The yoga strap is essential for your yoga practice, whether you are an experienced yogi or a beginner. It can help you deepen your stretches and make improvements to your alignments. Yoga straps come in various materials and sizes, but which is the best yoga strap for you?
Choosing the Perfect Yoga Strap
Shopping for a yoga strap can prove confusing as these come in various sizes and materials. They also have different fastenings. Some even have loops. However, choosing the best yoga strap will depend on your preferences.
Here are the essentials everyone must know for choosing the perfect yoga strap:
Loops instead of Buckles: A cinch or pinch buckle strap gives you the most options because they are easy to adjust during your practice, and you can create loops. However, straps with loops are less fussy and cannot pinch. However, they cannot form a closed loop. Some looped straps have a dual purpose of being a mat carrier. Remember that metal buckles are more durable than plastic when choosing a strap with buckles.
Length: Straps have different length options. Taller people and those struggling with flexibility need longer strap lengths. The most common yoga strap lengths are 6 and 8 ft, but they even come in a 10 ft length.
Material: Most straps are made with cotton because it’s best for grip and easy to clean. But straps made from other natural materials like hemp are great as well. Some yoga straps contain a blend of natural materials with polyester. All are fine as long as the final result is non-elastic,
Enhance Your Yoga Practice with the Best Straps
Yoga straps allow you to personalize your yoga practice based on your needs. However, here are a few ways to enhance your yoga practice with the best yoga straps:
Opening the Shoulders
Hold the strap in front of you, holding both hands slightly wider apart than shoulder width. Slowly bring your arms straight out, raising them until directly above your head. Bring your arms back until they are behind you to open up your muscles. This stretch opens up your chest wall and shoulders. Never push further than you feel comfortable.
Full Boat Pose
Use the strap to strengthen your core and maintain the proper alignment. Keep your back straight and hook the yoga strap around the bottom of your feet. Grasp each end of the strap with one of your hands. Slowly elevate your legs, extending them fully by pushing them against the belt. This yoga posture is the ideal way to use the strap if you are less flexible, as it will help strengthen your core and increase your flexibility.
Dancer’s Pose
Use a yoga strap if you lack the flexibility to get your foot in place for the Dancer’s Pose. Make a small loop to secure your foot in the yoga strap. Once you have your foot in, move into the pose gently while holding onto the other end of the belt with both hands overhead. Next, slowly move your hands down the strap, stopping when you feel the correct tension to stretch your hips and spine.
Benefits of Using High-Quality Yoga Straps
You can use yoga straps in any way to help you enhance and deepen your yoga practice. Even though there are no hard and fast rules to their use, using high-quality straps offers several benefits:
Helping You Stretch: Use yoga straps to deepen your stretches, helping improve your motion and flexibility with practice. For example, if you can’t reach your feet in the Seated Forward Bend Pose (Paschimottanasana), place the center of your yoga strap around your feet, holding onto each end of the strap. Apply tension to deepen your stretch and fully sink into the pose.
Making Poses More Accessible: Holding poses and maintaining the correct alignment are sometimes tricky if you are not flexible enough. Use a yoga strap to make yoga more accessible because it can help to lengthen your arm or guide your body into the correct pose.
Helping You Balance: Beginners often lack the flexibility to achieve more advanced poses. Using a yoga strap makes it easier to hold poses. For example, standing on a yoga strap and holding each end when practicing the Warrior Pose can help you stay upright without falling.
Helping Strengthen Your Muscles: It’s not always necessary, but a yoga strap adds resistance to strengthen your muscles. Because these bands don’t stretch, you can maintain the tension needed. For example, strengthen your scapular stabilizers, rhomboids, trapezius, rotator cuff, and deltoids by grabbing your yoga strap with both hands and holding them slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Pull outward with each hand, maintaining the pull for 30 seconds.
Improving Your Posture: Maintaining proper posture has become difficult as we all slouch in front of a computer or our phones. Use your yoga strap to help guide your shoulders into the postures required for each yoga asana. Loop the yoga strap over your shoulders and under your armpits with some tension to help pull and better align shoulder blades.
Top-rated Yoga Straps for Beginners and Advanced Practitioners
Now that you know more about what to look for and the benefits of yoga straps, here are some top-rated ones. The options can feel overwhelming if you want to deepen your yoga practice by choosing the best yoga strap. Here are the top-rated options for yoga straps making a great addition to any yogi’s kit, whether you are a beginner or advanced practitioner:
Trideer Stretching Strap Yoga Strap
For those wanting a durable and versatile stretching strap for yoga, the Trideer Stretching Strap Yoga Strap is an excellent option thanks to its high-quality fabric and reinforced stitching that will ensure it lasts for years of daily use.
The band is 6.25 ft long and 1 inch wide, helping you achieve better and deeper stretches whether you’re a beginner or advanced practitioner. They are also ideal for older people and Pilates or physical therapy.
The Trideer Stretching Strap Yoga Strap includes a free exercise guide with various postures to gain the most benefits from the stretch rope.
Manduka Align Yoga Strap
The Manduka Align Yoga Strap is an excellent investment and overall choice to enhance your yoga practice. Its sure-secure interlocking buckle and unbleached natural, eco-friendly cotton weave provides slip-free support, making you feel secure in the most challenging positions. It’s the responsible choice since it’s unbleached, making it environmentally and user-friendly. Cleaning the strap is easy – simply hand wash before hanging up to dry.
Gaiam Yoga Strap
Another top-rated yoga strap for achieving your goals is the Gaiam Yoga Strap. The strap has an adjustable metal D-ring buckle, allowing customization of its length and ensuring a comfortable and secure fit for any body type.
The durable, high-quality fabric blend of polyester ensures an endurable strap that won’t fray or break, even if used daily for years to come. Get the proper alignment and strength by improving your yoga practice with this essential yoga strap.
Tumaz Yoga Strap
The Tumaz is the best yoga strap if you want one that comes in various colors to brighten your practice but has enough strength for your yoga poses since it can hold 2,379 lbs (1.079 tons). The strap’s fabric is tight-knit and non-elastic, and the Tumaz Yoga Strap comes in three lengths. Its 4mm D-ring buckle and fabric thickness of 2.5 mm provide stability for your stretching. The colors used for dyeing are eco-friendly.
Find more about these and other yoga straps on Browse Wellness.
Finding the Right Length and Material for Your Yoga Strap
Yoga straps come in lengths ranging from 6 to 10 feet. Your choice of length depends on your height and flexibility. Taller, less flexible yogis usually opt for a longer strap, but they are also versatile for the most experienced practitioners.
Length is important because you’ll mostly use it in a loop, meaning you will need enough length left for a better and more comfortable grip. Therefore, even though the most common yoga strap length is 6 to 8 ft, you may benefit from a 10ft strap if you are tall. Some of the best yoga straps, like the REEHUT and Tumaz, come in all three sizes.
Cotton has the best grip and cleans easily, but you may prefer another natural fiber like hemp or a synthetic one like nylon or polyester. One drawback of using a cotton yoga strap is that it stretches with time, making it less durable than synthetic ones.
If you want a less fussy strap, consider one with loops, but buckles give you more loop-creating options for your yoga practice, allowing you to regulate it based on your flexibility and posture.
Durable and Versatile: The Best Yoga Straps on the Market
Durability and versatility are essential when looking for the best yoga strap. Here are four that you will get the best use from:
REEHUT Yoga Strap
The soft polyester material of the REEHUT is very sturdy and durable while it’s soft on your hands. Thanks to the metal D-ring buckle and its availability in three sizes, you will have a yoga strap that provides the necessary support for your yoga practice and balance. REEHUT has lifetime customer support for its products, showing its confidence in the durability of its products.
YDL Mandala Cotton Yoga Strap
For those who want a premium eco-friendly yoga strap and don’t mind splurging, the YDL Mandala Cotton Yoga Strap is the best for your practice. It’s aesthetically pleasing, has a slip-resistant surface, and excellent grip combined with its eye-catching print. Unfortunately, it only comes in an 8ft length, but this is the most versatile length for beginners and advanced practitioners.
Clever Yoga Yoga Strap
Another durable and versatile yoga strap is the Clever Yoga Strap. It’s made from 100% organic cotton that’s available in two lengths. The strap has a classic D-ring for forming loops. Moreover, it’s backed by a lifetime guarantee, meaning it has a robust design and uses premium materials.
Hugger Mugger Quick-Release 10 ft. Cotton Yoga Strap
The Hugger Mugger collection has an impressive range of straps in different colors, sizes, and buckles. Still, this 10 ft strap is very robust, making it ideal for beginners, heavier people (it can handle 500 lbs without a problem), and inflexible ones. However, its plastic buckle also makes this ideal for seasoned yogis who want a quicker flow of movement during practice.
Enhance Flexibility and Deepen Stretches with These Yoga Straps
Yoga straps can help you reach the proper alignment during yoga poses, allowing you to hold them longer for improved flexibility and deepen your stretches. Here are two of the best yoga straps to assist in your practice:
Trideer Multi-Loop Yoga Strap
The Trideer Mult-Loop yoga strap has 12 non-elastic loops for gradually deepening your stretches as your flexibility increases. The nylon strap can be rough on your hands, but it’s sturdy and has high-quality stitching, making it durable.
Tumaz Stretching Strap
Another yoga strap with loops is the Tumaz Stretching Strap, which has 10 to help deepen your stretches and expand your flexibility. This yoga belt is made with high-quality materials, is non-elastic, and can hold almost 2,400 pounds.
Invest in Your Yoga Journey with the Best Yoga Straps Available
If you are looking for the best yoga strap to invest in for your yoga journey, then choose one of these two:
Yogago Yoga Straps
Made from natural soft leather, these double-sided bonded and saddle-stitched yoga straps are silky-soft and elegant. They are 6.5 feet long and have adjustable loop ends, making them easier to use as a yoga mat carrier. These luxurious straps are versatile and come in four colors.
Akasha Yoga Strap
The Akasha Yoga Strap is designed from pre-loved Guatemalan fabrics for a solid belt to enhance flexibility and deepen your stretches. The unique Mayan embroidery provides a beautiful yoga prop that helps combat malnutrition since 10% of the proceeds go to a charity in Guatemala. The loop design of the strap makes it easy to adjust into a mat carrier.