What is a Lotus Wrap?

When I am out and about at markets I often get asked about the Lotus Wrap. It is often mistaken for a baby carrier or a scarf! While you certainly can wear a Lotus Wrap as a scarf their main purpose is to support you to sit more comfortably in meditation.

The first Lotus Wrap was born after Kara Schwandt, a Canadian yoga teacher, went on a Vipassana Meditation Retreat. Like many of us she struggled to find a comfortable sitting position for the many meditation sessions. Facing many hours of sitting she was inspired to tie a piece of fabric around her lower back and knees to ease her discomfort. While this helped, the fabric kept coming loose, which gave her the idea of creating a meditation belt or wrap was born.

Benefits of using a wrap for meditation

When used to support a crossed legged seated meditation posture, the Lotus Wrap wraps around your lower back, hips and folded knees, before being secured at the front through metal rings. This helps stabilise your pelvis and restores the spine’s natural curvature, helping to relieve muscle soreness and lumbar pain that can trigger when sitting in a crossed legged position. This lets you sit more comfortably for longer.

Wrapping yourself in this way has also been shown to activate the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS), which helps our bodies to regenerate and repair. It can also make us feel more relaxed and support us to slip more quickly into a deeper meditative state.

Not just for meditation

You can use the Lotus Wrap for many other activities.

Yoga & fitness activities

It is a wonderful prop for Restorative and Yin Yoga. The wrap can make it easier to transition between positions whilst providing that sense of nurturing and support. This makes it easier for you to relax into the poses and release muscle tension.

It also makes a useful yoga strap to help you soften and ease into postures like Staff Pose, Forward Fold or Boat Pose, as well as being a great tension band for fitness training.

Posture Correction

You can use a Lotus Wrap to help you correct your posture. By wrapping it around your shoulders for around 15 minutes a day it can positively help you to realign your posture.

Rebozo

I recently learnt from Kara that many in the doula community love using the Lotus Wrap as a ‘rebozo’ to support pregnant and labouring mums in childbirth. The favorite poses to support mum and baby are cow pose and ‘shake the apple tree’ and it is apparently used by some in a ‘closing of the bones’ ceremony.

From picnics in the park to planes

The Louts Wrap is really light to carry and easy to roll up and pop in a bag. This means you can take it almost anywhere with you. Use it on retreat, at a picnic or music festival, on a plane or even to sit around the camp fire!

Local manufacturing and eco-friendly materials

Being eco-friendly is high on Kara’s list of priorities and this is reflected in the materials she chooses to make her wraps and in her packaging.

Kara uses quality EOKO-TEX and natural fabrics, along with specialised stitching to ensure the best support is given by the wrap and you never have to worry about it letting go in a posture.

All the packaging is made from recycled paper and compostable plastics because both Kara and I are passionate about doing our little bit to minimise our impact on the earth where we can.

Kara focused on sourcing a local manufacture in her home town of Vancouver, Canada. Keeping the production of the wraps local has helped her to minimise her carbon footprint and ensures she maintains a high level of quality control.

What size should you buy?

The Lotus Wrap comes in two sizes. The 96 inch wrap and the 114 inch wrap.

The 96 inch (8 foot) long Lotus Wraps generally fits most body shapes and sizes in most meditation and yoga poses. The exceptions to the rule are Staff Pose and using it as a shoulder wrap. Those blessed with long legs or curvy figures might want to consider a 114 inch X-Long Lotus Wrap if these poses are important in your practice.

Tip – the best way to check what size will work best for you is to use a flexible tape measure and test the poses on yourself to determine whether the 96 inch Wrap will be enough. As long as there are a minimum of three inches of fabric to pull through the rings, it will fit.

How to look after your Lotus Wrap

The Lotus Wrap is really easy to wash and look after. Here are some tips to care for your Lotus Wrap.

• When your wrap needs a wash simply put it in the washing machine (unless you want to hand wash it of course!)
• Pop a sock over the rings and place the wrap in a mesh bag to keep it safe in the washing machine.
• Remove the wrap from the washing machine promptly after the spin cycle and hang it up to dry to minimise the chance of needing to iron it after washing.
• You might notice your wrap shrinks a little during the first three or four washes – don’t worry!  This has been taken into account and the wraps are designed to be the perfect length after washing.

Guaranteed to last a lifetime

The Lotus Wrap is designed to last! Kara offers a Lifetime Limited Manufacturer’s Warrantee should your Lotus Wrap ever break or tear.

Want to check the out the Lotus Wrap?

I am very proud to be able to say that Seeds of Wonder is the only supplier of Lotus Wraps in Australia. You can see my collection of Lotus Wraps here.

If you still have any questions about the Lotus Wraps please reach out to me at info@seedsofwonder.com.au.