Fitness Yoga

Sofa Yoga Flows Prove Your Couch Is the Only Asana Prop You Need

Kells McPhillips

September 19, 2018

Use your couch for a yoga routine at home

Sure, traditional yoga props like blocks, straps, and blankets can upgrade any asana-lover's time on the mat. Ask most downward dog devotees though, and you'll learn that they don't discriminate against any apparatus (even cliffsides!) that can help deepen their backbends, forward folds, and inversions. Instagram yogi and e-book author, Jessica Olie certainly agrees.

The influencer recently posted an Instagram video in which she enlists none other than her couch as an integral prop to her pratice. And no, she's not namastay-ing on it to binge-watch the latest and greatest on Netflix—she's actually flowing through pose after pose using the piece of furniture as a helpful tool.

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Finding all the fun ways to stretch & flow using our sofa while singing along to all my favorite songs = my kind of morning. I’ve gotten so many questions about where we got our sofa from & I’m going to upload a full house tour on YouTube soon. But in the meantime, this beauty is from @barkerandstonehouse and it’s one of my favorite pieces of furniture in our home. #notsponsored #LETSSTARTYOGA ? @gavinhaley “West Coast”

A post shared by Jessica Olie ?? @letsstartyoga (@jessicaolie) on Sep 11, 2018 at 1:00pm PDT

In the hyperlapsed recording, Olie has positioned her mat parallel to the back of the couch, and she starts by situating herself in an upside down L-shape with her feet on the sofa. After moving through a few toe taps (i.e.—alternating touching the toes from wrist to wrist), she bends her knees and proceeds to flow through cat-cow while half suspended in the air. The video continues like this, with the piece of furniture providing praise-hands-worthy handstand and wheel pose assists.

Watching the whole sequence unravel on your screen is just as mesmerizing as ogling at an aesthetically cut pomegranate or an expertly foamed latte. (Translation: You'll want to watch this video at least three times.) Even better though, you'll definitely feel inspired to roll out your mat right next to your couch for a little Zen-heavy playtime. Because, when it comes to the ideal location for getting experimental with your practice, there's truly no place like om.

Hey yogis, this stress-busting move might just make you cry, and these asanas can give your sex life a healthy boost.