In the latest installment of our series “What yoga props mean to me” yoga teacher Jo Pothecary explores how her relationship to yoga props and her practice has evolved.
There are moments in a yoga journey that stand out more than others; your first class, your favourite ever class and perhaps more subtly, the moments that made the most difference. I was about 17 years old when I first stepped foot on a yoga mat and joined a local class with my mum. Like many newbies, my expectation of yoga was stretching with the older generation, nothing too wild. In reality that first class was a vibrant mix of stretching, strengthening, twisting, wobbling and some confusion, all before sinking into a much-needed savasana. I recall thinking to myself; ‘gosh, this is pretty hard. Should it be hard? Surely not!’
My yoga journey continued to be sprinkled across my early twenties as I dabbled here and there between classes, without a prop in sight for a very long time. And despite taking a little while to find my groove, I was hooked – there was something special about yoga that I was seeking more of but couldn’t quite put my finger on. For a long time I twisted my body into all sorts of funky shapes, opting for strong, physical practices that aligned with my fast-paced, pretty stressed lifestyle. Not once did I pick up a prop to help my forward folds and I didn’t even flirt with the idea of a bolster to help restore some much-needed calm to my week. In my experience, there’s this idea surrounding yoga props that using something to support your practice is what other people do, something beginners do, or those less flexible. Turns out that for years I missed out on a whole lot of comfort and luxury that a blanket, bolster and block can provide.
I resisted yin and more restorative practices for years, mostly because I prefer an active practice to help me get out of my head and slow down those fidgety feelings. After many attempts to ‘get into’ yin and having a bit of a marmite relationship with it, with the help of some well-placed props I am finding the beauty in this practice. If you shy away like I did (and sometimes still do), let me tell you; until you lay along a bolster in supta baddha konasana, with blocks under your knees (my hips are clicky and this really helps me settle in this shape), an eye pillow, and blanket on your bod, you have not lived. Well, that’s probably a bit of an over-statement but give it a go at the end of a long week and report back…
Not only is there sometimes a bit of a stigma around using yoga props but our ego can be the biggest challenger to picking up that extra support. The ironic thing is, taking support when you need it most will likely help you reach that ‘goal’ you’re striving for, which your ego is going to love in the long run. But we know it’s not about pleasing the ego, it’s not even about reaching the goal, the ‘hard’ poses or the ones we can show off with. When you get there, what next? It’s the journey to those shapes and the wobbles along the way that matters most, as cheesy as that sounds.
Recognising when you need support in your practice (and off the mat) is one of the biggest lessons in yoga that I have encountered. Put simply, props create space and offer support to help you move and feel better. For example, you could find yourself in trikonasana with racing thoughts about whether it looks ‘right’, if it feels how it’s meant to or where you place your hand. Or, perhaps you could prop that bottom hand with a block and find space for your body to lengthen, space to clear your head now that you’re not worrying about what it looks like and get your breathing back into flow. As someone who often gets stuck in their own head, props clear space in both the body and mind (even as a yoga teacher, I’ve yet to master the skill of getting out of my head but it’s a work in progress, all part of the journey, right?)
So when the floor feels too far away in a forward fold or your arms are a little shorter than the 6ft yoga babe next to you in class, just grab a block, it’s no big deal. It’s wonderful and amazing that our bodies are all different and taking support when you need it most is going to be the best decision you make.
As for the moments that make the most difference that I mentioned at the beginning? It starts with those early days, when you’re bright-eyed and exploring your practice, thirsty to experience it all and noticing every little detail that the teacher cues. Noticing can sometimes feel harder the further into your yoga journey you go. At the start it’s so apparent that your hip doesn’t move like that or your arm doesn’t bend that way and meditation is a whole new level of stillness you didn’t think you could achieve. But as we move deeper into our practice, we look more closely and uncover the more subtle signs that we need support. We notice when our breath changes, we notice when the mind begins to wander and that’s when we can recognise that a prop is exactly what we need to create space and offer support to both the mind and body.
Jo is a yoga teacher based in the West Midlands, hosting in-person classes in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. You can find out more about her here: