Posts In: beginner

What it means to modify your yoga practice and why everyone should feel empowered to make changes to their practice during group classes.

One of the biggest differences between a beginning yoga student and a more advanced student is their ability and willingness to modify poses during class. Sometimes the best pose for your body that day is not the one the instructor just called out. Adapting a posture to better suit your energy, strength or flexibility is a sign of a conscientious practitioner who is connected to and honors their body. Knowing how to modify a posture to be easier or more difficult is only half the battle – it’s also important to consider why a modification will enhance your practice.

We’ve all been there before, the new kid in class trying to hide in the back when the instructor guides everyone into tree pose. You shakily lift one leg off the ground and place it against your other leg, concentrating as hard as you can to avoid toppling over when the half-flamingo, half-model instructor guides the class to “leave your hands on your hips, bring them together in front of your heart or grow your branches up towards the sky!” Glancing around the room, you notice that most people are reaching their arms upwards, so you try too and flail your lifted foot to the ground.

In this example, the options for arm position reflect increasingly challenging options for balance. Keeping the hands on the hips brings them in line with the body’s center of gravity, increasing stability. Bringing the hands to the heart helps a student check in with the midline of their body, still providing stability but moving further away from that center of gravity. In contrast, raising the arms overhead introduces an element of instability to challenge a more experienced student’s balance. The arm position appropriate for you depends upon how experienced you are with balancing on one leg and how grounded you feel on that particular day.

Luckily, there are some rules-of-thumb for when it’s appropriate to modify a pose and how to determine which modification is right for you!

1. Go With The Flow. In a vinyasa or flow class, instead of trying to modify each pose during a sequence or dropping into child’s pose halfway through, try to stay with the class for one whole sequence on each side of the body. Rest in downward facing dog or child’s pose during repetitions of the sequence and rejoin the class the next time they come to downward dog or a forward fold.

2. Pay Attention to Order. When teachers offer several different modifications for the same pose, they’ll usually begin with the most basic and work up to a more advanced variation. For example, you might start out by holding plank pose with the knees on the floor, the next option would be to lift the knees so your whole body is parallel to the floor, then you could bring one knee to touch your arm and from there advanced students might come into an arm balance. Don’t worry about being the only person in the room with your knees still on the floor – it’s better to challenge yourself with something you can do rather than risk injury attempting the flashiest variation offered.

3. Know Your Limits. Strike a balance between challenging yourself with poses and variations you’ve never tried before and recognizing your ability level. Yoga teachers everywhere breathe easier when they see a new student stay with the most basic form of a pose for a few weeks. When you can practice the basic variation with ease, go ahead and try out the next step! Maybe you’ll get it right away and maybe you’ll need some more time to work up to it – that’s why it’s called yoga practice, not yoga perfect.

4. Every Day is Different. Even if you can sink your thigh parallel to the ground in extended side angle and bind your arms with ease, you may not feel like pushing yourself to the max if you’ve had a long day at the office. Determine your energy level at the start of class and honor your body if it tells you to rest. After a long day, even the most experienced practitioners prefer to stick to the basics, focusing on a deep connection between body and breath.

5. Sometimes It’s All About Style. Slight variations in form exist between different styles of yoga. Some schools of yoga teach that the feet should be touching during a sun salutation and others prefer the feet to be placed hip-width distance apart. Some teachers will ask that you interlace the hands overhead in Warrior I, others will expect your arms to reach straight up towards the ceiling. In general, these types of variations are simply a question of style. Be open to trying new styles but also feel free to stick with what you know and try to be gracious if the teacher comes around to correct you.

6. Ask Questions! Lastly and most importantly, don’t be afraid to ask questions before or after class. Explain which poses you find to be difficult and ask if the teacher has any suggestions on how to modify or refine your practice. If the teacher came and adjusted your alignment during class and you’re not sure why, ask and you’ll remember next time how to make the adjustment yourself.

Hopefully these tips give you the confidence to modify and experiment with your practice during class. Yoga can be an amazing journey of self-discovery and empowerment as long as you step onto your mat with a student’s heart, willing to learn whether it’s your first time or your ten thousandth.

I came in to class on Tuesday with sore shoulders from a recent vigorous Vinyasa practice and a tight upper back from hours spent hunched over my computer keyboard. My breath was shallow and constricted from breathing out of just one nostril. The funny thing is, I didn’t notice any of these things before class. It was yoga that brought them to my attention and initiated the remedy.

I’d decided to go to the 4:30pm Yoga Basics class, probably because my unconscious was telling me I needed to take it slow and unwind. The instructor, Wren, greeted each student individually, asking how everyone felt that day. She has a gentle way of talking that makes you feel instantly welcomed, cared-for and safe. She started the class in savasana. Lying on my back with my eyes closed, my hands resting quietly on my belly, I let my breath take up all of my awareness. I could feel the exchange of oxygen; the outside taken inside, integrated and then released.

“Yoga is such a private experience,” Wren said to us while our eyes were closed. “Let your breath nourish your body.” Her voice was soft but clear. We lay on our backs for awhile, gently stretching and then flowing in and out of bridge pose with the breath. As the class transitioned to seated and standing poses, Wren reminded us to rely even more on the breath during challenging postures. The slow, steady pace of the class meant that I didn’t have to think about what was coming next. I could concentrate on breathing – and it’s amazing what breathing consciously for an hour will do for the body and the mind.

Of course, Yoga Basics is the perfect class for beginning students, but it was a welcome oasis for this experienced yogi. It’s always beneficial to really hear everything the body has to say and to communicate internally each day. The only way to do that is to slow down, find a steady breath and inquire. Wren makes space for each of her students to make those inquiries and gently encourages everyone to respond to the subtle messages of the body; providing well-timed suggestions to take you deeper into the experience of connection with the self.

When I left the studio, I felt so calm. My eyes were soft, my shoulders had receded back to their natural state and my breathing was full and open. If you’ve never been to yoga before, Yoga Basics is certainly a great introduction and if you’re a more seasoned practitioner, the tumultuous Fall season is the perfect time to get back to basics.

To all our readers, Keep Calm and Yoga On! Hope to see you around the studio soon!

namaste,
Laura

If you’re an experienced yogi, chances are you already know the value of using props to enhance your yoga practice. Yoga teachers are the ones who grab several blankets, a bolster, a strap and at least two blocks, creating a veritable fort of props surrounding their mat. But if you’re a beginner or still new to the practice, knowing why and how to use the different props can be a mystery unless a teacher explicitly includes them in a class. While there are many types of props in the yoga world, we’ll focus on the basics here: blocks, straps and blankets.

Myth-busting time! Just one more thing before we get into the breakdown of each prop. It’s a common misconception that using props means you aren’t capable of doing the pose as it’s meant to be practiced. Here’s the truth: the ONLY way to do yoga correctly is to do it in a way that honors your body. Honoring your body doesn’t mean powering through or pushing beyond your limits but it also doesn’t mean going easy and not trying. Using props effectively will help deepen your practice, increase your awareness and create space to better experience the benefits of the poses.

Blocks = Your Best Friend

Blocks are your best friend on your yoga mat. They offer solid support when it’s most needed (for example, underneath your front hand in triangle or half moon) and they reassure you when you feel really far away from the ground (like in standing forward bend or forearm stand). Blocks create space in the body to better target the key muscle groups in a pose. Sitting on a block with crossed legs or in virasana will create space in the hips and low back so you can experience ease while focusing on the breath or meditation. When you hold a block between your thighs in chair pose or flow through a sun salutation jumping between forward fold and plank, blocks push you to work harder and test your limits. Held between the thighs in bridge pose, they focus your attention on the quad muscles instead of the glutes but when placed beneath the sacrum in the same pose, they comfort you and help you relax.

Try keeping a block or two next to your mat throughout an entire class. Whenever the floor is just out of reach of your hands, place the block on any of its three sides (three different heights) to help support you. Usually, putting the blocks beside your mat but near the top will be the easiest place to access them during class.

Straps = Your Co-Worker

Not the annoying one who leaves a mess in the microwave; the co-worker you admire and with whom you have a good-natured rivalry. Sometimes straps remind you of how far away your goals are but most of the time, they challenge you to do the best you can that day. Straps provide that extra reach when you can’t quite make it on your own (holding a strap between your hands instead of clasping them behind your back in standing wide-legged fold, prasarita padottanasana). Sure, it would be great if your shoulders were flexible enough that your fingers interlace and touch the floor behind you, but everyone has to work with the body they have. It’s better to use a prop and still experience that deep shoulder stretch than to try and fake it or worse, injure yourself. Straps can also bring attention to where its most needed as in extended hand to big toe pose, utthita hasta padangusthasana. With a strap around the ball of your foot, not only can you keep the lower back extended and free from pain by grasping the strap instead of your foot, the pressure of the strap on your foot reminds you to keep muscular energy in the lifted leg with the toes flexed, which makes it easier to keep the leg raised.

You probably won’t need to use a strap in every class. If you know you have tight shoulders or hamstrings (straps are great for seated forward fold, paschimottanasana) then it’s a good idea to grab one at the start of class, unroll it and leave it gently folded beside your mat. If you need it that day, it’s nearby and if you don’t, it’s easy to roll up at the end of class.

Blankets = Your Mother

Blankets offer support and unconditional love. Blankets always have your best interests at heart, like when they protect your knee joint from the hard floor in a kneeling lunge. When the padding of your mat isn’t enough and you feel pain or discomfort, a blanket is a welcome aide. After all, yoga is about taking pain away, not creating it! In plow and shoulder stand, several blankets stacked underneath the shoulders will decrease the angle of flexion in your neck, creating a safer alignment. Like a good mother, blankets offer only as much support as you need and allow you to do the yoga on your own. Maybe sitting on a block with the legs crossed is more than you need but sitting on the ground would be uncomfortable – grab a folded blanket instead. Lastly, a mother’s job is to cradle you no matter how old you are: during savasana, use a folded blanket as a pillow, a rolled blanket underneath the knees to release tension in the lower back or an unfolded blanket as a cover to keep you warm. Savasana without props is wonderful, savasana with props can be glorious.

Put one or two folded blankets at the back of your mat. Use them to flatten down the pesky rolling up edge of your sticky mat and as support underneath your hips for the first seated meditation. When you start moving into other poses, gently push the blankets off the back of your mat so they’re out of your way but nearby if you need them later.

Remember, props are your friends! Using props during class is a sign of conscientiousness and respect for your body, not a sign of need or inexperience. Surround yourself with abundant support and feel the difference it will make in your practice!