Props: Why Invest + How To Use Them?

If you’ve been to the studio lately, you may have noticed that we recently got in the most GORGEOUS set of yoga + pilates cushions from the Crystal Cove collection with Brentwood Home. 

The full set includes a meditation cushion, yoga bolster, and pranayama cushion, AND is totally vegan. 

Let’s demystify: why are these props a great investment + how can you use them at home? 

1. Developing a home practice 

You know I’m the first to invite you into the studio to practice pilates. AND, I’m a big advocate of encouraging my clients to develop their own home practice. 

I don’t want your practice to end the minute you leave our studio doors. 

It’s so important to take what you’ve learned in the studio into your everyday life at home. To integrate it + make it a part of your life.

A great way to support your home practice is to have great props available at home.Whether you’re going to tune into an online class, practice something you learned in studio, or simply follow the wisdom of your own body, you’ll want to be supported with the right tools when you do it. 

2. Restorative yoga 

Restorative yoga is one of my absolute favorite practices.

I truly find it as rejuvenating as a great massage. And listen, I LOVE massage. 

Restorative yoga is a passive, relaxing, soul-nourishing practice that involves supporting the body with props while you rest in different postures for 3-10 minutes each. This is not about a workout or a sweat, but rather a deep nervous system reset, allowing the body to move from fight-flight-freeze to rest and digest. It’s safe to say we could all use a little more restorative yoga in our lives these days. 

Some of my personal favorite restorative yoga postures are legs up the wall using a bolster, supta baddha konasana, and a supported savasana with blankets, bolsters, + an eye pillow. 

Whether you have only 5 minutes between meetings or 90 on a slow Sunday afternoon, you can gain so much from your time spent in restorative yoga, supported by your delicious props.

3. Meditation

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve likely heard that meditation can be an essential piece of supporting your mental, physical, and spiritual health. Yet for many, it can be difficult to get started or to remain consistent in our practice.

One of my favorite tips? Create a physical space where you will meditate that is going to allow you to be fully supported. 

Having a space to return to again and again helps you to solidify the habit you’re creating. 

You might make your space feel sacred by placing candles, incense, essential oils, or anything that might be meaningful to you on a little altar in front of your meditation cushion. 

When you physically create the space in your home, it becomes so much easier to practice.

Even the act of creating the space + tending to it allows you to begin to become more mindful. 

It also will serve as a visual reminder each time you walk by, inviting you in for a moment of stillness.

I’d love to connect with you.

Do you have a home practice? Have you tried restorative yoga? What is your favorite way to use props?

Let’s chat in the comments.

Article contributed by Olivia Roberson, RYT500, Yoga Therapist in training with Inner Peace Yoga Therapy. Olivia Roberson helps women establish self-care practices & self-trust so they can reclaim their power, pleasure, & passion without burning out or thinking there is something wrong with them. Olivia believes we are whole & worthy. She loves to share the power of reconnecting to our bodies, which hold an immense amount of wisdom.