I’ve been practising yoga for around two and a half years now, around half an hour a day with a couple of classes scattered throughout the week. However, I’m nowhere near as flexible as I’d like to be. Speaking with a chiropractor, my lower back simply doesn’t have the flexibility in it. My parents are the same, meaning we need to use props.
In the yoga classes, especially when I’m surrounded by women, this lack of flexibility shows, especially when we’re carrying out some of the more complex poses. I make up for it in the strength poses, but most of the time, I find myself using props to make things easier and more comfortable.
However, it’s occurred to me that many don’t use props in yoga, out of fear of being judged. It’s like using the child’s frame at the bowling alley. But I don’t think this should be the case at all. Here are three reasons you shouldn’t feel ashamed when using props while practising yoga.
Personalising Your Practice
In short, yoga props have been used in the industry for decades, potentially even centuries and as far back as the practice goes. Nowadays, they can still be used to allow you to personalise your own style of practice.
Everybody is different, and your body may not have grown or be developed in the same way as anybody else on the planet. If this is the case, you can’t expect everybody to be able to carry out the poses in the same way.
Using props allows you to customise your style of practice so you can carry out poses however you like in a comfortable and accessible way while minimising the risk of injury.
Assistance with Breathing
Unfortunately, since yoga has hit mainstream culture, the classic saying of ‘no pain, no gain’ has slowly crept into yoga practice, and while this may be beneficial to some people, it has also distracted many from the original aspect of yoga; breathing.
The first thing that happens when you’re struggling to get into a pose is to breathe. I often find myself having actually to remind myself to sometimes breathe, so I’m as guilty as the rest. Using props can make these poses easier, therefore allowing you to focus on your breathing so you can be sure that you’re practising properly.
A Better Understanding of Your Body
When using props, you’ve consciously added a new dimension to your practice. Your body is interacting with a new object which becomes another point of focus. Pay attention to how your body feels when you use your strap around your foot or the block that you’re sitting on. Become aware of it.
Using these props can help you identify how your body feels in certain positions, allowing you to focus more on these areas and maybe even benefitting your practice in new ways, so you’ll be able to achieve those poses in the future fully.
