Fortunately, with yoga, you don’t really need that many things to get started. At the bare minimum, you need a yoga mat, and possibly a blanket that you can use during shavasana (corpse pose) and also to fold up for certain asanas (yoga poses) to make them more comfortable or accessible.
Nowadays there are a variety of items that you can buy to support your yoga practice, but in all honesty—many of them are unnecessary. Traditionally, yoga was practised on an animal hide ‘yoga mat’ and that was that…
In this article, we run through some of the most important yoga props to have if you want to improve your yoga practice.
The Benefits Of Yoga Props And Accessories
Yoga props have a tendency to make people feel like they aren’t ‘good enough’, ‘strong enough’, ‘flexible enough’, or capable.
But, it’s really important to challenge the stigma and narrative associated with yoga props, yoga pose modifications, and variations because in reality—this simply isn’t the case.
In fact, using yoga props can help to improve your yoga practice, deepen your poses, and make your yoga classes more enjoyable.
Why Are Yoga Props Important?
- Yoga props help to stabilize you in poses and offer more support
- They help make yoga poses more accessible and safer
- Can help to improve and deepen your yoga poses over time, because they provide better support and stability (and allow you to relax into your asanas)
- Help you to improve your alignment by giving you a point of reference—which helps to improve your mind-body connection
What Yoga Props And Equipment Do You Need To Practice Yoga?
Yoga doesn’t have to be expensive. In order to start practising yoga, you’ll need a yoga mat at the very least—and if your budget will only extend to a yoga mat, that is totally fine. You can practice yoga with just a yoga mat!
If you can’t stretch to buying other yoga props, you can multipurpose some everyday household items. But I will say that many yoga props are relatively cheap and reasonably priced on eBay and Amazon.
And even though you can multipurpose some household items—like substituting thick books for yoga blocks—sometimes it can be safer, more effective and way less hassle to simply buy the yoga prop instead (especially if you feel like you will get your money’s worth of use out of it).
You will see a variety of tempting yoga accessories out there… There are lots of ‘newer’ inventions and yoga tools such as yoga wheels to improve flexibility and balance, dowels to support good alignment, and weighted sandbags to increase a sense of relaxation.
But, in all honesty, many of these yoga accessories are great fancy additions, but often unnecessary for most yoga practitioners.
In general, you’ll find that a yoga mat, 2 yoga blocks, and a yoga strap does the trick. Yoga bolsters are great to help improve comfort within some yoga poses, and meditation cushions also help to improve comfort for meditation.
Here is a list of yoga props that I would regard as the basics, that can help to benefit your practice, and they’re listed in order of importance if you’re on a budget.
1. Yoga Mat
A good yoga mat is the most important investment for your yoga practice. Yes, you can attempt to replicate a yoga mat and practice on other things such as carpet or a blanket but they’re not that practical for everyday or regular use.
You want a clean place to practice, so having to hoover the carpet every day before you practice isn’t reasonable, and blankets have the tendency to move around which isn’t constructive during a movement-based meditation.
If you’re keen on yoga, bite the bullet and invest in the best mat you can afford. Your yoga mat becomes a sacred tool with which you share your yoga practice with. It’s worth every penny.
There are a variety of different yoga mats on the market, some are really reasonably priced, and others are relatively expensive.
Your price will obviously dictate what you choose but there are some things to think about such as length, thickness, material, and surface.
I prefer the extra-long yoga mats, simply because I love having the extra space to move! And I also really enjoy the extra thick mats too, in order to better protect my knees from the floor.
The thinner mats are popular with other yoga practitioners because whilst they are less spongy, they provide better support for balancing postures which require more stability.
Personally, I still prefer the soft and springy mats that are thicker—even though they may be a tad harder to balance on.
Yoga mats come in a variety of materials, which also have different textured surfaces. My experience is that you have to try a few different surfaces to get a feel for what you like and don’t like.
Chapter 6, verse 11 of the Bhagavad Gita, describes that traditional yoga should be practised on layers of natural grass and deer skin. For this reason, you’ll find many modern yogis prefer yoga mats made from sustainable natural materials as opposed to man-made materials or plastics.
In terms of surface, I’ve found that mats with highly textured surfaces provide much better grip, and stop you from slipping in poses that require bodyweight resistance against your mat.
2. Yoga Blanket Or Towel
A blanket (or throw) and towel are easy additions to your yoga prop collection that often don’t require any additional purchase—because most people have a spare blanket, throw, or towel lying around the house that they can multipurpose for their yoga classes.
There are a number of ways that you can use these items…
A blanket can be great for shavasana (corpse pose) in which you’ll be resting and integrating your yoga practice after your asana practice is finished.
Sometimes shavasana can feel cold (especially after building up so much ‘fire’ during your movement), so a blanket or throw can come in handy to keep you warm whilst you rest and recalibrate.
You can also use a folded blanket under your knees for extra protection in poses that require some pressure on the knees, such as cat/cow pose (marjariasana/bitilasana) or camel pose (ushtrasana).
And a rolled-up towel or throw blanket can help to increase the stretch (in place of a block or bolster) in poses like supported fish pose (matsyasana).
3. Yoga Strap
A yoga strap is a really helpful yoga accessory to have for your home practice, but luckily you often don’t need to purchase one if you don’t want to because you can easily makeshift a yoga strap from a number of household items.
Yoga straps can help to improve alignment, deepen your stretches, increase stability, enhance form, and improve your yoga postures over time.
If you are using something as a substitute for a yoga strap you’ll want it to be long and sturdy—the best household alternative is a belt, but you can also use sturdy scarves sometimes too.
Luckily, if you do want to purchase a yoga strap they’re not too expensive. You can get a ‘top-of-the-range’ one for around £10 and a cheap one from Amazon or eBay for just a couple of pounds.
4. Yoga Blocks
Yoga blocks (sometimes known as yoga bricks) are such a great investment if you are taking your yoga practice seriously and will practice regularly.
The good thing about yoga blocks is that they are multipurpose. You can use them to check your alignment, to make poses more accessible, to increase stability and balance, to improve your meditation posture, and also as a makeshift bolster for restorative poses.
Simply lay some normal pillows over your yoga blocks and you have quite an effective and comfortable yoga ‘bolster’.
Yes, you can DIY with some thick and sturdy books to make your own makeshift yoga blocks, but I genuinely think it’s not worth the hassle and that yoga blocks are a good investment.
The thing with books is that depending on what you’re using them for, they’re not that stable or safe, and also they’re a pain to move mid-meditation because you can’t always ‘mindlessly’ move them due to all the pages—so they’re likely to pull you out of your inner stillness.
Yoga blocks range from somewhat expensive to really reasonable on Amazon and eBay. I’d recommend picking up at least 2 yoga blocks.
The most popular materials on the market are cork and foam. The foam ones are really lightweight and are great for travelling, they’re also considerably cheaper. You can easily pick up 2 foam yoga blocks online for under £10.
Whereas the cork yoga blocks are a bit more expensive, heavier and made of sustainable natural materials—which makes them a huge win with eco-conscious and traditional yogis.
5. Yoga Bolster
I think the next best investment for the blossoming yogi is a good yoga bolster. Yoga bolsters and meditation cushions are somewhat hard to DIY because they are very specific in size, shape, and density—and unlike normal household pillows or cushions.
The good thing about yoga bolsters is that they can be multi-purposed, which is why I would prioritise a yoga bolster, over a meditation cushion if you had to choose.
You can use a yoga bolster in your asana practice and also during your meditation (dhyana) practice.
Yoga bolsters are generally either long cylinder shapes or long rectangular shapes—this means they can be really great for reclined poses, seated poses, restorative yoga poses, yin yoga, and prenatal yoga.
Yoga bolsters help to increase comfort, make poses more accessible and can provide a deeper sense of relaxation.
If you use your yoga bolster on top of a folded yoga mat, it can create a really good comfortable base for seated meditation.
Yoga bolsters are a bit more of an investment, you’re looking at around £30+ for a decent yoga bolster, but they definitely are worth the investment in my opinion.
I have put yoga bolsters and the two types of meditation cushions into two separate categories, because these are 3 very different shapes and sizes of pillow—and they do have unique uses.
But it’s important to note, that they can be multi-purposed so it’s highly unlikely you’ll need all 3 types of yoga pillows.
If you wanted to just buy one, I would suggest a yoga bolster due to its versatility for both asana and meditation use.
But if you wanted to buy a couple of them, I would suggest a zabuton and either a zafu or yoga bolster (because the zabuton provides the base and you’d sit a zafu or yoga bolster on top of that).
6. Meditation Cushion
It is quite important to be as comfortable as possible during meditation, especially as a beginner.
If you’re not comfortable—you’ll most likely experience incessant thoughts about your physical discomfort which hinder your meditation (yes, we’ve all been there).
In general, you will find two different styles of meditation cushions on the current market. One is called a zafu and is round, and the other is called a zabuton and is rectangular in shape.
Some yoga practitioners like to use one or the other, and some yoga practitioners like to use both simultaneously (sitting their zafu on top of their zabuton).
The zabuton is really great for protecting your ankles from the floor during seated meditation, but a folded yoga mat can also do the trick depending on how thick and spongy your yoga mat is.
The great thing about meditation cushions is that, like yoga bolsters, you can multipurpose them (and use them as bolsters) to increase comfort and accessibility in reclined and seated yoga poses.
It’s best to try meditation using proper meditation cushions and yoga bolsters in your local yoga studio or meditation centre so that you can be sure which you prefer, or which combination you like.
Meditation cushions are not the cheapest items to buy—they range from around £30 upwards. So, you want to be sure you’ll be happy using the type of product before you buy.
If you can’t afford a meditation cushion you can DIY a zafu and zabuton meditation pillow set up by folding a blanket into a zabuton square shape and placing a sturdy pillow on top to use as a zafu.
Or you can fold your yoga mat to provide extra cushioning, place yoga blocks on top of your folded yoga mat, and then place a normal pillow over the yoga blocks to increase your level of comfort.
Conclusion
You can start your home yoga practice with simply a yoga mat, but I certainly would encourage you to use blankets, straps, and blocks if you can because they will help to improve your practice considerably.
And if you’re passionate (and serious) about your yoga and meditation practice—I would highly recommend going the step further and investing in a good yoga bolster or meditation pillow to enhance your practice too.
The other yoga accessories I see on the market are ‘nice-to-haves’ if you can afford them, but sometimes you can get lost in all the equipment, when actually the whole point of yoga philosophy is to remember that you are your own eco-system—and you have everything you need already.
If you want to learn more about the goals of yoga, check out my article here on the best achievable yoga goals for beginners.
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