My Yoga Equipment
When I started out with yoga I was very lucky and I joined a class that had equipment available. The great advantage of this is you can try yoga out to see if it suits you before you look at investing in yoga equipment. It’s a great way to try out some of the types of equipment out there and to make sure you buy the right things for your own personal practice. It’s great to have your own workout essentials at home so you can exercise whenever it suits you.
Yoga Mat
After I’d been doing yoga a while, I started to invest in a few items of yoga equipment. To begin with I went for a mat. It’s nice to have your own personal mat to use because you then know how clean it is. I like to have a fairly thick mat because it provides a level of padding if you are in a kneeling pose or similar. Mine has markings down the middle which are decorative, but also useful in terms of positioning.
Chair
There are quite a few poses that work well with a chair including a number of twists. I also like to use mine for supported shoulder stand. Another favourite is to use it upside down as a base for supta virasana which is a pose I struggle with and for which I need a high support. I got one that isn’t really a proper yoga chair, but Habitat do one which is reasonably priced (some people knock out the back support to be able to swing legs through more easily, but I haven’t bothered). The great thing about it is that it folds up, so it’s been good for a range of other uses around the house.
Yoga Blocks
I have 5 of these. Mostly poses only use one or two of them, but 5 works well for me as I use four for a shoulder stand base and a further one as a ‘launch pad’. They are great for creating a raised flat surface or platform for poses.
Yoga Bricks
I have 2 of these which is enough for most poses I do at home as it provides evenness on both sides. If I need to increase the high of them I tend to put a block underneath to raise them up a little.
Bolster
I have a flat rectangular bolster which works well for some poses. I had decided that was the best at the time I bought it. If I was buying again I think I’d go for the cylinder type, in fact I’m tempted to buy one of those as well as rather than instead.
Yoga Belt
I opted for a long belt which is quite thick. This works for a lot of poses for me. I often use it so I can do a supported boat pose with just this belt. It is a bit wider and thicker than some belts and whilst normally this is either an advantage or neutral, there are situations when I’d prefer a thinner one. I don’t regret buying the longer one, but if I was looking to increase my range of equipment I’d probably invest in a thinner, shorter one too.
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