the most effective Yin Yoga postures for low again ache, a Supported Knee Twist can enhance spinal flexibility, digestion, and scale back stress. If this pose feels uncomfortable in your tail bone or hips, strive putting a bolster beneath the knees so as to add help and elevation.
Start laying flat in Savasana with a bolster beneath your knees. Bend your knees barely and use your hand to information your left leg on prime of the correct.
Slowly rotate the highest leg and each knees over to the facet as your backbone stays reaching towards the bottom. Prolong your shoulders and arms out to the perimeters in a T form with palms up, respiratory into the sunshine decrease spinal twist.
FAQs
Is a yoga bolster needed?
For anybody with knee ache, again ache, or decreased flexibility, a yoga bolster can remodel your apply by including peak, help, and cushion. They soften postures whereas serving to you keep alignment. These distinctive yoga props are greater than only a agency pillow; they’re particularly designed to raise and help in all kinds of asanas.
What’s a yoga bolster used for?
In restorative or yin yoga postures, a yoga bolster profoundly deepens your capability to totally calm down in your yoga apply. They help the again in heart-opening poses or cradle the knee in poses that will in any other case be difficult on the joints. Bolsters assist individuals who have decreased flexibility or mobility. In addition they soften postures to assist your physique totally open and launch.
Closing Ideas
As a yoga trainer, I actually suppose {that a} yoga bolster is without doubt one of the most underrated yoga props within the studio. It’s so rather more than only a agency pillow; it’s the good supportive complement to restorative poses. It may be used as a cozier block alternative or along side yoga blocks.
Yoga academics everywhere in the world have really helpful using bolsters for 1000’s of years. In case you’re in search of deep leisure, extra comfy asanas, and rather less firmness in opposition to the ground or mat, these yoga pillows are undoubtedly definitely worth the funding.