Part 1: Hello, Blocks. It's Me.
Do you use yoga blocks in your practice? Do your yoga teachers cue blocks in a way that encourages and informs you how to use them? When in the yoga studio, do your fellow classmates use blocks? Does this encourage or discourage you from using them?
In my experience, blocks are rarely used in the studio even when they are easily accessible and free to use. Teachers cue them sometimes, but many students don’t have blocks at their mats and can’t use them whether or not they are cued. I find blocks are used even less in the more “advanced” or “power” classes. Why is this? I can’t assume everyone’s reasons, but I think the most popular reasons are:
#1. Yoga blocks aren’t cued often with enough instructions for practitioners, especially beginners, to use them effectively.
#2. Yoga blocks are seen as a “crutch” or for “beginners only".
These were certainly true for me when I began practicing yoga. Over time, I got curious thanks to a couple of my teachers (shoutout to Sasha and Colleen!) and began setting my ego aside to experiment with blocks. My yoga practice transformed and deepened. I began listening to my body in a new, healthier way and felt ease and gratitude in the most difficult poses.
Throughout this series, we'll look at the benefits of blocks, so let's start with the biggest reasons I LOVE yoga blocks.
#1. Yoga blocks support proper alignment.
#2. Yoga blocks can make a pose more accessible.
#3. Yoga blocks can take you deeper into a pose.
So, let’s throw these mental blocks away, pull out our yoga blocks, and get to work!
Yoga blocks support proper alignment.
What is proper alignment? In short, length and engagement. Stretching poses— let’s take the seated forward fold— aren’t about crunching your nose to your knees. For the best stretch in a forward fold, keep your spine long and straight. It doesn’t matter how low you go. Let me repeat that. It doesn’t matter how low you go. A long spine stretches the hamstrings and over time, you will be able to get lower in the stretch, but this isn’t the goal of the pose. The goal is the stretch.
Let's look at a few poses and how yoga blocks can support a more accessible and deeper stretch.
Seated Forward Fold
What it is: hamstring stretch What it isn't: crunching nose to knees
Don't Do This
Rounding the back and bending the knees a lot
moves the stretch out of the hamstrings and into the low back which is dangerous. Forcing nose to knee may help us feel accomplished, but it can lead to injury. To safely stretch our hamstrings which then help relieve low back pain, we need to engage abs and keep spine straight.
Do This Instead
Lifting up and adding blocks supports length in the spine, engagement of the abs (which support the spine) and relaxed knees. Feet and toes are active. Even thought I'm fairly flexible and not folded over far, I'm feeling a deep hamstring stretch in these photos because my front body (abs and quads) are engaged!
Not just blocks! You can also place pillows or a rolled up blanket under your knees so they can stay bent while keeping the stretch in your hamstrings.
Small movements first! Instead of thinking "nose to toes" think "low ribs to thighs" like squeezing a tube of toothpaste from back to front. This keeps the spine long, the front body engaged, and the stretch in the hamstrings.
Advanced Forward Fold with Block
Being more flexible simply means you have to work harder for your stretch. If you're flexible, blocks can help you get deeper into forward fold. Placing a block beyond your feet helps extend your reach while keeping the front body engaged. Notice my spine is still long and my abs are engaged.
Standing Forward Fold
What it is: active hamstring stretch What it isn't: crunching over to touch the floor
Don't Do This
Hunching over to get your hands closer to the ground disengages the muscles. There's not much stretch happening here. There's a lot of tension in my low back from dangling which can lead to injury. As with the seated fold above, we need to engage muscles and focus on length.
No matter your flexibility, your arm length and leg length might always keep you from touching the ground-- enter blocks!
Do This Instead
Place blocks under hands and push into them slightly. This engages the front body, protects the low back, and keeps the spine long and reaching. This allows for a deep hamstring stretch. Your neck is an extension of your spine. Look straight down to keep neck in line with spine. Looking up from this position affects the whole spine.
Still not enough? Add height (more blocks, books, reaching for a table) to support your stretch!
Seated Pose
What it is: a comfortable supportive pose What it isn't: hip and knee torture
Unsupported Seated Pose
Most of us know it can be uncomfortable to sit on the floor for an extended period of time. Hip or knee inflexibility or injury can make this pose uncomfortable.
My arms are lifted so you can see that my hips are below my knees (green line). Sitting like this for more than a few minutes is uncomfortable for me.
If this is also uncomfortable for you...
...Try This
Sitting on a block, cushion, or folded blanket then scooting forward a couple inches allows the hips to open and relax. My hips are above my knees. This feels a lot better in my body than the photo above. However, I have achy knees and even this isn't enough support sometimes.
Fully Supported Seated Pose
My go-to meditation pose! These supports feel best in my body for extended periods of sitting such as during meditation. As above, the key to sitting on a cushion or support is to scoot forward slightly. One block under each knee keeps my knees from getting achy. It took trial and error to find the best block position for my knees. If you try these supports, listen to your body above all else. It might take trial and error to find what works for you. It's worth it!
Put it to Practice
Set aside ego and expectation and grab your yoga blocks, a stack of books, upturned bowls, cardboard box, or something of similar style.
Try these poses with supports.
Listen to your body. Need more support? Go for it! These aren't working? Play around with it until you find what works for your body.
Hold the forward folds for 10 slow breaths.
Journal Prompts
How do these poses feel with yoga blocks?
Are you able to stretch deeply and comfortably?
Did any mental blocks come up? Breathe through these and be curious. Maybe blocks don’t help you, but you’ll never know if you don’t give them a good, informed try!
Next time, we’ll look at more poses and how blocks can support both less-flexible and more-flexible bodies. Blocks: truly the best of both worlds!
Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
May all beings everywhere be happy and free. May the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to the happiness of and freedom for all.
With gratitude,
Rebekah
PS: Interested in more? Check out my previous post on mantras!
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