krikstix – Your New Best Friend for Learning Handstands (Product Review Video)

When it comes to product reviews, we don’t mess around. All of the items we review are put through the ringer of everyday use. You can trust that our reviews are non-biased and completely honest. Full disclosure: we don’t publish negative reviews. If a product doesn’t live up to our standards, we simply won’t promote it. Everyone has their own opinion – this is ours. Let’s get started.
 
As yoga itself becomes increasingly more popular in mainstream society (hooray!!), yoga props are also gaining popularity, and with good reason! As yogis, we all understand how important it is to honor our strengths as well as our limitations, both on and off the mat. Yoga props provide a supportive augmentation to our yoga practice – a safe way to explore, deepen, and expand.
 
Yoga props act as your personal yoga assistant – they are there to guide you, teach you, and help you progress. As a guide, yoga props can teach you proper alignment. As a teacher, they can help you deepen your practice. Yoga props are tools for helping you expand your flexibility as well as your horizons, promoting healing, health, strength, and overall wellbeing.
 
Enter krikstix, a revolution in the world of yoga props, bringing you the classic benefits of a yoga prop in an entirely new, fresh, and effective way. We have tested the methods and benefits of krikstix, and deemed it a wonderful addition to any yogi’s tool belt. Let’s find out why!
 

 

What Is krikstix?

Krikstix is a yoga prop made from lightweight aluminum poles called dowels. In some traditional yoga classes such as Iyengar, wooden dowels are used to help guide certain muscle groups during poses. This versatile yoga prop is easy to assemble. It can be used as one long pole (or stik), or it can just as easily be converted into two stix. Krikstix can either be propped against a wall, held in standing poses, or used in a variety of ways on the floor or yoga mat.
 
 

What Does krikstix Do?

Krikstix is designed for a variety of functions. Function numero uno: relieving tension, particularly in the neck and shoulders – two problem areas for most adults who work at a computer all day. An example would be the trapezius muscles – that pair of muscles responsible for your shoulders bunching up around your ears (which is something we as yogis seek to avoid during poses and in our general posture throughout the day). Using krikstix during inversions, then, guides the yogi into proper form – helping relax your shoulders away from your ears – while using the support of the stix to help you get there safely.
 
Krikstix also works as a therapeutic roller to massage and loosen the fascia, which is a saran wrap-like tissue that coats your muscles. The less movement in your day-to-day life, the tighter this fascia gets.
 
Another function of krikstix is achieving precision alignment within yoga poses. Incorporating krikstix into your yoga asanas gives you feedback to help you deepen into the pose. This feedback helps increase your strength by showing you which muscles are underutilized while providing relief to the muscles that are overworked due to improper alignment. As a yoga student and teacher who has struggled with handstands for years, this prop has been key to my personal breakthrough in achieving this challenging pose, in addition to helping me better guide others in their own inversion poses.
 
 

How Do I Use krikstix?

Using krikstix like a foam roller, you’ll find instant, targeted therapeutic relief. This is great for stiff, achy muscles, and for those hard-to-reach areas that need some extra tender loving care. Use krikstix in any pose to help you better understand and feel your muscles within the pose.
 
Unsure of whether you’re in proper alignment in a specific pose? Bring krikstix along let it be the judge! We all learn best by example, so let’s take Warrior 2 pose for example. You’ll use the prop as one long stik. Once your legs are in the Warrior 2 stance, rest the stik on the back of your neck and extend your arms up and over it, mimicking the same arm placement of the pose, but allowing the stik to guide your arms to their proper position. This placement will help you bring the focus back to the core, hips, and legs, while knowing your arms are in correct alignment.
 
With so many more variations and possibilities, we urge you to watch the helpful video tutorials, which you can find under the “Videos” tab from the krikstix homepage.
 
 

Helpful Tips

There is padding on the stik that is important in certain poses for proper execution and maximum comfort. When you’re using the two-stik variation, be sure to make the proper adjustments for each pose. As a general rule, when you’re using the prop as a single stik, the padding can stay in the center. When you purchase your very own krikstix, you will receive a handy and very thorough instructional guide that takes you through all the poses and uses, complete with visual demonstrations so you know you’re doing it right. Krikstix also offers helpful video tutorials on their website: everything from how to assemble your new prop to how to use it in numerous variations.
 
 

Best Feature

This yoga prop is amazingly versatile, functional, and effective. All of these things combined is a fantastic feature in and of itself, but krikstix takes it a step further with their in-depth instructional guide (included with your purchase), and we’d have to say this guide is the best add-on feature of this amazing prop. Krikstix is a very simple yoga prop with a vast array of uses. The instructional guide breaks these uses down by section: Align and Deepen, Balance, and Heal. You can’t use this amazing prop without knowing how to do it!
 
 

Quality

Made of aluminum ‘stix’ that use a similar adjustment concept as crutches, this is a lightweight, portable, and easy-for-all-to-use prop (another excellent feature). We love it for yoga teachers (get one for your private sessions or buy several for small class settings), yoga studios (how much more amazing will an inversion workshop be with a dozen of these?!), and for yoga students looking to deepen their practice. The high-quality and durable yet lightweight design makes this prop accessible to anyone and everyone. It’s easy to assemble and take apart, and since its aluminum, you know it’ll last.
 
Krikstix is an innovative, accessible yoga prop unlike any other we’ve seen on the market. Whether you’re looking to experience the “off the wall” feeling of a handstand, or wanting to finesse your alignment in a challenging pose, krikstix is your new best friend! And if your muscles are tight and you’re looking for more of a therapeutic element, krikstix has you covered there too. We just love this fresh take on a useful yoga prop and for everything the krikstix prop has to offer, it is 100% YouAligned™.