Yoga props are important for safety, stability and support while attempting the correct posture during yoga practice, which is why we recommend you browse our extensive collection of yoga equipment & Yoga props.

I began practicing yoga in the late 60s. My first teachers were older men and women who were considered eccentric senior citizen types—in other words, they were pioneers ahead of their time.

When someone comes to my yoga class with pain and stiffness in their body, one of the first things I generally teach them is how to practice yoga’s vital weight-bearing standing poses safely with the support of props such as a yoga mat and chair.

In the world of yoga, a prop is any object helps you stretch, strengthen, balance, relax, or improve your body alignment. Props include yoga mats, which are sticky, nonskid mats essential for providing stability and preventing your hands and feet from slipping, blankets that provide padding and support, long yoga straps and belts that are used in dozens of innovative ways to help you stretch further and prevent muscle and joint strain, bolsters, blocks, chairs and benches that support the body in various ways, wall ropes, sandbags, back benders, and many other objects designed to help students experience the various yoga poses more profoundly and safely.

When I started to teach yoga, I was working as a home health-care provider. I befriended and cared for many people up until the last years of their life. The contrast between the older people I cared for and my yoga teachers in the same age range—60 to 90—was striking. I could see that my teachers had open, youthful posture, their minds were sharp and they were more flexible than I was!

One of my jobs was assisting people who were unable to take care of themselves independently due to arthritis. Back then, people with joint pain and swelling were advised not to move. We now know that many chronic health conditions can be influenced in a positive way by movement.

Many common features of our homes or work place can also serve as props: floors, walls, doors, doorways, stairs, ledges, tables, desks, chairs, windowsills and kitchen counters. When I teach people at home, I show them how to use these common household objects to improve their posture, maintain balance and stretch, strengthen and relax.

By providing support, props help you to extend beyond habitual limitations and teach you that your body is capable of doing much more than you think it can.

Props are used to teach specific actions such as lengthening the spine and opening the chest. For example, the student in the photo at right, a beginner in his mid-seventies, is practicing the Triangle Pose with the back of his body against a wall and his lower hand on a chair, rather than straining to reach the floor. This helps assure that his body is in good alignment which is especially important to prevent injury if we have joint problems (or hip or knee joint replacements) or weak bones that are susceptible to fractures.

People who have scoliosis (curvature of the spine, rounded back, or other chronic postural problems can significantly improve their posture by stretching with the help of a wall and chair.

Props can be used to make postures more challenging; to safely stretch farther; to work in a deeper, stronger way; and to expand, open, and blossom in a pose. In yoga we are asking the body to “work against the grain.” We are asking the body to let go of the death grip that habit and conditioning have on us. Props help us to accept this revolutionary (and evolutionary) process.

Using yoga props makes postures safer and more accessible. Most older people are quite stiff by the time they start yoga, and props allow them to practice poses they would not ordinarily be able to do. Older students also frequently come to yoga with problems, ranging from back and neck pain to knee problems to old injuries. The more problems a student has, the more useful yoga props are.

Props allow you to hold poses longer, so you can experience their healing effects. By supporting the body in the yoga posture, muscles can lengthen in a passive, nonstrenuous way. By opening the body, the use of props also helps to improve blood circulation and breathing capacity.

One of the greatest benefits of yoga as we grow older is that it offers exercise without exhaustion. Yoga replenishes our precious energy reserves. Supporting the body with props opens the door to what is known as “Restorative Yoga”, which not only allows you to exercise without exerting any effort but simultaneously relaxes and reenergizes you. This is critical during times when we find ourselves feeling too tired to exercise and then feeling even more tired because we are not exercising.

Eight Reasons Why Props Are Beneficial for Older Practitioners

1. Props help us conserve and replenish energy, which becomes increasingly important as we grow older and also during times of illness.
2. Props make difficult poses more accessible and safe. They allow even those who start late in life to hold poses for a long time, without strain.
3. Props help prevent injuries and help old injuries to heal.
4. People tend to stretch from their more flexible areas and rely on their better-developed muscles for strength. Props encourage weak parts to strengthen and stiff areas to stretch, thus balancing and realigning the whole body.
5. Props allow us to stay in poses long enough to release tension and experience deeper levels of relaxation.
6. Props help create space in the spine and the joints, ever more important as we grow older and cope with issues such as osteoporosis, arthritis and joint replacements.
7. Props allow older practitioners with balance problems to practice the weight-bearing standing poses, helping them to remain independent and out of wheelchairs.
8. Props allow us to practice inverted poses safely and to reverse the downward pull of gravity, slowing down the aging process.

By using props, students who need to conserve their energy can practice more strenuous poses without overexerting themselves. People with chronic illness can use props to practice without undue strain and fatigue.

Props are adapted to each student’s body type and flexibility. They are especially helpful to anyone who may avoid certain poses because of fear, problems with balance due to loss of hearing and eyesight, pain, or other limitations.

Props help all practitioners—including both the most advanced students and those of advanced years—to receive the deep benefits of postures held for sustained periods of time.

Our range of quality yoga equipment and yoga props will assist and enhance your practice of yoga postures. Originating out of the Iyengar tradition of Hatha yoga, props such as yoga blocks, bricks, straps and exercise balls help you avoid over-extension and injury. The versatile yoga blanket has a myriad of uses in yoga, meditation and relaxation.