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Buttafly - A Versatile Yoga Block

If you like using yoga blocks and props, you will LOVE the Buttafly!

The wedged shape and fluid curves of the Buttafly are designed to fit around your body to provide firm yet comfortable support.

For yoga, Pilates, the MUTU system, and all floor-based exercises, the Buttafly can be used in many different ways to help you get into the best position you can most comfortably.

No more complaints about the hard edges of regular yoga blocks digging into the back of your thighs or the frustration of cushions sagging…

Be comfortable, stay a little longer, and let your stress and tension melt away.

The Buttafly can be used in place of bolsters, bricks, pillows, blankets, and conventional yoga blocks.

It works especially well for providing support in long-held positions, such as during restorative and Yin Yoga.

“Support the body well, and the letting go just happens,” says our designer, Loulou James.

Child's Pose (Balasana)

For Your Neck

The Buttafly can be used in various ways to support the forehead and provide a comfortable position for the neck. 

Child’s Pose provides a wonderful opportunity for us to work gently with stiffness of the neck and upper thoracic spine, a common problem especially among desk-workers.

Support for Stiff Hips

if you find it difficult to relax in Child’s Pose because your bottom doesn’t reach your heels, wedge the gap with a Standard Buttafly as shown here

Heart-Opening - level 1

Supported Supine Lying

This position can be a helpful modification to Corpse Pose (Savasana) for those who are not comfortable lying flat on the floor and is especially useful for those who get breathless when they lie too flat.

At the end of a long day, this is a great way to relieve postural tension and free up the neck and shoulder areas.

The key prop here is the Standard Buttafly positioned under the shoulder blades offering firm yet comfortable support.

Under the head, you can use a Tall Buttafly as shown here, or any other prop that supports the head so that the neck has a neutral alignment throughout its length.

Heart-Opening - level 2

A Gentle Way To Lower Your Heart Rate

Two Buttaflys are used here to support a classic “heart-opening” pose.

A Standard Buttafly rests under the ribs to raise the chest relative to the neck, thereby stimulating the baroreflex and slowing down the heart rate.

A Flat Buttafly offloads the sacrum and tailbone and, by lifting the pelvis a little, reduces the intensity of this pose compared to level 3.

Heart-Opening - level 3

For More Practiced Students

This is the most advanced “heart-opening” position.

Come into it from lying flat first, with the knees bent up and the feet on the floor. Come up into a bridge to position the Buttafly and gently lower yourself down, keeping your knees bent. Access your level of comfortable here, and only if you feel no strain, straighten the legs away. 

Pigeon Pose (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana)

Athletes & Sports Enthusiasts - Do This!

This pose is a favourite among sports enthusiasts and athletes, and for many, even a modified Pigeon Pose presents a strong challenge.

The extended back leg requires good flexibility of the hip joint and the muscles crossing the front of the hip – in particular, the psoas which connects the thigh to the lumbar spine.

Any stiffness of the muscle or associated fascia usually results in over-arching of the lumbar spine.

The hip on the forward leg also has to be nicely flexible for your bottom to reach the floor.

If there’s not sufficient range, people often compensate by twisting their pelvis.

The key to doing this pose well is to keep the pelvis square, and if you want to stay for a while and reap the benefits of the soft tissues softening and melting, the wedged shape of the Buttafly will help you.

Depending on your flexibility, use either a Standard or a Tall Buttafly.

Squat Pose (Malasana)

A Squat A Day Keeps The Doctor Away!

​​Squat Pose is what I call a Marmite pose – people tend to love it or hate it!

​Traditionally, the pose has the feet wider than the hips so that when the pelvis comes to rest well below the knees, the elbows lightly press against the inside of the knees for support, and as an anchor from which to lengthen the spine.

​For anyone new to this position, it can take quite some time to develop the required flexibility of soft tissues and joints of the lower limbs and spine. Using the right props is a good way to avoid injury.

The Buttafly can be used to help you prepare in two ways:

Use a Standard Buttafly under your heels. This takes the stress off of the ankle joints allowing you to settle into a deeper flexion at the hips and knees.

Alternatively, use a Standard or Tall Buttafly under your sit bones. Try and keep as much weight as you can in your feet while the Buttafly takes some of your weight off the hips and knees – and also prevents you from falling backward.

Corpse Pose (Savasasana)

The Most Difficult Pose Of All

I can remember my first yoga class ever, lying in savasana as stiff as a board. Er, what was I supposed to do here?!

There are many ways we can “trick” the body into doing something that our mind desires – and for most of us when we’re lying down on our mat at the end of a yoga class, it’s to feel relaxed.

Shown here, the contact of the deep curve of the Buttafly around the back of the ankles feels supportive and comfortable and can help people soften and let go of tension because it mimics early maternal touch. Following a nappy change or at bath time, it’s instinctive for a mother to hold her baby’s ankles and jiggle their legs.

It seems as if positioning the ankles like this soothes the nervous system – it’s as if the body does not know how to stay alert and “wired” in this position. 

For the same reason, using a Buttafly around the wrist can feel comfortable and relaxing too.

Love Your Knees

Knees that don’t fully straighten hate to be left unsupported especially when there is any pain or swelling.

Whenever a limb doesn’t meet the floor, the gap is always triangular in shape – hence why the Buttafly works so well.

Here, a Standard Buttafly supports the calf, avoiding direct pressure under the back of the knee and promoting circulation.

The Buttafly could be used under the thigh instead – in which case you would turn it round to reverse the wedge. Try it and see which feels more comfortable for you.

Cat /Cow Pose (Majariasana/Bitilasana)

Love Your Wrists

Bitilasana (Cow Pose) is often combined with Majariasana (Cat Pose) to provide the opportunity to explore the movement of the spine, sometimes stiff, hopefully, gaining more fluidity with practice.

The start-up position also gives us the opportunity to take our body weight through the upper limbs, release tension in the neck and shoulders and come into beautiful stillness.

For those who have stiff or painful wrists, the Buttafly can be used to reduce the required range of movement – notice how the wrists are much less bent back than if the hands were flat on the floor.

Lying Tree (modified Vrksasana)

Love Your Shoulders

When you lie on your back and raise your arms overhead, if your the shoulders are not flexible enough to allow your hands to rest on the floor without strain, support them well.

Here, a Tall Buttafly supports each wrist to avoid over-stretching the shoulders and prevent the ribs from lifting up to compensate for tight shoulders.

Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)

Bridge Pose can be performed dynamically or held for some time – either actively or supported with props.

Traditionally, a yoga block or brick is placed under the sacrum but many people find this so uncomfortable that they avoid holding the pose with props.

The Buttafly can be used to provide support across the whole width of the pelvis, so spreading the load.

They can be stacked up to give the right height of support for you, depending of course on how deep you wish to take the pose.

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