Giving Props to Props

There’s so much I love about yoga, but what I love most may be how your practice is just that--- yours! It offers the opportunity to go inward, focusing just on yourself. When doing the poses (asanas) it’s not about competition, or trying to replicate how the pose looks on someone else’s body, it’s all about you and how you feel in the pose.

Sure, you can push yourself to your edge, but you’re not supposed to feel pain, discomfort or instability, and if you do, this is where props come in. There are a variety of props to consider, but the most frequently used are blocks, straps, knees pads, and blankets.

Blocks can be used for a variety of reasons, but most often they are used to assist with stability and to provide support in many poses. Straps assist in stretching. Knee pads help with discomfort when doing floor work. Blankets are for support and to provide warmth during shavasana (corpse pose) and throughout yin and restorative practices.

So, let’s give props to props, we all need a little support now and then.