BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Yoga Gaiam Yoga Brick

I held off for quite a while before I got myself a yoga brick. It's not that the things are expensive; pretty much every yoga brick on the market is under $10. Rather, it's that you're paying money for a rectangle. You could stack up books, or use a shoebox, or get a rock. Why would you pay for a "fake" brick made out of foam?



The more I get into yoga, the more I realize that sometimes these little purchases do help out a lot - and if you space them out over several months, it's really not a big deal at all. A yoga brick is very helpful in many different poses. Yes, you could put your hands down on a pile of books when you stretch towards the ground from a standing position, but the books will slide and not support you well. Yes, you could sit back on a soft pillow when you go to stretch your arms behind you, but a brick gives you much more firm support and it means you can stretch a big more firmly with that resistance.

No, it's not necessary by any stretch of the imagination. A strap isn't necessary either. But I love my strap and use it every chance that I can. The brick really does help in a number of poses, letting me stretch just a little bit further, or stand just a little more tall. Every inch helps to improve my flexibility and strength.

Being a rectangle, each of the 3 sides of the brick is a differnet length. That means you can rotate it to best help you in what you are trying to do. For example, I put it lengthwise between my feet when I am sitting back, and it "raises me up" off the floor so that my stretches down can be even more long. It lets me start from a "higher position" sometimes with my hands on the brick, so that the stretch down my legs is even more helpful for me. It is great for beginners who can't touch their toes yet, because it means they have something to support their bodies on while doing various poses.

So again, not something critical to starting yoga, but a nice add-on once you get into the routine.

As a final comment, the photo of this item looks blue-ish but in reality it is a very nice royal purple color.

the brick looks cool. I was thinking about getting a bolster, myself. I like 'lying back over the blanket roll' pose, but i think a bolster would be much better for that and the legs up the wall.

Do other people have bricks, bolsters or special yoga blankets? Do you use them? Are they worth the money and really help your practice? Or do they sit in the corner getting dusty?

I am curious about people's experiences with the props. (and let me add i love my strap too).

I used an old necktie for a strap until I found a pair of heavy elastic ropes with handholds made by Reebok on sale. I have no idea what they were especially made for but they are great for Pilates or yoga leg lifts.
I use a pile of scatter cushions for lying back on, and the couch blankie that keeps me warm while watching winter TV folds up fine when I need it for yoga.
Somehow I never felt the need for bricks, although it IS nice to lie back with a brick under my pelvis at the end of class. I guess I could make one out of some scrap lumber from the garage if I really wanted one. A couple of 10" pieces of 2 x 4 glued together would probably work. Hmmmm...

Good ideas, Claybird. I use scatter pillows and a couch blanket as well, and my strap is an old piece of rock climbing webbing.

I looked up bolsters on Amazon and they are like 50 bucks for most of them! Some are 30 or 40. That sounds like a lot for a pillow.

So I decided to ask my MIL to make me a yoga bolster. She LOVES having projects like that. She will be so excited...she puts a lot of love and care into the things she makes for me.

ummm, i suddenly ordered a brick. Amazon Prime makes it too easy to order 'one thing'....heehee

Still waiting on my brick, even with amazon prime. it might be in the mail today. I want to try to use it as a bolster under my back for the heart opener poses.

We have two round cylinder pillows we had anyway for our futon so I use those as bolsters, luckily they work quite nicely! I do like the brick and that it's "a bit squishy" so I think for me it's a better solution than wood. Wood would hurt my hands I think. This has a little bit of give to it.

I do love my strap It's the little things in life sometimes

Still not in. I thought amazon prime as supposed to have fast shipping? grump.

My brick came in and I used it this evening. I was able to use it as a brick, of course, but it also served as a bolster and a pillow. Multi-use and it perfectly matches my deep purple mat. I love it! I love my yoga props.

That's great! I haven't tried using my brick as a pillow, I'll keep that in mind!

My longer review:

I am very happy with my yoga brick. The price was right at under 9 dollars...and I have to admit I liked the deep purple color, as it matches my most-used yoga mat and my strap. Truthfully, having matching yoga props isn't highly important, but it still brings me happiness to associate that certain deep purple color with my yoga practice. And with that extra little pleasure I enjoy and DO my practice more often. Doing yoga is what counts.

My brick arrived in a clear plastic sleeve that I removed prior to using.

I picked a yoga DVD that I hoped would use a brick. Not only was I pleased to use this lightweight, silky foam brick as a "brick" - but I also used the brick in place of a bolster and pillow as needed. It's soft enough around the edges to be useful in place of those other props.

The brick has several dimensions, from a short height, mid height and tall height. It can be used in two directions as well - the short or long dimensions. I appreciate that there are so many ways to use one tool.

Being so light in weight, the brick is a bit wobbly in the high position poses (on it's tallest axis), but I found I can get past this by loosening my hips (like Elvis) and going with the wobble. I prefer the lightness of this than a wooden brick that would be harder on my body parts and heavier to maneuver.

Overall, I recommend this yoga prop for anyone thinking of buying a brick/block to deepen their practice. It's multi-use, has soft edges that do not dig into the body, and has a silky hand feel.

That's a great review! I definitely agree that I like the foam brick much better than I would like wood in that same position. I like the slight "give" that the brick allows.

I also agree completely that it's not exactly secure in the tall setup, but it's nice that you can do it that way.

It's so odd that I thought of the brick as a "silly purchase" at first - but really after a few months of yoga it's only $10 or so and it is quite handy sometimes.