When you start practicing yoga, props aren't usually top of the list. Instead, you'll probably be thinking about comfortable, stretchy clothing, enough space in your living room (if practicing at home) or how bendy you aren’t. But props are really a key part of maintaining a yoga practice, and this is why.
For sitting on
Blocks | blankets | bolsters
A combination of anterior pelvic tilt, where your pelvis tilts forward, sitting in a chair all day and living our modern sedentary lifestyle can often contribute towards sitting down on the floor not quite feeling right. Our hip flexor muscles attach to the bones at the front of the pelvis, and they can become 'short' and 'tight'.
Sitting on a block, a blanket or a cushion can really help with this, as it opens up space for your body. I also have a Buttafly (check it out!), which is another great physio-approved option. Foam blocks are softer for sitting on. Otherwise, you're on your own choice-wise.
I often sit on a bolster, as I have a pretty pronounced anterior tilt, and it feels good to me. For meditation or cross-legged seated postures, it's a fab option.
You can also straddle a bolster (or two) if you find sitting on your flat, tight feet a 'lot'! This is helpful if you're in a class which starts with a longer meditation in this sort of posture, or if working into virasana (hero).
For lying on
Blocks | blankets | bolsters | bricks
If shoulder stands and similar postures like halasana (where you take your legs over your head and your feet towards the wall) are in your practice, you may want to try supporting your shoulders, neck and upper back in this practice by lying on either four blocks or folded blankets. You need solid blankets, though, not fleece. I don't teach these postures in class, and you must make sure you do this safely, so here's someone who does to explain one version of this (I'll post about these postures at some point).
If you're in savasana, use ALL of the props you have to hand. Bolsters are great under the knees (helping to avoid that common pinch in the lower back when you stretch your legs out – yep, it's the pelvic tilt again). Blocks under the arms and/or hands/feet avoid you hyperextending through the knees and elbows. Blankets can be rolled up and go under the neck and/or lower back to keep the spine long and increase comfort and support in this posture. The world is your oyster!
Supported bridge uses a block/brick underneath your sacrum (the bit just above the bum cleft), and then you just lie there, stretch the legs out, try a bound angle (baddha konasana), or keep the feet on the floor. How high or low you go and how long you stay in it is up to you, but best to avoid the very highest version, as it's a lot on the pelvis.
For seated postures (not just sitting)
Blocks | bricks | blankets | bolsters | straps
So we've already talked about what to do when you're sitting on your bum, but what else can you do with props in all of those seated yoga postures?
If you're sitting on something when you go into these postures, you're going to need to keep an eye on whether the extra space between you and the floor is causing any locking in the joints. If this is the case, first port of call is to engage the muscles below and above the kneecap, or to use a prop to bridge the distance.
If your legs are stretched out in front of you like in dandasana (staff posture), check if you're locking the knees – this is really common. If you find you're doing this, you can put blankets or cushions underneath the knees to stop this, or even a rolled up yoga mat if you have one going spare.
If you're doing something like janu sirsasana, where your leg is bent and the sole of your foot touches the calf/inner thigh, those of us with hypermobile hips can support underneath the knee with a yoga block.
There are similar considerations for postures like baddha konasana (bound angle), where the feet meet in a diamond shape. If you have really mobile hips, you can support the knees with the hands, or, to free them up, get some yoga bricks and place them under the knees.
There are also seated postures like Marichyasana A, where one knee's bent, the other straight and you fold forward between the two. I often find it useful to have a brick on hand here, to give me something to grasp onto, and I also get a lot more space for my forward fold if I'm sitting on a block or a bolster here, so try that out.
Straps are also fantastic for seated postures, particularly forward folds. If you have shorter arms and/or longer legs, simply wind the strap around one or both balls of the feet, depending on what you're up to, and use it as an extension of your own arms. This helps with forward movement and avoids you taking the work into the upper back. Remember, you don't need to drag on the strap, just hold it firmly!
In related news, in any seated posture where you might be asked to take the arms behind the back to meet, such as Marichyasana B, or gomukhasana (otherwise known as cow face, charming), a strap is also a great option to help the hands meet.
For supine postures (on the front)
Blocks | blankets | bolsters | bricks | extra mat
Firstly, it's not quite supine, but please always pad if need be when on hands and knees. Plus, if you find that going on your front (or indeed, your back) is uncomfortable, perhaps because of bony protrusions meeting the earth, feel free to double layer your mats, add extra blankets or anything you need to feel comfortable. This practice should be a joy, not a chore.
When lying fully on your front, the main consideration is simply, how does it feel? If there's any discomfort, bring extra blankets underneath the hip area, to help reduce the curve of the spine.
With postures like child, which can feel really compressive, there are a few good prop options. Firstly, some people like to bring blankets or bolsters between their heels and the bum. For fatter folk like me, this doesn't really work, but everyone's individual! You might like to bring a brick or similar underneath the forehead to rest on here. A fantastic option here is to use a bolster to take child in its entirety – you can rest the whole body on it and turn the head as necessary.
When taking something like pigeon, where your leg crosses the body while the other one stretches out behind you, it's really important your pelvis is balanced. To achieve this, grab a block and bring it underneath the buttock of the leg that's crossed. Rest back on this and find the level.
Anything else?
Yes! A bolster's also great for sitting on if you have limited flexion in your ankles, or flat feet, or dodgy knees. This can really help with meditative poses, or postures like thunderbolt and hero, where you're sitting either on or inbetween your feet. You could even sit astride two.
For standing postures
It might seem odd to consider standing postures alongside props, but if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. There are lots of standing postures where you might want to use a prop - remember, walls and chairs are props too.
When you're coming down towards the earth, most of us go one of two ways – deep or shallow. What we're looking for is somewhere in the middle! If you're the kind of person who goes deep, you might feel like you're collapsing, or taking the work into uncomfortable bits of the back (usually to do with lengths of various bits of the body). There are many ways to work with this, but this is how you can use props, so...
In postures like triangle and its revolved version, hold a brick in your hand as you stretch out and fold forward, so that the mat comes to you, and you don't force yourself too close to the floor
In postures where you're doing a straight forward fold, like pada hastasana, where the hands come underneath the feet as you fold forward, bring bricks there in advance, and then place the backs of the hands onto them as you fold forward. You'll notice the difference in your back immediately
Same thing with wide-legged forward folds like prasarita padottanasana. Using a block or bricks means you can focus on moving from the pelvis instead of frantically trying to force yourself deeper (and potentially pinging the back).
Standing balances
Balance can be super challenging for many of us, usually down to the arch of the foot, and just sometimes your innate ability to balance with ease, and so I highly recommend using the wall or a chair to support you as a first port of call. You don't need to lean heavily against either, you'll be amazed that even a fingertip can help stabilise you. Perhaps it's partly psychological? Either way, it works. A bum against the wall can also be a great thing (as no one said, ever).
Forward folding standing balances are particularly challenging (see ardha baddha padmottanasana, where you stand on one leg, cross the other leg over and fold over it), as not many of us have the length in our arms to get all the way down there while maintaining all the other awareness work you want from this posture. In this situation, feel free to bring a brick underneath the hand for some stability when you fold forward.
In the case of half moon, where you're leaning forward and dropping one hand down, while lifting the leg up and open-twisting outwards (yes, it's as challenging as it sounds), you can also do it at the wall, which will help you avoid crossing your front leg over the standing leg when you lift it (it happens a lot, and it twists the pelvis), and help you find balance even when all the different bits of the body are stretched out. You can also, of course, use bricks under the hand here.
For Warrior 3, where you step one foot back, arms out in front or alongside, and lean forward, bricks under the hands if you come super deep, or using the back of a chair to support that forward fold are great options. Don't worry about how it looks, remember the aesthetic is not the posture.
Similarly, if you're doing a dancer pose, which is similar to a calf stretch (where you hold the foot and then stretch out so you look like a ballet dancer, and which is super hard if there's calf and thigh in the way), a strap is an excellent option. Even with a strap, however, this pose is a struggle-bus for me at times, and I need to practice it solo usually, as in a class I simply can't achieve what I need to in the limited moments provided to me by a teacher.
I am also a big fan of standing one foot on a brick and swinging the other leg freely, a technique that helps you balance the pelvis, work on your arch engagement, and is a bit of fun too.
So, remember:
If you're looking to invest in some props, great. If it's not financially viable, you can totally substitute with lots of household items like hardback books, cushions and belts/scarves. You don't need to spend money you don't have when there are plenty of ways to amend. Remember the wonder of a wall or a chair: yoga should be accessible to everyone!
However, if you are looking to buy, here's a few top tips:
- Foam vs cork: it all depends on what you need. Cork is much harder, so can be great for a really stable base for, say, pressing your hands down and lifting yourself off the floor (I promise it's possible), or if you're worried about stability when supporting yourself in downward-facing dog. However, otherwise, there really isn't that much in it
- Strap thickness: your standard strap will be absolutely fine for working with forward folds, etc, but if you want to do other stuff, you'll want a thicker, stronger strap.
- Cotton vs fleece blankets: fleece is super comfortable, often warming and I always choose to use them for savasana, but they're also pretty slippery, so if you're planning on using your blankets to support in, say, a shoulder stand, I would get yourself some cotton blankets. They move less, can be thicker and are generally more stable.
- If you have trouble getting your heels down etc, and you want a cork or foam wedge for underneath your feet, you can often only buy them tiny or full length. I recommend cutting them into the widths you'll want for your feet and hands. Don't be afraid to literally chop and change...
- Mats: this is such an individual choice, I personally own a number of Liforme mats which are super sticky but also expensive (travel size = £80, full = £100). I can highly recommend them, but there are so many other options out there, dependent on whether you like thicker stuff, you don't have any slip issues, your budget range (e.g. Sweaty Betty does a decent mat, or even Yogamatters' basic £15 mat is fine, it's just the slip for me). If you don't practice regularly, you probably don't need to worry about it, but if you do have a regular practice, you'll soon find you become sniffy about your choices...
Where to buy?
I'm best off with UK brands, but feel free to let me know who's good your way. I recommend:
- Yogamatters (remember I have a 35% discount!)
- Yoga United (independent run by my friend Judy, they do different sizes of bolsters and some lovely eye pillows and many other things)
- Stores like Sweaty Betty (in the UK), Target (in the States) and other brands may have surprisingly useful things. I prefer to get mine primarily from dedicated yoga sites simply because I know the quality will be decent.