Support
If there’s one thing you can expect to see in each of the yoga classes I teach it’s that we will be using a lot of props. Blocks, straps, and blankets are the bare minimum. I’ve been known to include tennis balls, folding chairs, those large upholstered cubes or “poufs”, large foam rollers that have been sliced into thirds with a hacksaw, wooden poles, exercise balls, and more. I love props.
Back in my early days of yoga a teacher of mine told her class that props were for support to get into a pose and that the goal was to stop using them once you gained flexibility, or strength, or a basic understanding of the mechanics of the pose. While I don’t agree with her, I’m starting to understand what she was trying to teach us.
There is a distinct difference between using a prop to help you understand a movement, or a muscular engagement or to balance a specific anatomical proportion and collapsing into the prop to make the pose “easier”.
Imagine a student in a lunge with their hands on the floor. Their upper back is rounding because in order for them to bring their hands to the floor, the spine must round forward. They place a set of blocks under their hands and find more space in their chest, the shoulder blades slide towards one another and their pelvis becomes lighter. But after a few breaths I notice that their shoulders are creeping up towards their ears. What’s happening? Rather than using the prop for feedback, the student is collapsing all of the weight of their upper body into the blocks. The block is not there to do the work for us, it’s there to help us understand how we can do the work ourselves.
There is a time and place for resting and letting go of effort. In fact, most of us need to incorporate regular rest into our lives much more than we do. But everything is a balance. Self care and support cannot just be about massages and spa days. Self care includes learning how to align and engage your body in a yoga practice. Self care is eating healthy food. Self care is getting your taxes done.
I am a big proponent of napping. When my kids were little I would get them up and off to school, head to the studio to teach a few classes, run an errand and come home with just enough time for a 30 minute nap before they got off the bus. That time was precious to me. Now with one kid in college and the other fiercely independent, I don’t have the same parenting duties I once did. But I still fall into the familiar habit of an afternoon nap. Especially when there is something else in my life that I am avoiding. Like paying bills, doing the laundry, or cleaning my kitchen floor. Naps support my daily energy level until they prevent me from fulfilling my responsibilities.
Is there a habit in your life that you find yourself collapsing into? How can you turn that familiar habit into support? Or is it time to let go of a specific habit that is no longer supporting you?
Want to learn how to use props to support your practice, not make it easier? Practice with me!
Saturdays at Lakeview Yoga 9 - 10AM
