Yoga using props

A band or strap of cloth was however used in ancient times, some 2000 years ago, to support the body in one asana in particular; this device was the yogapaṭṭa, a term defined in Monier Monier-Williams's Sanskrit-English dictionary.

The other is Nidrāharāsana "Posture to prevent sleep", where a fine balance is maintained with the lower legs crossed in Padmasana and the body upright from the knees (a form of Gorakshasana), and the hands again holding a T-shaped prop.

The use of props was pioneered in Iyengar Yoga, to enable students to work with correct alignment both as beginners and in more advanced asanas with suitable support.

[11] The scholar of religion Andrea Jain observes that the book "prescribed a thoroughly individualistic system of postural yoga",[12] one that was "rigorous and disciplined",[12] requiring props such as "belts, bricks, and ropes".

In her view, using yoga props was a form of ahimsa, the yogic practice of nonviolence, in this case avoiding having the will or ego fighting the body.

[14] Clark cites the founder of Insight Yoga, Sarah Powers, as writing that "when the bones feel supported, the muscles can relax".

[14] He comments that highly experienced practitioners can easily miss out on this benefit, feeling that they have no need for props, but that even they may discover in "Butterfly Pose" (the Yin Yoga version of Baddha Konasana) that supporting the knees on blocks allows muscles they did not know they were engaging to relax, transferring the asana's stress to the fascia.

[18] The mat may equally mark out a territory in a crowded class, or create a ritual space as it is unrolled to begin a session and rolled up at the end.

Alice Christensen's Easy Does It Yoga, first described in 1979, uses "chair exercises", alongside others on floor or bed, and in later editions also in swimming pools, for older practitioners with restricted movement.

[21][22] Lakshmi Voelker-Binder created an approach named Chair Yoga in 1982, on seeing that one of her pupils, aged only in her thirties, was unable to do floor poses because of arthritis.

photo of yoga props in therapeutic use
The German yoga teacher Petra Kirchmann [ 1 ] demonstrating Sarvangasana using a chair, yoga mat , belt, blanket and bolster in a therapeutic use of yoga
photo of yoga teacher demonstrating use of props for alignment
Schools such as Iyengar Yoga use props including blocks , blankets, and chairs to assist correct alignment, as here in Utthita Vasisthasana . [ 9 ]
photo of pair of cork yoga blocks
A pair of blocks can support the body, such as under the knees in Butterfly (Baddha Konasana). [ 14 ]
Props can be useful to the advanced student, such as for inverted poses like Vrischikasana (Scorpion), allowing longer holds without fear of falling.
photo of a movement-restricted class doing yoga in chairs
A class practising yoga in chairs
An aerial yoga class practising Flying Pigeon Pose, the aerial variant of Rajakapotasana