The Joy of Props

That props are a great thing in yoga is by no means news to many people. Yet, for decades I shunned the props, in large part because I was not trained initially in alignment based practice. At worst they seemed a crutch; at best unnecessary baggage to a the simple act of moving my bare feet on a mat. Period. End of story, I thought. Then I began teaching what I call Back Care Yoga six or seven years ago. The gym setting I found myself in was a bit of a prop desert, except for chairs, and I built the class around what we had. Fast forward to the unforeseen need to move my classes to a studio. I spent a month buying bolsters (here comes a list of props, in case you were wondering what I was talking about) of various sizes.....blocks, straps, blankets, half foam rollers (not officially yogi equipment but stellar for back care).  Not only did it greatly increase the variety of what we can do in class, when we are talking about alignment (which now I am very much into) we need props to help us get closer to positions that used to be far more natural for us. Period. End of story....for now.