Yoga With Props: Wheel Warm-Up

3/24/2018 0 Comments

Yoga With Props: Wheel Warm-Up

The yoga wheel is one of the newer fitness props to become widely used among yoga practitioners. It is a great tool for those wishing to expand their practice of heart opening postures like the back bend. The wheel offers support to your lower back, upper back, and shoulders, while deeply stretching the entire front of the body.

These are some of the basic warm up moves I like to do on a regular basis to keep my shoulders open during my work outs, to open up the front of my body so I can breathe better, and to expand the flexibility in my lower back. Make sure to do these very slowly to avoid injury and causing over strain to your back muscles. Don't forget to check out the video at the end.

I would love to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, success stories, make sure to reach out!

Getting in position

- Begin by bringing your knees into your chest and using your core to lift your hips up in the air.
- Hold on to the wheel and bring it to your back.

- Slowly allow your lower back to come down onto the wheel.
- Keep your shoulders on the mat
- Hold on to the wheel.

- Once your lower back is properly placed and well supported, straighten you legs up in the air and relax your tailbone on the wheel.

Lower back and hip stretch

- Holding on to the wheel, bend the left knee into your chest and keeping the right leg straight slowly bring it down.

- Repeat on opposite side by bringing the right knee to your chest and stretching the left leg down.

- Very slowly begin to bring your feet to the floor, one at a time, for a very deep back bend.

Lower back and shoulder stretches

- Slowly push your shoulders off the mat and walk your feet forward. The wheel will roll toward your upper back and shoulders.
- Straighten your legs, relax your shoulders, and try to bring your feet flat on the floor.
- You can hold on to the wheel for extra support.