The Yoga Trapeze: How & Why to Use It
If you’ve never used a yoga trapeze, here’s your chance to start.
A yoga trapeze is a swing-like prop used to help you get into certain yoga postures and perform muscle strengthening techniques. You’ve probably seen a similar prop used in aerobatics performances at the circus. Using a trapeze is the most natural form of inversion therapy. It supports the body in deeper stretches and backbends that normally cannot be performed successfully if you try to do them on the ground.
Below are the key benefits of a yoga trapeze and the most common poses to practice with it.
Inversion Therapy
Because we’re a culture of sitting, our poor spines are constantly compressed which leads to all sorts of back pain – lumbar pain, herniated discs, pinched nerves, etc. The yoga trapeze helps create natural traction within the spine allowing it to lengthen and pull apart (instead of squishing together like normal).
Assisted Backbends
The trapeze is a beautiful tool to aid in opening your heart, stretching the front side body, and accessing backbends that are either inaccessible or too intense for you. The yoga trapeze allows the posture to be passive, versus active. Yes – it will take effort to come into the posture, but then it’s all about relaxing, opening, and making space.
Core Strengthening
Ummm….. did I say the word core? Yes, yes I did. Don’t run away friends, it’ll be over in no time!
Assisted Stretching
Lastly – the yoga trapeze helps assist in a plethora of standing postures that allow us to go a bit deeper than normal, but still with a lot of support!
All images courtesy of The Journey Junkie.
