“Props allow you to experience a deeper or different sensation in a pose that you may have been practicing often.”
YOGA ALSO HELPS TO CALM THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AND CENTRE THE MIND.
Most yoga workouts activate your sympathetic nervous system, while yogic breathing connects you back to your breath and trains the mind to stay present, leaving you in a relaxed state by calming the parasympathetic nervous system.
WE ALL KNOW THAT YOGA INCREASES FLEXIBILITY, BUT WHY ARE SOFT, SUPPLE MUSCLES IMPORTANT?
Weight training and other cardio exercises such as running or cycling are repetitive, so specific muscle groups can become overworked, causing shortening of the muscle and tightness.
Runners, for example often suffer from tight hamstrings, hip flexors, calves, and the stabilizing muscles of the outer hip and thigh, including the iliotibial (IT) band. Short tight muscles cause dysfunction and are prone to injury. Yoga helps to lengthen out these tight muscles, which can speed up recovery, while also restoring a natural range of motion. Both of these functions help to prevent potential injuries.
Why use the Ora Wheel?
Yoga props such as blocks, straps, and the Ora Wheel make more challenging yoga poses achievable by those of us who are not quite as flexible as we would like to be.
They also allow you to experience a deeper or different sensation in a pose that you may have been practicing often. But you don’t need to be a yogi to experience the benefits of the Ora Wheel. When used after your normal workout, the Ora Wheel can help you derive many of the benefits that you would normally only gain at a full-length yoga class without actually having to go to the class.
Here’s how…
It helps to use a yoga mat or any sticky exercise mat for these exercises. Once you are in a position or pose, try to hold the position for five breaths. One breath includes a long inhale through the nose and a controlled, slow exhale through the nose.
Head Beyond the Knee
TARGETS: Hamstrings and back
- Starting out: In a seated position, bend one knee, bringing the foot of the leg towards the inner thigh of the other leg. Extend the other leg, bringing the Ora Wheel underneath the lower calf or just above the calf, depending on what feels more comfortable.
- The movement: Micro-bend the knee of the extended leg and flex the foot of the extended leg. Hold onto the front of the Ora Wheel and draw your torso forward first, then slow down towards the inside of the extended leg. Hold for five to ten breaths and then swap legs. Keep the neck and jaw muscles relaxed.
TIP: Do not over-stretch by pulling too hard on the Ora Wheel and forcing the torso towards the extended leg.
Revolved Head to Knee
TARGETS: Hamstrings, inner thighs, side-body, chest
- Starting out: Keeping one knee bent and the other leg extended on the Ora Wheel, turn yourself away from the wheel and place your arms on the inside of the legs. Reach the hand closest to the Ora Wheel to the heel of the extended leg and hold onto that heel. If you are less flexible, bring that hand onto the shin of the extended leg.
- The Movement: Flex the foot of the extended leg. Reach the other hand up towards the sky first and then over in the direction of the extended leg. After five breaths swap legs.
Extended Leg Squat
Keeping the extended leg on the Ora Wheel and the foot of that leg flexed, lift onto the ball of the foot of the bent leg. Bring the hand that is further away from the Ora Wheel onto the mat for support, with your palm flat and fingers spread. Reach the other hand up towards the sky. Either hold it there or take that hand behind your back, drawing the shoulder of that arm back behind you (maybe even holding onto the inner thigh of the bent leg). After five to ten breaths swap sides.
Seated Angle Posture
TARGETS: Hamstrings, inner thighs, side-body, back
- Starting out: In a seated position, take the legs wide apart, flexing both feet and micro-bending both knees.
- The Movement: Roll the Ora Wheel towards the inside of one foot and reach the other hand up towards the sky first and then alongside your ear in the direction of the foot that is closest to the wheel. After five to ten breaths swap sides.
Seated Side Stretch
Following that:
Turn the Ora Wheel so that the short end faces you. Place both hands on top of the wheel and then, using the hands and keeping the belly lifted, slowly roll the Ora Wheel away from you, bringing your head between the upper arms. Keep your feet flexed. Look down at the mat, but don’t drop your head – keep it in line with your shoulders. After five to ten breaths, lift your belly again and slowly come up, rolling the Ora Wheel back towards your torso. Keep the neck relaxed as you lift and lower.
Forearm Plank
TARGETS: Core, shoulders, back
- Starting out: Kneel on the mat, bringing the Ora Wheel behind your feet. Lift your feet up and bring the wheel close to your knees, placing the front of both shins on and to the side of the wheel, with both feet on top of the Ora Wheel. When you feel like the wheel is fitting snuggly behind the shins, place your elbows and forearms down on the mat, palms facing down. The elbows must be shoulder-width apart.
- The movement: Push your forearms into the ground, engage the core, and lift the knees off the mat. Keep your hips in line with the shoulders and straighten the legs into a forearm plank. Hold this plank pose for five to ten breaths. Next, lift the hips up towards the sky, rolling the Ora Wheel towards your face and coming onto the top of the feet. Keep the hips lifted for three to four breaths. Slowly lower the hips down to shoulder height again. Repeat this three or four times.
The same can be done with straight elbows, extending the legs back into a regular plank position.
- The Movement: Lift the hips up to above the shoulders and lift one leg, and then the other. Experiment with moving from having one leg lifted and the other foot on the Ora Wheel to balance in handstand. To come down, bring the knees down to the mat and then slowly take the tops of the feet off the wheel.
- Starting out: In a seated position with your knees bent, bring the feet close to the buttocks and the Ora Wheel behind the lower back. Cradle the back of your neck with your hands, interlacing your fingers.
- The movement: Lean back, look up, lift the hips up, and press the feet into the mat. Roll backward over the Ora Wheel, bringing the crown of your head onto the mat. Either extend the arms back behind you, maybe bringing the thumbs to touch the mat, or hold onto the opposite elbows. Hold for eight to 10 breaths.
Supported Bridge to Plough
TARGETS: Hip flexors, side-body, back, shoulders
Next, walk the feet closer to the Ora Wheel and slide onto the back of your head, extending the arms out to the sides on the mat, with palms facing up. Lift one knee up while extending the other leg. After three to five breaths, swap legs.
Hold onto the bottom sides of the Ora Wheel and lift both knees up at the same time. Extend one leg at a time back behind you. Allow the toes to come down behind the back of your head. After three to five breaths, slowly come out of the pose.
In this variation of bridge pose, your neck is vulnerable, so keep looking up and relax the neck and jaw muscles.
Bridge Pose
TARGETS: Hamstrings and back
- Starting out: Lying on your back, bring both feet onto the Ora Wheel. Push both feet onto the top of the wheel while slowly peeling your back off the mat, starting with the lower back.
- The movement: Shuffle onto your outer shoulders so that the backs of your upper arms are in contact with the mat and your entire back is raised up off the floor. Turn your palms to face up, to allow further rotation of the shoulders. Shuffle one foot slightly more to the center of the top of the Ora Wheel. Lift the other foot off the wheel, extending the lifted leg towards the sky. Flex the foot of the extended leg strongly. Hold the position for five breaths and then swap legs.
- Finishing: When lowering yourself down, first bring the raised leg to meet the foot on the Ora Wheel. Next, bring your upper back down to the mat, then the middle back, and finally the lower back. To release the back, move the Ora Wheel off the mat and bring the outer edges of the feet down to the outer edges of the mat, with your feet facing forward, allowing the knees to ‘tent-in’. Relax the lower back and take five to ten breaths.
- Starting out: Kneeling on the mat, with your knees hip-width apart, bring the Ora Wheel behind your back and lower the buttocks down onto the Ora Wheel, leaning back as you do so. Cradle the back of your head with your hands, with fingers interlaced.
Pigeon Pose
TARGETS: Hip flexors, back, shoulders, thighs
- The movement: Slowly lower all the way back over the wheel onto the crown of the head. Release the hands, either extending the arms alongside your ears or reaching the hands towards the knees, holding onto the sides of the calves.
- You can also try bringing the forearms down alongside your ears, with elbows drawing in towards each other. Creep the fingers towards the toes, touching them if you can. To come out of the pose, move slowly and cradle the back of the head to support the neck when lifting yourself up.
- Starting out: Coming into a lunge position with the fingertips on the mat, bring the Ora Wheel to just above the knee of the extended leg.
- The movement: Slowly roll backward and forwards on the wheel, keeping the hips low and lifting the back foot slightly off the mat.
Extended Puppy Pose
TARGETS: Upper back, side-body, shoulders
- Starting out: Kneeling on the mat, bring your hips to above your knees. Place both hands to the top of the Ora Wheel and then slowly roll the wheel away from you, keeping the core engaged and the elbows straight.
- The Movement: Bring your head to between the upper arms. Allow the chest to sink gently towards the mat. Then, lifting the torso away from the mat slightly, thread one arm underneath the other. Come into a twist of the torso and back, bringing the side of your face down to the mat. Keep the neck and jaw relaxed. After five to ten breaths, swap sides.
High Lunge
TARGETS: Hip flexors, hips, thighs, hamstrings, back
- The movement: Keeping the body still and the back foot on the mat, lift your arms up towards the sky. Bend the back knee and bring the back foot close to your back. Then, with the arm on the same side as the lifted foot, slowly reach back to hold onto the outside of the foot. After five to ten breaths, swap sides.
Forearm Balance to Scorpion Pose
TARGETS: Back, core, latissimus dorsi muscles, hamstrings
- Starting out: Come onto all fours on the mat. Lower the elbows down and take hold of the bottom sides of the Ora Wheel. Bring the crown of your head to touch the wheel and look down at the mat. Lift the hips up and walk the feet towards the wheel.
- The movement: Lift one leg and then hop up engaging your core, lifting the other leg as you hop up. Come to balance on your forearms. Slowly lower one foot on the wheel behind your head, bringing both feet down onto the top of the wheel, if you can. After three to five breaths, slowly come out of the pose and swap sides. In order to safely come out of the pose, bring one foot down to the mat at a time.
Note: In order to safely come out of any back-bending pose on the Ora Wheel, always cradle the back of the head to support the neck. Walk the feet down the mat, away from your buttocks, rolling up slowly and eventually bringing the buttocks back down onto the mat.