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What Is a Yoga Prop?
A yoga prop is simply an object that is used to aid the practice of yoga poses. When we see photos of great yogis in classic yoga asanas they are usually doing postures with no props. However, the less experienced amongst us often benefit greatly from the use of props, to help us achieve the otherwise unachievable, to make a pose ‘safer’, or to get greater health benefits from a pose.
B.K.S. Iyengar's
method’s of yoga often involve extensive use of a range of props, many of which he has pioneered. These are of particular benefit to beginners and stiffer students. All Iyengar teachers will have extensive knowledge and experience of using props to help their students.
Here are some of the most useful yoga props:
Mats
Often called ‘sticky mats’ because of the grip they provide, yoga mats are pretty much essential for any serious practice. As well as providing a surface that minimises unwanted movement, their parallel lines offer a useful guide to alignment in many poses. They can also be used folded to provide padding on hard floors, to cushion parts of the body in contact with the floor.
Wooden Bricks
Invaluable for many things, wooden bricks are particularly useful for stiffer students, as they can help give the feeling of a final pose which lack of flexibility makes impossible. An example of this is the pose called Arhda Chandrasana (half-moon pose) where the hand that should go on the floor can be placed on a brick.
Foam Blocks
Very useful especially for sitting poses, and also used to provide a platform for shoulder stand.
Bolsters
Used particularly for restorative poses, bolsters are mostly lain upon – often to create an opening in the chest (aiding the breath in particular).
Belts
A simple cotton belt with a sliding fastener is often used to keep parts of the body in a fixed relationship, for example they are often used around the upper arms in Savangasana (shoulder stand) to stop the arms splaying out to the sides. Also useful for forward bends where tight hamstrings prevent students reaching forward to catch their toes.
Blankets
An everyday object very useful as a yoga prop - used as support, especially in restorative poses, and also to keep warm!
Chairs
Very useful for particularly stiff people in forward bending type poses. Also good for doing ‘chair’ shoulder stand – although for this use it must be a strong chair that won’t collapse.
All the above props can be found in our well-equipped yoga room.
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