Are you new to yoga and wondering what the purpose of the yoga strap is? Have you recently purchased a yoga strap and are wanting to get the most use out of it? Or perhaps you are thinking because you are flexible, you don’t have use for a yoga strap (spoiler alert: you would be incorrect because there are just as many applications to continue your yoga journey for the advanced yogi!)

Firstly, whether you have a yoga strap or have been thinking of purchasing one, they are highly versatile, portable, and inexpensive.

How do I know what length yoga strap is right for me?

Generally, most people can use a six foot length yoga strap, but I would recommend using the 8 or 10 foot strap if you are taller than 6 foot to ensure enough length for your size. It’s really a personal preference. Additionally, so is the color of the strap - makes no difference to its application unless you are a firm believer in color theory or have strong preferences for your favorite color (as you should). 

How do I use a yoga strap?

A yoga strap can be used in a variety of ways for everyone from the beginner to the advanced yoga practitioner. Here are a few of my favorite ways to use a D-Ring Yoga Strap for stretches and yoga poses, divided into usage categories of open vs closed strap.

Open Strap Uses

An open yoga strap can be used to assist with stretching and close the space between two previously unreachable connection points. Consequently, this means that despite where you are in your yoga journey, straps can assist with adapting poses to fit your needs.

Forward Fold

Start from sitting on the ground, extend legs in front of you and loop the strap around balls of the feet. This stretch is great for lower back and hamstrings. The strap provides something to pull against, increasing the stretch. Try to forward fold to the point that your biceps are barely needing to work to hold the stretch. Correspondingly, you don't need to forward fold far to benefit from this stretch.

Shoulder flossing
This movement is great to help loosen tension in the shoulders, chest, and back. To begin with, find the center of an open strap. Hold a little wider than shoulder width out in front of you. Lift the strap up overhead and down behind your back and back up and in front of you. Continue with this back and forth motion so that shoulders become more mobile. Adjust the grip distance to make this movement comfortable.

Cow-Face Pose Arms

This is a wonderful Tricep & Shoulder Stretch, especially great to counteract hunching over your keyboard. Place a strap over your shoulder

Grab it with the same arm as strap-shoulder and point the elbow up to the ceiling. Slide the back of your other hand into the hollow of your lower back and grab the strap, palm facing outward. Grip the strap and pull downward with your bottom hand.

One Leg Up / Supta Padangustasana

Lay on your back. Loop the strap around the ball of one foot and press that foot to the ceiling. Straighten and stretch that leg. Pull strap as far towards you that feels like a good stretch. Switch to the opposite leg and repeat.

Closed D-Ring Loop

D-ring yoga straps can be buckled to provide a closed ring of bind to be able to press our muscles out into and provide a source of resistance. A strap can provide us a source of security in a pose by holding something together for us and allow our relaxation. Here is a quick video to demonstrate how to close a D-Ring Yoga Strap loop.

Place the end of the strap through the 2 d–rings, loop back over one of them and pull the strap to tighten after adjusting to the desired size loop.

Shoulder-width loop

Expectedly, shoulder-width loop is a common measurement size that keeps the strap relative to your body's shoulder width. Yoga practitioners may utilize this measurement of the closed strap loop for a variety of different yoga poses.

The shoulder width yoga strap can additionally be used to add tension between the arms. The straps solidify the arms' connection and provide something into which to press outward.

Obviously, there are so many more ways to use a yoga strap too! Experiment and see what helps compliment your yoga practice the best.

D-Ring Yoga straps are definitely a must have yoga prop! To summarize, I hope that altogether, this helps expand your awareness of their wide applications.

Are you wondering what other yoga props are helpful for embarking on your yoga journey? Check out my other blog post, 5 Yoga Props You Need for suggestions to get you started.

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