Yoga wheels are wheeling their way into yoga studios– pun intended. I’m a fellow yogi who never explored the full yoga wheel benefits until recently, and it’s a regret! I often suffered from backache when trying advanced asanas, which no longer troubles me with the wheel. Yoga wheels come in various types, offer numerous benefits, and appeal to beginner and expert yogis. So, I’m here to share how the wheel benefits you in yoga and other physical fitness routines as a versatile exercise prop. In addition, I’ll add the best wheel exercises.
A yoga wheel is a trending prop used in yoga classes and other fitness routines. According to yoga specialist Anshuka Parwani, it improves your practice by offering therapeutic and physical support for beginners and experts (8).
The yoga wheel is a hollow plastic or wooden cylinder with a supportive covering that comes in various sizes. The durable wheel is similar to a foam roller. Yet, it’s an inflexible stretching device invented in the 1970s (8).
The wheel can help expert yogis with advanced asanas while aiding beginners.
The benefits of yoga wheel exercises in your physical fitness routines are immense. Indeed, the benefits go beyond yoga because you can use the wheel for other fitness routines and stretching exercises as well.
So, let’s see the many benefits of the yoga wheel.
The first advantage of yoga wheels is that expert yogis can enhance their asanas with the correct posture (8). More advanced yoga poses can challenge the most experienced yogis. So, aiding yourself with a yoga wheel can achieve the next level of your practice.
Yoga props help beginners find support, balance, and safety in their journey to becoming a yogi (10). Expert yogis also use props to enhance and personalize their practice. Meanwhile, beginners can enjoy the injury-free benefits of using props like yoga wheels.
Full-body strengthening is another health benefit of yoga wheels (7). Wheel yoga pose stretches enhance the muscle strength in your arms, legs, abdomen, wrists, and buttocks. Additionally, it also works on your glutes, hamstrings, hip flexors, and lower back muscles.
The Fascia Research Group confirmed that yogic exercises, including rollers, stimulate fascia movement positively (9). Rollers are merely pre-wheels. In addition, fascia stimulation improves posture, balance, and coordination (5).
Read More: What Is An Asana In Yoga?
Chakrasana is a form of back-bending yoga that welcomes you to open your diaphragm entirely for exceptional breathing (2). Back-bending is a traditional yoga practice, and yoga wheels make it much simpler to hold the position longer, allowing improved breathing.
Yoga wheels offer profound benefits, including improved blood glucose levels. A PubMed Central study found that back-bending yoga can improve people with type 2 diabetes lives (3). So, using backbends can improve diabetes. Why not do it with a yoga wheel?
Yoga wheels can improve spine health by enhancing the flexibility of yogis practicing the asanas in proper form. A PubMed Central study concluded that spinal health benefits exist more extensively under the correct posture (4). Meanwhile, yoga wheels improve posture.
Backbends are beneficial yoga wheel practices. However, full-body spine stretching and forward bends also bring benefits.
So, here are three yoga wheel exercises suitable for beginners:
The traditional child’s pose is a simple yoga asana beginners know (1). However, it changes slightly once using the yoga wheel. Also, this pose works better with a smaller yoga wheel if you’re short.
To do the wheel-assisted child’s pose:
The old-school fish pose is simple. Yet, it can cause injury to new yogis if you don’t do it right (6). So, let’s make one of the most popular and oldest yoga poses a safer choice with the yoga wheel.
To do the yoga wheel fish pose:
The rolling plank pose is suitable for yoga wheels, even if it begins with the tabletop pose (11). You can’t do it without a wheel. However, it supports the spinal stretch and full-body workout.
To do the yoga wheel rolling plank pose:
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Consider the factors regarding the size. Up Circle Seven is my favorite brand because they offer a 3-in-1 package that shows how each size works (15).
The wheels have three standard sizes:
There are three main kinds of yoga wheels that exist, which appeal to different yogis.
See the breakdown of how each primary type of wheel looks and works:
Read More: Yoga Namaste – Evoke The Divine In You
Hands down, the Yoga Wheel Malasana Pose will challenge the most advanced yogis. Even experts could get hurt if you don’t mount the wheel properly. The famous yogi, Dragon Hooper, shares a tutorial on safely entering the Malasana pose on a yoga wheel (16).
Yoga wheel pose benefits are vast, even including type 2 diabetes management. However, every advantage works with a healthy lifestyle. In the case of diabetes, medication and traditional treatments go hand-in-hand with yoga wheel exercises. Meanwhile, the many benefits will lead to a healthier, stronger, and more flexible you.
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