5 Unexpected Benefits of Blocks and Bolsters

I used to approach my yoga practice like everything in my life: with hyper-independence and a drive to succeed. Whether I was muscling through my education and career or lugging in all the groceries by myself in a single trip, I moved through the world like you might expect from an only child with an Aries sun. Support was not something I was interested in. This was an ethos that extended to yoga props. Upon arrival at my favorite studio, I would blow past the props and rush straight into the hardest classes with nothing but my mat and my ego.

But after a car accident, everything changed. I suddenly needed support in nearly all aspects of my life, including yoga. In my early recovery days, I could not even lie in Savasana without a bolster underneath my knees.

So, I began using props as simply a bridge to get me back to my usual practice. But I soon realized they provided so much more.

5 Unexpected Benefits of Yoga Props

In these ways—and others that I am excited to still discover—props physically assisted my healing body. They also unexpectedly illuminated the stories I carry about self-sufficiency and accepting help, encouraging me to finally set them down.

1. Yoga Props Foster Community

I used to hurry in and out of class without any real connection, still thinking about work or already focused on the next task, often not talking to anyone. Pausing to roll up straps after practice and mingling while returning blocks have created space for interaction. What started as brief conversations has led to new friendships and even post-class coffee excursions.

2. Props Carry Energy

Like baking tools passed down through generations, props are infused with the energy of the hands that have used them. They carry the breath and intentions of other yogis and remind me, on even my darkest days, that I am part of the sangha, or community.

3. Props Inspire Presence

Props have encouraged me to honor my needs as they arrive with each breath instead of powering through discomfort to an arbitrary goal. Using props to meet the moment in truth does not necessarily make the practice “easier.” It lends the practice integrity. I used to force myself to the limit of each pose without any thought. Now, with tools in arm’s reach, I can pause and meet my body in the present.

4. Props Help You Accept Support

To me, adding objects to my practice used to seem counterintuitive to the concept that spirituality requires letting go. Now, I can see that what I truly needed to release was my attachment to the belief that I am worthy only if I can do it all alone.

5. Props Encourage You to Take Up Space

Historically, women have been explicitly or implicitly taught to stay small—to count calories, smile, and not make waves. Props give us the means and permission to be bolder and bigger—to literally and metaphorically expand beyond the mat. One of my instructors urges us to “get big” and “take up space,” something I was not accustomed to hearing in other social and professional contexts.