Best Yoga Block Exercises for Beginners

Yoga is helpful activity to improve posture, flexibility, and balance. The yoga practice provides more, including self-reflection, self-awareness, kindness, and growth.

Yoga Blocks: How to Use Blocks to Improve Your Yoga Poses

Image Source

Yoga offers different props to improve your ability to learn about a yoga pose. One of the most famous yoga props to be utilized in class is the yoga block. The yoga block is made from bamboo, foam, cork, or wood. The block is often utilized as an extension of arms, but can also help the back, head, and hips to benefit the body settle into a pose.

Furthermore, yoga blocks:

help range of motion, thereby shortening the distance between the floor and you, getting the floor near you.

Help in establishing the right alignment

Help make yoga helpful to start and those feeling injury or other physical limitations.

Getting awareness to right engage and help muscles in a particular pose.

It can be kept at the low, medium, and high positions to manage less or more support.

Mountain Pose

Image Source

It is also known as Tadasana. It is the root of every standing yoga pose. It is the most basic yoga block workout and it makes you learn consciously relates different body part into one simple position and enhance on the body posture.

When consistency is maintained, it helps to relieve pain and benefits in the growth of the right alignment for yoga lifestyle practices. A block is helpful to get your spine into the right alignment.

How to do it?

Take a block and place it in between thighs and squeeze the block to bring it to will hip width of your feet and keep toes slightly in heels are lightly out.

Make sure to keep feet parallel toward the mat and squeeze shin into calves and internally rotating thighs to squeeze onto that block this is going to help to rotate her sacrum down especially as you draw your belly button in.

So, the sacrum extends to lengthen out from both sides of the waist and reach arms upward over the sky dropping your shoulder blades down and then pressing your palms near each other good so it could also keep a block in between hands to ensure that your arms are stretched and straighten and press the block toward each other hands to engage both legs and arms.

 

Easy Seat

Image Sources

This is also called Sukhasana, it is considered as one of the oldest yoga in existence. Judging from its name, one would think that it is easy to do. However, this is not the case, it is mostly performed just before commencing other yoga block workouts as it helps in warm-ups. It is best for preparing you for other expert hip opening exercises.

Sukhasana, Hands-on Blocks

• It relaxes your legs, rests your head, and opens the hips.
• Sit over 2-folded blankets with legs stretched in the front direction of you.
• Flex knees, and cross right shin in front of the left shin.
• Move the knees near together till feet are commonly underneath them.
• Fold front over legs.
• Stretch arms completely front and keep them over blocks.

Dead Bug

Image Source

Squeeze the yoga block between the elbow and your knees for this core-centric workout and it will make your mid-part work extra hard during the whole movie.

How to do it?

• Lie down on your back.
• Keep a yoga block the long way between your left knee and left elbow, both joints leg flexed at 90 degrees.
• Stretch your arm and left leg straight up to the ceiling.
• Gently and with control, lower both right arm and right leg to the ground. Manage your spine in a neutral position and head over the mat.
• Place spine in a neutral pose and head over the mat.
• Get right arm and leg head over the mat. Get right arm and leg back overhead and repeat for 8-10 reps.
• Then switch sides.

Plank Pose

Image Source

It is also known as Phalakasana, and it is necessary for developing the right arm and core strength. It is important for different yoga block workouts. It should be utilized as a transitioning position between the different poses, and it also develops the right strength and alignment that is necessary for increasing practice.

Using blocks with plank is a modification of plank exercise. One can feel comfortable in plank exercise depending on the practitioner’s flexibility. One could utilize the wall to keep the feet for grip or you could use blocks for the face or a small table to get the face for good support at the simple plank pose.

You can also use blocks to keep them under your abdomen or chest to feel comfortable using the pose. One could also use a chair to keep the feet on it to get more endurance to get into the pose.

How to do it?

• A plank should get challenging for a beginner, get down over knees, then try to do complete plank by raising knees gently for a breath. Slowly increase the holding time duration for plank.
• Use blocks to support your elbow while doing plank without using the wrist.
• Once you feel comfortable, then alternate your elbows by keeping one elbow on the block and leaving another hand free on the side.

Next Modification with 1-blocks

• Keep a block under your abdomen in plank position.
• Go a little higher and rest on the block.

Next Modification with 1-block for Knees

• Keep a block below the knees.
• Do plank and rest knees on the block.

Side Plank with one block

• For side, plank keeps blocker below your waist.
• Raise upper leg in the air and leave down.

Downward Facing Dog

Image Source

It is also called Adho Mukha Svnasana and it is one of the popular yoga block workouts in the western world. It is a complete mind-blowing pose suitable for stretching and strengthening the body.

Beginners learn how they should develop core and upper body strength, evenly distribute their body. It also relieves tension and tightness in the legs, backs, and shoulders.

It is necessary to note that the whole body should be engaged during this yoga to assure the weight does not fall over one body part.

How to do it?

Backbone lifts to manage neutral spine.

Build up to keep for one minute.

Only hold as much as possible for you.

 

2.Spread your fingertips near the earth, options to utilize blocks make the belly come near the thighs sits bones rising toward the sky.

Spread your fingertips near the earth,

 

Block using options

Let your belly come near the thighs.

Sits bones raising toward the sky.

Lightly engage your belly and raising navel and peddle out your feet.

 

Modifications

Keep blocks under hands.

Overstretching may cause injuries.

 

3.Move front to down dog

• Disperse your fingertips toward the ground.
• Let your bell come toward thighs.
• Sits bones raise toward the sky.
• Lightly engage your belly, navel up, and peddle out your feet.
• Modifications
• Keep blocks under hands.

 

Low Lunge Pose

Image Source

It is also known as Banarasana. It uses a similar concept as the high lunge but the fingertips reach the floor. It strengthens the muscles of the core and helps to open the hips up. It is a general pose that is ideal for transitioning. It creates the foundation for different yoga block workouts.

How to do it?

• Start with Downward Facing Dog
• Raise one leg up toward the sky.
• Breath out and get the leg forward, between hands keeping the foot level over the mat.
• Engage core and once you got your balance, you may start to level your back up. If you cannot create balance, you may keep it low.
• Reverse the steps to release from this position and repeat over the opposite side.

Modification with Blocks

Before going into the standard lunge pose, keep both blocks over the ground, one on each side of the body, so that when you drop your arms with the hip stretch, you can lightly keep hands over the blocks.

 

High Lunge

The high lunge also called Utthita Ashwa Sanchalanasana and widely utilized even in other exercise routines. It strengthens the thighs and glutes. It is also the perfect core toner.

Additionally, the high lunge provides hip flexors that desired deep stretch. It also distributes weight and improves body balance.

How to do it?

• Form a table pose on your knees and hands, step the right foot front between the two hands, with the knees directly on the ankle. Tuck the back toes under and level the back leg.
• Press your palms, fingers, or your fists into the ground to raise the crown of the head to the ceiling. Roll your shoulders down and back and push your chest forward. Look straight front with chin level to the ground.
• Stretch your back leg by keeping the heel to the floor and by pressing the back of your knee up to the ceiling. Relax your hips and let them sink to the floor.
• Take breathe and stay for 2-6 breaths
• To release: Drop your left knee down and slide the right knee back into a table pose or step the right foot back into a downward-facing dog.
• Repeat over the other side.

Modifications

Use yoga blocks with this exercise under your hands.

 

Child Pose

 

Image Source

In yoga, it is called Child Pose and resting pose. It is the best exercise for relieving tension in the ankles, back, and hips.

After doing a vigorous workout, this yoga block workout is suitable for cooling your body and catching breath.

How to do it?

Keeping the blocks under the elbows:

• Keep blocks under each elbow on the mat.
• Block should be at shoulder distance to make your head fit in between the blocks.
• Sink hips back toward heels and lower body down, let your head come in between the two blocks as they slowly support your arms.
• Place your elbows wrapped in by the ears, with the option to get hands to prayer pose back of the head.
• Once you begin to merge your heart toward the floor, you can adjust the blocks to a higher or lower setting.

Standing Half Forward Bend

Image Source

It is a Ardha Uttanasana. A best forwarding fold pose. It helps to relieve tension in your shoulder, neck, and back. This exercise helps to enhance the range of motion and boost flexibility in beginners. It is ideal that on add a half-forward bent instead of a full one as a beginner to have a strong hamstring.

How to do it?

• Ground from feet, pressing weight into the mounds of the big toe, center of the heels, and little toe.
• Firm your quadriceps and lightly rotate the inner thighs back. Get hips over ankles.
• Stretch chest front and backbone behind you to lengthen your spine. Draw shoulder back away from ears and spread across collar bones.
• Keep your fingertips in line using toes or rest hands over shins.
• Lengthen sides and back of neck evenly. Get your gaze approximately 6” in front of your toes.
• Engage your core.

Modification

Get feet at hip-width apart.

If your hamstrings are tight or have a back injury, flex the knees.

Keep hands over yoga blocks for support.

 

Chair Pose

Image Source

It is called Utkatasna, it is similar to a squat. However, in the chair pose, the feet require to keep together, the upper body is lifted and the lower body is grounded. It helps to promote the strength of the legs and core.

How to do it?

• Start with mountain pose. Stand with feet together, and let your big toe touch. Beginners can stand with their feet at hip distance apart.
• Breath in and lift arms overhead, level to the floor.
• Breath out as you flex knees, getting thighs as parallel to the floor as they can get. Your knees will project out lightly on your feet and your body will form nearly a right angle on your thighs.
• Get shoulder blades into upper back ribs as you reach elbows back to the ears. Do not puff your ribcage front. Draw your tailbone down toward the floor, keeping your lower back long.
• Getting hips down even lower and raise from the heart. There will be a light blend in the upper back.
• Shift your weight into heels. Enough weight of nearly 80% should be shifted to heels so that you could raise toes over the mat if need.
• Take a breath smoothly, even, and deeply. If your breath becomes shallow or strained, back off somewhat in the pose until breathing becomes easier.
• Spread shoulder blades apart. Spin your small fingers to each other so the palms face each other, rotating arms outward from thumbs.
• Gaze directly forward. For a deeper position, tilt your head slightly and gaze at a point between hands.
• Hold for upward to 1-minute. Then, take a breath as you straighten your legs, raising from arms. Breath out and release back to Tadasana. Those practicing sun salutations should move directly from the Utkatasana into standing forward fold.

Modifications

Squeeze a yoga block between upper thighs to increase your body awareness and thigh strength.

 

Half Lord of the Fishes

Image Source

It is called a Matsyendra or twist pose. It is the best yoga with a block for decompressing the digestion and spine. This yoga helps to improve posture and relieve back pain.

How to do it?

• From a Bound angle or easy pose, stretch your right leg straight out in front of you, cross your left leg on right and keep the left foot flat over the floor near the right knee.
• Fold the right arm over the left knee and draw the knee in towards your chest. Push down into the hips and up into the crown to extend the spine.
• Breath in by doing left hand up and as you breathe outreach the arm near back keeping the palm over the floor and let fingers facing back. Press the arm into the back toward put the back straight. Look on the left shoulder towards the back wall. For a deeper twist, keep the right elbow to the inside of your left knee.
• As you breathe in press the hips down and reach the crown up to extend the spine. As you breathe out use the arms to smoothly deepen the twist. Relax the shoulders down and press your chest open.
• Take a breath and hold for 4-7 breaths.
• Inhale your left hand up and breath out untwisting your body to release by facing the front. Repeat the other side.

Modifications: Keep a yoga block under your hand back

 

Cat Pose

Image Source

It is also known as Marjariasana and it is the second pose of 2-pose flow. The name cat pose came from how it arches the back resembling a cat in fear. This yoga block workout is good for stretching the neck, spine, and shoulder.

 

Cow Pose

It is called Bitilasana. It goes hand in hand using cat pose to have the flow. It is possible to perform cow pose alone but doing the two combined helps to relax the mind and body, stretches the abdomen, neck, and chest. It also boosts your mind functions and peace.

Block Modification for Cat-Cow Pose

Doing a 90-degree angle of wrists can lead to discomfort or pain.

You can modify this wrist angle while still getting all the good cat-cow benefits. Instead of laying your hand level over the ground, make a comfortable fist, and keep knuckles over the floor, making your wrist remain straight inline using elbows and shoulder.

You can use a block or wedge to get a more convenient wrist angle for this pose.

 

Corpse Pose

Image Source

The corpse pose is also called Shavasana and resting pose. It is mostly done after yoga practice and it is an ideal mental exercise. This exercise may seem easy, but it is not much easy, many people will avoid this.

It is an effective yoga for lower cortisol levels, relieving stress and anxiety, and help with weight loss. This yoga relaxes and cools down vigorous yoga blocks workouts.

How to do it?

• Lie flat over the floor, make sure that there will be no disturbance around while doing this yoga.
• Make yourself comfortable and do not use cushions or pillows. It is best to lie over a hard surface.
• Close eyes and keep legs comfortably apart. Ensure your legs are relaxing completely and your toes are facing sideways.
• Keep your arms along your body and lightly apart, leave palms open and face upwards.
• Now, gently draw focus to every body part, beginning from toes. As you do this, take a slow breath and deep and setting body in a deep relaxation state. Do not fall asleep in this process.
• Take breaks slowly and deeply. It will impart total relaxation. As you take a breath, your body gets energized and as you breathe out, your body will calm down. Focus on your body, forget all other tasks. Let go and surrender but ensure to do not doze off.
• After 10-12 minutes, when your body feels refreshed and relaxed, roll to one side, keep your eyes closed. Stay in the point for 1-minute, till you sit up in the Sukhasana.
• Take some deep breaths and gain awareness of your surroundings before open eyes again.

 

Modification with Blocks

Take a block and one sandbag of 10 pounds to help to calm the mind. After declining over the floor, position the block over the floor on your head.

The block should sit over one of its sides and make sure the block should have 5” height, with one of its ends lightly reaching the crown. Then lay the sandbag half over the block and half over the forehead. Scrub the forehead skin down to eyebrows. Then let the brain sink on from this weight.

 

Baby Cobra

Image Source

It is a Bhujangasana and small backbend poses. It is the best yoga block workout for beginners as it helps to prepare your body for extreme backbends.

It unlocks the space for the bow pose and upward-facing dog. This yoga is helpful as a chest opener for beginners who have strong shoulders.

How to do it?

• Lie flat over the floor, make sure that there will be no disturbance around while doing this yoga.
• Make yourself comfortable and do not use cushions or pillows. It is best to lie over a hard surface.
• Close eyes and keep legs comfortably apart. Ensure your legs are relaxing completely and your toes are facing sideways.
• Keep your arms along your body and lightly apart, leave palms open and face upwards.
• Now, gently draw focus to every body part, beginning from toes. As you do this, take a slow breath and deep and setting body in a deep relaxation state. Do not fall asleep in this process.
• Take breaks slowly and deeply. It will impart total relaxation. As you take a breath, your body gets energized and as you breathe out, your body will calm down. Focus on your body, forget all other tasks. Let go and surrender but ensure to do not doze off.
• After 10-12 minutes, when your body feels refreshed and relaxed, roll to one side, keep your eyes closed. Stay in the point for 1-minute, till you sit up in the Sukhasana.
• Take some deep breaths and gain awareness of your surroundings before open eyes again.

Modification with Blocks

Take a block and one sandbag of 10 pounds to help to calm the mind. After declining over the floor, position the block over the floor on your head.

The block should sit over one of its sides and make sure the block should have 5” height, with one of its ends lightly reaching the crown. Then lay the sandbag half over the block and half over the forehead. Scrub the forehead skin down to eyebrows. Then let the brain sink on from this weight.

 

Tree Pose

Image Source

It is Vriksasana in yoga, a good balancing pose. It helps to prepare the body to balance more. This yoga enhances the stability of the body and benefits in shifting weights. It effectively balances maintenance.

How to do it?

• Take some time and feel the root of your feet, your weight divided equally on all 4-corners of every foot.
• Start to shift weight into your right foot, raise your left foot over the floor. Keep your right leg straight but avoid locking the knee.
• Flex the left knee and get the sole of your left foot high over your inner right thigh.
• Flex your foot into the thigh and back into your foot with equal pressure. It will help to keep both hips squared to the front, so your right hip does not out.
• Focus your gaze on something that doesn’t move to help you keep balance.
• Take 5-10 breaths, then drop your left foot toward the floor and do for another side.

Modification

Use a block under raised foot or simply get that ankle toward the opposite shin.

 

Locust Pose

Image Source

It is called the Salabhasana. It is a mild backbend good for increasing the strength of the back, glutes, and abdominal parts. In this yoga block workout, you do not have to raise the upper body but the whole body also. The more the core gets build-up, the higher you can lift.

How to do it?

• Take a breath, lift your right leg. Keep the leg straight and avoid twisting your hip. Hold and take a breath.
• Breath out and get the right leg down.
• Repeat steps 3-5 using the left leg. Take 2-3 deep breaths.
• Inhaling, and with some momentum, raise both legs, as much as possible, keep your knees straight. Hold and breath out, get the legs down, take your arm out from underneath and rest.
• Repeat the above sequence using hands facing down in step 2.

Modification with Blocks

If you have the strength to stretch arms toward sides but have a shoulder injury that makes raising the arms over the floor in that pose hard, you can try a different version that uses 2-blocks to support the lower ribcage and pubic bone.

If you are shorter, the blocks can be right next to each other, but make sure that the bottom block supports your pubic bone and not thighs. The upper block supports the only bottom of the lower ribcage.

 

These are all yoga block exercises for beginners. Make sure to do it under expert yoga practitioners’ guidance. Do every exercise move properly to get benefits.