At WRISTBuddy® yoga blocks, we believe that yoga should be a journey of self-discovery, empowerment, and socialization. As a passionate yogi, health professional, and innovator, I created WRISTBuddy® yoga blocks to revolutionize how we approach the use of yoga blocks. Struggling with wrist pain and discomfort myself within the first 3 months of yoga practice, I knew there had to be a better solution.
After all, it has been 50 years since the yoga block was introduced. The rest of the world has moved on. But, there have been no substantive, functional upgrades for yoga blocks.
As has been done before, I headed to the garage with some old yoga blocks, cutting tools, and a drill with a burr attachment. After much time and many iterations, I had a rough version that was amenable to producing samples. These were taken to many yoga studios on the west and east coasts, as well as the mid-Atlantic area. Instructors and students provided wonderful and encouraging feedback. We launched our brand and began selling in October 2021.
As a sports-focused chiropractor for 30 years, I saw the design of WRISTBuddy® yoga blocks as ‘an obvious upgrade’. My practice emphasized the basic principles of ergonomics, biomechanics, and posture. Why? Because these are the most common causes of musculoskeletal pain and injury. Secondary to the way our bodies are built, there are proper and improper ways for us to use our bodies. How we sit, stand, bend, lift, and stoop, determines, to a large part, the amount of daily stress on our bodies. Over time, when we perform these Activities of Daily Living (ADL’s) improperly, our risk of pain and injury increases.
This brings us back to yoga blocks. Our wrists are weak and vulnerable to weight-bearing when they are bent 90 degrees backward on the old-style, flat-sided blocks. High wrist compression is the most common cause of yoga-related wrist pain. And this is what the traditional blocks do to our wrists… bend them 90 degrees backward, repeatedly. Additionally, the standard block size is a bit too large for most hands, so the grip is relatively weak. Many yoga practitioners don’t realize their grip is weak until they try WRISTBuddy® blocks.
