10 Ways to Use a Belt

This blog is about using a Yoga Belt. You can buy specific yoga belts, but any soft, non-stretchy, belt will work or even a long scarf.

In this blog I share a few ideas on how to use your belt to support you in ten common yoga poses.

BKS Iyengar was credited with popularising the use of yoga props through his school of yoga. Over the years many yoga props and supports have been developed to support the spectrum of yoga poses but you can’t go wrong with the basics. Simple yoga props include: belts, bricks, blocks, blankets, chairs, bolsters, cushions and using a wall.

A belt can be a useful support for any yoga student.

They can help you to support a yoga pose; find your way into a yoga pose more fully; and in restorative yoga, belts can be really helpful to help hold parts of the body so that the body can rest and enjoy the benefits of the pose without the effort of holding the pose.

Yoga props are useful, but not essential. Many styles of yoga don’t use props at all. But from experience of my own yoga practice and teaching over the past ten years, props can help students to feel the shape or essence of a pose better, especially if they are more restricted in their movement or flexibility. They can make poses more achievable, especially if you are a beginner. For the more advanced students they can help to find more nuance in poses.

So what poses can you do with a belt? Here are just a few ideas…

Remember, any soft, non-stretchy, belt will work or even a long scarf.

Seated Side Stretch

You can do this sitting on the floor or on a chair. If you are on the floor sitting on a cushion or yoga block might help you to sit more comfortably.

Hold the belt in front of you and then take the arms overhead. You can widen the arms a little and then stretch to one side and then the other. Repeat a few times and you can rest your arms in-between if you need.

2. Dandasana – Staff Pose

Hook the belt around your feet and hold it, without tensing through the shoulders. Lift the chest. If you want to you can try leaning forwards, keeping the chest lifted, and you can work your hands down the belt.

Sitting on a yoga block or cushion will help lift the hips, and you can bend your legs if you feel discomfort in the backs of your legs.

3. Restorative Badokonasana

This pose is a fabulous resting pose and eases the hips into a gentle stretch. If you are tighter in the hips, looping the belt over the tops of your knees means they can be supported without needing to release too far out to the sides. Ensure the buckle is in the middle and not digging into your leg.

4. Chest opening ‘backpack’

This one takes a bit of attention to get the belt in the right place, and the belt needs to be long enough. First bring the belt around the upper back and under the armpits to the front. Ensure the belt is equal length each side and then loop the end of the belt over your left shoulder with your left hand and hold from underneath. Do the same over the right shoulder. So you should hold the ends of the belt just under your armpits as you would hold the straps on a back pack.

You can gently pull down on the ends of the belt as you exhale to release the shoulders away from the ears a little more.

5. Revolved seated side bend

Hook the belt around your extended foot as you twist to the side, then you can hold the end of the belt with your overhead arm to act like an arm extender and ease you further into the stretch.

Especially useful as you have to be very flexible to reach to hold your toes in this pose.

Make sure you also do the pose on the other side.

6. Viparita Kirani – Legs up the wall

Loop the belt around your thighs, just above the knee. Ensure the buckle is in the middle and not digging into your leg. Tighten the belt until your legs are about hip distance or closer if that feels comfortable. The belt will gently hold your legs in place as you relax them in this really peaceful pose.

7. Supta Padangustasana

To find your way into this hip opener loop the belt around your foot and take the foot up to the ceiling. Your shoulders should not be tense so hold the belt gently. Then holding the belt with the hand on the same side, allow the leg to release out to the side (you can turn your toes out a little to ease the stretch) and hold gently so that the belt supports the stretch for as long as feels comfortable.

Make sure you do the pose on the other leg too.

8. Gomukasana – Cow Face Pose

In this pose the belt acts as an arm extender. You can hold the belt if your hands don’t meet in order to find a deeper and more aligned version of the pose.

Do the pose on both sides.

9. Baby Dancer

If you find it difficult to hold your foot/ankle in this thigh stretch balance, looping your belt around the ankle might help. It is useful to hold onto the wall or a chair for balance in this pose. If you wobble out, ensure that you let go of the belt to avoid getting tangled in it.

Make sure you do the pose on the other leg too.

10. Supine thread needle pose

This is a great stretch into the glutes and very effective for easing sciatica. It is also a great hip stretch. To support the pose, if you find it hard to reach your lower thigh, loop a belt around it and hold onto the ends of the belt to make it easier.

Do the pose on both sides.