To Block or Not to Block?
Hello and welcome back!
Last time, we looked at lunges and how blocks can help us access these intense poses while keeping safe alignment. Let’s continue learning about the beauty of yoga blocks with this next set of poses. In today's poses, we push into the floor to help us access the stretch. As said in previous posts, reaching the floor isn't accessible for all bodies. Thankfully, with the help of blocks, we can make unaccessible poses more accessible and comfortable.
Anatomy Quick Course
Observe with me for a moment. Stand up and let your hands and arms hang naturally. Take a look at your hands. They don't touch your thighs, do they? For most of us, our upper arms (shoulder to elbow) hug pretty parallel to our chest/ ribcage. However, from the elbow down, our arms angle away from our bodies by a certain degree. This is called the carrying angle.
Now, move your hands to touch the outside of your thighs making your arms parallel to your body from shoulder to fingers. Move between the natural carrying angle and completely parallel a few times and observe the changes in your shoulders and posture as you do so.
For me, when I allow space for my carrying angle, my shoulders are open and collarbone is long (good posture). When I force my hands to my side, my shoulders hunch in a bit (bad posture). What happens in your body?
Now, think of how many times you've heard a yoga teacher cue downward facing dog with "place your hands shoulder-width apart on your mat". Too many times to count, right?? When we place our hands shoulder-width apart, we are not making space for our carrying angle or proper alignment.
Any pose where your arms are extended over your head (whether upright such as mountain pose or inverted such as downward dog), you need to make space for your carrying angle. To do this, line up your elbows with your shoulders and let your hands fall where they naturally go.
Now that we have our anatomy course out of the way, let's look at some poses.
Puppy Pose
Purpose: restorative shoulder stretch
One of my all time favorite poses is this deep shoulder stretch. Come into table top (hands and knees) then slide your hands forward keeping your hips above your knees until you get a deep stretch in the shoulders. Forehead can rest on the floor, a block, blanket, or pillow. Remember to make space for your carrying angle!
If you have tight shoulders or want less of a stretch for any reason, add blocks! Place a block under your collarbone. A block for the forehead to rest on will keep your neck relaxed allowing you to stay in this pose more comfortably.
For a deeper stretch, place a block under each hand. Forehead can rest on the floor, a blanket, another block, or gaze forward allowing your chin to rest on the floor for an even deeper stretch.
Downward Facing Dog
Purpose: active shoulder, wrist, back, leg (hamstrings, calves, ankles) stretch
Downward facing dog is probably the most popular pose in yoga. In an average hour-long yoga class, you'll probably come through downward facing dog a dozen times. There are many ways to access this pose. Let's start with alignment. You should be able to move from plank pose to downward facing dog without moving your hands and feet. Heels do not need to touch the floor! A slight bend in the knee is good here. A deep bend in the knees creates a wonderful back stretch and is one of my favorite stretches. Keep your neck in line with the rest of your spine. Spread fingers wide and make space for your carrying line.
Downward dog puts a lot of weight on the wrists. If you find your wrists hurting in this pose, add blocks under your hands. This sends the hips back slightly and lessens the angle of the wrists.
Triangle Pose
Purpose: activates the core, leg and inner thigh stretch
Triangle pose targets the core when we lean forward and keep our torso floating with that amazing core strength. Foot alignment here is key. The front foot is pointing forward with the heel in line with the arch of the back foot which is pointed out 90 degrees. Tiny bends in the knees are better for joints and muscles than rigidly locking out the knees. The front hip (my left one in this photo) is pushing backward. You can look up at the top hand, down to the ground, or anywhere that feels comfortable for your neck. The purpose isn't to touch the floor here. Actually, if you can float the bottom hand in this pose, you're really targeting the core and stretching the legs. However, a good starting step is to press into that bottom hand to help activate the core. This does not mean we should sacrifice the pose to touch the floor...
Everything is out of alignment here. I've misunderstood the purpose of this pose thinking touching the floor is the most important aspect of the pose. Here, I am building the pose from the hands down, when I should be building the pose from the feet up...
Align your feet and legs as mentioned above. Stretch your spine long as you lean forward. If you want to hang out like I am in this photo, then do so! This is a great way to strengthen the core and is easier on the legs.
If you want to lean over farther, but floating the bottom hand isn't happening, place a block (at any height) under the bottom hand. Pushing into the block will activate the core for an extra oomph! The bottom hand can also press into your front shin. Most of the time, it's too intense for my inner thigh, but your thighs might love it!
Pyramid Pose
Purpose: activates the core, targets hips, legs, and inner thighs in slightly different areas from triangle pose.
In this pose, our feet are not in line with each other like in triangle pose. Here, both hip points face the same direction with the feet hip-width distance or more apart. The inner thighs are pulling towards each other just as we learned about lunges in the last post. To do this, the front hip (my left in this photo) is reaching backward while my back hip (right in this photo) is slightly pulling forward. The front toes are pointing forward while the back toes are out about 45 degrees. This pose targets the hips and inner thighs, but the whole leg and abs get something out of this pose too.
Just like with triangle pose, reaching for the ground may seem like the goal, but it's not. The goal is the hip and all-around thigh stretch. Here, my hips are out of alignment and my front leg is disengaged, because I'm reaching to the floor before my muscles are ready for it.
Let's build this pose from the feet up. We need a strong foundation for this pose. Feet are at least hip-width distance apart. Back foot is turning out slightly. Begin to lean forward really r e a c h i n g the spine long. Hands on hips keeps us in communication with our hip alignment. Stay here for core strength or...
Reach for your shin or blocks. Pressing into the blocks keeps the core engaged and spine long. I feel a slightly deeper stretch in my hips when I use blocks in this pose. Remember to keep your neck in line with the rest of your spine.
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 each pose for 10 slow breaths as long as your feel safe and supported.
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!
This concludes our yoga blocks series for now. I hope you learned a little more about yourself and your body. Remember from the last post that there are many factors that affect how accessible certain yoga poses are for you. There isn't a single yoga pose that requires anything from you other than stretching the target muscles. How you look to get that stretch doesn't matter. Yoga wasn't made for Instagram or because of how it looks. Yoga began to instill a deeper connection with our bodies and minds. That is the only requirement of yoga.
I'd love to hear from you! Let me know what you thought about this series or what other poses you might like to see in future posts!
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 post on mantras!
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