When it comes to decorating or accentuating your home, one of the first things most people look at is adding accent pillows to their decor. Accent pillows certainly add a touch of class to any home, but they can also serve another vital purpose: comfort and relaxation. Take the case of the yoga bolster pillow. These small, unassuming pillows are a fantastic accessory that are also useful for therapy, relaxation, and workouts. Adding these kinds of pillows to both your home’s decor and your exercise routine is definitely worth considering. Here’s a short guide to help you decide if you should get one for your home.
What It Is
Bolster pillows are essentially just long, narrow pillows. A yoga bolster pillow is a dense, decent sized pillow that aids in performing yoga poses and practicing yoga in general. They come in different shapes, weights, and sizes. This is largely to help accommodate unique poses or varied uses of the pillow. They come in several shapes including round and rectangular. Round pillows are flatter, lower, and let yoga practitioners perform forward motions easier. Rectangular pillows are typically larger and taller, ideal for bends. Depending on the manufacturer, the pillow can be stitch knitted or embroidered.
What It Does
The beauty of using a bolster pillow for your yoga routine is that it can be applicable to countless poses. It’s especially practical for improving your circulation. Improving your circulation is vital regardless of your age. A bolster pillow is intended to help stimulate the body’s circulation during yoga poses. When you do yoga, the exercises stretch your blood vessels and eventually improve your alertness, memory, mood, and more. Improving your circulation is only part of what a bolster pillow does. It can also provide additional support while lounging, sitting, or working at home. Several pillows can be used for different yoga poses, meditation, and other exercises.
Materials
Just like many other kinds of pillows, bolster pillows are usually filled with cotton or down. Some of them might contain foam inserts. Usually, they’ll have a zippered cover or other type of enclosure. For the best in yoga pillows, you can get one made with GOTS certified, sustainable materials. Instead of materials that aren’t as green or eco-friendly, these types of pillows usually contain a blend of buckwheat and cotton. Mixing them together creates a firm, stable, and very comfortable pillow filling. These pillows can also be considered vegan, since they don’t use animal products like feathers or wool. This not only ensures the pillow is free from nasty and dangerous compounds like formaldehyde, it makes it easier to replace fill should the need arise. A natural pillow also won’t contain any flame retardants (some of which contain noxious/hazardous chemicals), VOCs, or phthalates, making it an ideal choice all around.
Benefits
So, should you get a yoga bolster pillow? Absolutely. The benefits alone make it worthwhile. If it’s a soft, stretch knit style it can be handy for an assortment of yoga poses. Yoga pillows are super helpful for improving circulation during particular yoga poses. During the Savasana pose, for example, you can put the pillow beneath your knee to help improve leg circulation and accomplish a sort of floating feeling. If you put the pillow under your lower back or chest, it can enhance the blood flow and feeling to these areas while providing additional stability for each pose you’re performing. Using the bolster regularly can help relieve lower back pain, pressure, and tension. If you’re having some trouble perfecting your poses, then a bolster will help you practice and reinforce excellent form. Adding a bolster to your yoga routine is ideal for maximizing the healthy benefits of the exercises themselves as well as optimizing your health and well being long term.
Cleaning and Care
If you’ve decided to go ahead and invest in a yoga bolster pillow, it should last quite some time with the right care and cleaning routine. Luckily, cleaning a bolster pillow is as easy as any other standard piece of laundry. Since most bolsters come with a zippered cover, you can simply machine wash the cover in cold water. If your pillow doesn’t have a removable cover, simply spot clean it with a bit of soap and water. You’ll want to stay on top of cleaning the pillow regularly because it comes into frequent contact with both your body and the floor. The last thing you want is a bacterial infection getting in the way of your wellness and peace of mind! While it’s not an insignificant investment, adopting the use of a yoga bolster pillow into your routines will ultimately lead to better poses, increased circulation, and more peace in your daily life on the overall.
