How Yoga Props Can Help Your Practice
One of the great gifts of yoga is the focus on mindful movement, on being present and being comfortable with yourself, just as you are. As your practice progresses and deepens, you will slowly find your body opening and strengthening. At the same time, yogis often cultivate a greater compassion for themselves and, by extension, for others.
This doesn’t happen overnight.
Many times we come to yoga, as I first did, for the physical practice alone. And often we are driven by a sense of competition, of wanting fast results, and of fear of looking or feeling less-than. That’s may be when we most need the support that yoga props can offer.
Giving in to the physical sensations of yoga and the constraints of the body, we come to accept and embrace our own human nature.
And as we progress, it is no longer about what we look like, but how we feel. And that’s when we start to notice that far from being a crutch, we can learn to find value and enlightenment from our yoga props. What’s more, the alignment and balance our props offer can help to keep our practice safer.
If you feel self-conscious in class, remind yourself that it is very likely that no one else is watching you. (If you are practicing yoga at home, then perhaps your cat is judging you, but for all kinds of reasons unrelated to your practice!) If you do find yourself in the uncomfortable position of feeling looked at in yoga class, realize that it is not a reflection on you, but rather on the other person. And truth be told, it may well be that your classmate is looking to you for inspiration or even for help in trying to figure out the next pose!
