5 Good Reasons to Use Yoga Props for Your Home Practice
Personal prop favorites!
No matter how long you’ve been practicing yoga, there is something wonderful to be gained from using yoga props. Whether you’ve been practicing for an hour, a year, or a decade; yoga props like blocks, straps, cushions, bolsters, and blankets can deepen your practice. The truth is, there’s no shame in using props in your home practice or at the studio.
Just to be clear, yoga is not about how many cool props you have in whatever colors. There is absolutely nothing in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali that indicates the way to liberation is through props! In my free, online Saturday Community Classes, I teach without the use of props, so that those who don’t have them on-hand are encouraged to participate.
In fact, I personally regularly practice without blocks, just to check in to my own body and to meet it where it is. And when I don’t use blocks or straps, I try to be even more mindful of my own limitations and challenges with certain asana postures. I am careful to focus on the spirit of yoga, without pushing, striving, or competing to push my body into contortions. But I find that yoga props help me focus, progress without distraction, and find deeper relaxation. In this post we’ll provide 5 good reasons to use props, and some best practices.
What are yoga props?
Yoga props are physical supports that enhance one’s balance, support the lower back, provide warmth, act as an arm extender, provide traction, and allow the practitioner to fully enjoy a posture without having to be super strong or hyper-flexible. In short, yoga props can help make yoga asana more accessible!
You can find yoga props at just about any big box retailer or online commerce hub. There is a plethora of colors, and there are quite a few brands to choose from. I recommend checking out an online store like Yoga Outlet and seeing all the different versions of yoga blocks, straps, bolsters, and blankets available to you. It all comes down to personal preference for price point, textures, and colors. Some yoga practitioners like to coordinate their yoga mats with their blankets and blocks. (I’m one of those people, I can’t help it!)
Why exactly do we use yoga props? Here are 5 Good Reasons:
1. Facilitates Safe Alignment
Props like blocks and straps allow students to safely get into postures that may otherwise be difficult for them. For example, stepping forward from Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downard-Facing Dog) can be difficult for the beginner. Using blocks under the hands provides a bit of elevation that makes it easier to step one’s foot forward into Anjaneyasana (Low Lunge). Another great example of how props can facilitate a safe practice, is the use of a strap in Forward Bend. Looping a strap around your feet and holding the other end, allows you to bend forward slowly and intentionally from the waist, protecting tight hamstrings and sparing lower back aggravation from too much rounding. Props encourage safe alignment!
2. Promotes Deeper Relaxation
Blankets, cushions, and bolsters allow students to sink into postures a bit more deeply by providing warmth, support, and comfort. In Savasana (Corpse Posture), at the end of class, we cover up with a blanket because the body tends to lose heat when we literally ‘cool down” and begin relaxation. This loss of heat can be experienced as discomfort and can be distracting from the deep recalibration and renewal that can happen during Savasana. When the student feels protected, warm and safe, the parasympathetic nervous system is activated, and fight or flight response is inactivated; we are invited to surrender to deep relaxation.
3. Encourages Play
Having props around the house sometimes fuels my playful curiosity! I like to play around with the height of blocks and cushions in various postures. For example, during restorative yoga, it’s fun to build up support and bridges for my neck, with blankets and bolsters that fit the length of my body specifically. ALSO, blocks work really well as a computer shelf, a footrest, a cat toy, and a door stopper. But there will be prop casualties, it might be best to use them specifically for yoga!
4. Builds Confidence
I have seen students struggle during Vinyasa flows and I know that can feel really defeating. Many inclusive yoga teachers I know, will have props in studio and will actively teach with them, not just offer them as an “option.” In my Beginner Series, I teach with yoga blocks, so that no one feels left out, and advanced students can opt not to use them if they prefer. In my experience, sequences that are designed around beginner students’ use of props, facilitate confidence-building and a sense of security for students who are new to yoga.
5. Supports Intentionality and Mindfulness
Being uncomfortable during meditation or yoga can be really distracting. For many of us, finding a “comfortable seat” is not necessarily easy. In fact, Sukhasana (Easy cross-legged pose) is often not an accessible posture for many students. Utilizing a meditation cushion, a couch cushion, a rolled blanket – anything that gets your hips up higher than your knees can really help you find more ease. Once you are comfortably seated in Sukhasana, or on a straight-backed chair, or on a meditation bench, or wherever you like; you can release those thoughts about your lower back hurting and focus inward. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali have a name for this calm, even, inward focus - citta prasadanam, or “even distribution of consciousness.”
So, there you have it – 5 Good Reasons to Use Props in Your Home Practice! Remember, while props can deepen your practice and provide much needed support, it’s at your discretion whether you need them or want to explore with them. There’s so much to learn about yourself, in yoga, either way.
Later this month, I’m hosting doing a 5-Day Health Journey in my Facebook Group, Ceiba Root Wellness - Community and Yoga Practice and the winners of our contest will win – you guessed it – Yoga props! (And additionally there are up to $500 worth of prizes to be won.) Yay!
So, if you’re interested in learning more about yoga, healthy living and practicing in community, come join us! You can also access the Ceiba Root Wellness affiliate link to Yoga Outlet’s online store here.
