The people with props

Jeri, here's the post about props.

One of the things B.K.S Iyengar is famous for is developing many many creative uses of props. Props are things like sticky mats, belts, blankets, blocks, bolsters, eye pillows (things you might buy in a hugger mugger catalogue for instance) but really any item, like a kitchen counter or a folding chair, or sunken living room ledge or sofa that you might use in the course of a practice. Here at the Institute there are all sort of even fancier props, back bending benches, rope swings, tresslers (sort of like a balance beam), halasana benches, setu bandha benches, viparita karni boxes, straps in various shapes sizes and colors and a huge part of the fun of being here is watching people use all the props in so many ways (for instance, Cheryl's calves of ghee).

Props are used in Iyengar yoga for a variety of reasons (It has been a while since I answered this question for my tt assessment, but here's some of what I remember answering at the time). Probably the most basic reason is to help someone do a pose that might otherwise be inaccessible to them. let's say you are laying down on the floor doing supta padanghustasana (which requires you to lift one leg up to the ceiling and take hold of the big toe, while keeping both legs straight.. the hamstring challenged among us, would find this difficult to do without a strap!

similarly, we often do standing poses with a block if our hands can't reach the floor.

But props are also learning devices, you can use a strap to pull the trapezius skin down away from the neck so you get a feeling of what it means for the "trapezius to belong to the back rather than the neck," or you can put a block between your feet to help keep the feet straight in urdhva dharusansa or chatush padasasana

You can also use props to help you hold a difficult pose for a longer period of time in order to get the benefit that increased time in the pose provides.. For example, sarvangasana (shoulder stand). It is certainly possible to do this pose safely without props (if you are quite advanced), but if you put height under your shoulders and a belt around your elbows it is possible to stay in the pose for a very long time, and being in that pose for 10- 15 -20 minutes has all kinds of benefits for the mind, breathe, body, soul, and spirit, that you would not be able to access in the minute or two you might be able to do some approximation of the pose without props.

Props are also typically used in more restorative oriented sequences, when the body is weak or ill, you might use bolsters or blankets to allow a practioncer to get the benefits of poses without as much strain on the body. (I did read somewhere, that Iyengar said using bolsters and such too much can make one indolent, so beware of the seductiveness of bolsters....)

In Iyengar teacher- training circles, one of the "rules" we are often taught is that if you introduce a prop, then you should have everyone use the prop (don't give choices for what the student should do. At the early stages, this makes a lot of sense, students probably won't know if they need a prop or not). Unfortunately, one of the things that happens is that we start to think that the pose always needs a prop and so we never try to move beyond the prop. (how will we ever know if we can reach the toe in supta padangusthasana if we never try to reach for it?) SImilarly, Supta virasana (full pose) is flat on the floor, but people (myself included, might remain on a bolster for decades because it is a bearable way to do the pose rather than confront what it is that keeps them from being able to do the full pose.



Randy once put the prop dependency problem in this way, "you don't want to hand out crutches when someone walks into your yoga class."

Despite the fact that there are props galore in the practice sessions, I have to say the classes here are remarkably non prop oriented... there isn't tons of specification around how to fold the blankets, how to belt the strap... (things that Iyengar classes run the risk of getting bogged down with).

Sometimes, even if you can do the full pose, it is better to do the pose in a supported way. For instance in the menstrual sequence, or if you are tired or if you are trying to learn a different sort of action. chandra had use use a block for trikonasana because it was easier for us to access the turn of the upper arm and the shoulder blade that was useful for backward bending. even if we could go to the floor with the hand, that wasn't the point, the point was for everyone to have a clear experience of this action....

The larger point about props is that they should help not hinder a practice and that we should know why we are using a prop and do what effect. Which of course, circles back to the whole learning how to learn theme that has run through our experience here.

That's the tip of the iceberg anyway...