Make it Your Own: Yoga Modifications & Props to Support Your Practice

Yoga is a deeply personal practice. In fact, the Sanskrit meaning of the word yoga is to yoke, unite, or join. What union you’re creating is up to you. For some, it’s a union between their mind and their body, or their mind, body, and spirit. For others, it’s a union between their physical body and the life force energy that surrounds us (and is accessible through our breath). The common denominator in these definitions, though? It’s you.

The key to cultivating the kind of practice you want to get out of yoga is to make adjustments to fit your body, mind, and spirit. One of the beautiful things about yoga is that it meets you where you are: you don’t have to already be flexible or “in shape” to do yoga. But too often, we operate from an “all or nothing” mentality that can get in the way of adjusting a class to meet our body’s needs today. In this blog post, we’ll talk about ways you can use props, adjust poses, and find other ways to give yourself what you need during any yoga class. 

What are yoga modifications?

You might hear teachers talk about modifications or adjustments during yoga classes, encouraging you to make any modifications that feel right for your body. But what does that mean in practice?

Yoga encourages us to work with our edge, that place where we feel challenged but not overwhelmed. In fact, that’s how we expand our edge. But pushing yourself too much too soon just to get your body into the shape you think you’re supposed to be in – sometimes called end-gaming a pose – isn’t how to do it.

For example, if you have tight hamstrings, you loosen them over time by working them to a point of challenge, where you feel that deep stretch (without pain) and then backing off. Over time, your muscles become more limber and your flexibility increases. You might have seen this idea in action in forward folds if you’ve been practicing for a while. Your tight hamstrings might prevent you from reaching your toes, but as you continue to practice, you notice that you get closer and closer. 

An off-the-mat analogy we can use is training for a 5K. Training and running apps offer “couch to 5K” programs because it’s not realistic to think that most non-runners can just get up one day and run 5 kilometers. Instead, you start off running for part of the time and walking for part of the time. As you continue to train, you run more and walk less, and the length of sessions increases. In this way, you build your strength and endurance and expand your edge.

What happens when you jump straight from the couch into a 5K? For many people, an injury is what happens. They might end up with shin splints, or they’re too sore to continue training the next day and their momentum falls off. The key is providing yourself with support to meet you where you are in order to keep going and meet your goals slowly and steadily. The same principles apply in yoga (and a lot of other areas of life, too!).

In yoga, we refer to this idea of building up slowly and steadily, starting with extra support and then slowly decreasing the amount of support, as krama. It’s the same idea as “you have to crawl before you can walk.” 

With this in mind, yoga modifications are the different types of support you give yourself during your practice. And because every individual’s body is different, they vary greatly. Teachers will make suggestions, but in a public yoga class with people of all experience levels and abilities, they are purposefully general. The best thing you can do for your yoga practice is to figure out how to make your own modifications and give your body the support it needs on any given day. 

How to modify yoga poses

There are two primary ways to modify yoga poses. One is by decreasing the intensity of the pose by what is commonly referred to as “backing out of it,” and the other is through the use of props. 

Decreasing the intensity of a pose will look different for each person, but it essentially means not coming to the full expression of the pose. To keep with our couch-to-5K analogy, the full expression of the pose can be thought of as the 5K. It’s the end goal, and again, if you push yourself to get to that end goal before you’re ready, you might not like the outcome. 

So how do you “back out” of a pose? Here are a few examples:

• In bent-knee poses, like lunges, chair, and Warriors I and II, don’t bend your knee as deeply. The deeper the bend, the more weight and strain you’re putting on that knee. 

• In straight-leg poses, like forward folds, keep what we call a microbend in the knees. This relieves tight hamstrings and helps you maintain that lower inward, or lumbar, curve in your spine, which is crucial if you have low back pain.

• In backbends, like cobra, cow, or locust, don’t lift your back body as high, and focus on keeping a long back of the neck instead of crunching those vertebrae in the cervical spine. 

• In positions where your arms are extended, like in downward-facing dog or high plank, come to your forearms to relieve wrist pain and to take stress out of your shoulders.

• In extended-leg positions like downward-facing dog or high lunge, lower your knee(s) to the ground to help distribute weight through the body as you continue to build strength.

• In longer-held poses, like in a yin class, come out of the position completely for a brief rest and then go back into it. 

There’s also always the option to back out of a pose completely, take a different shape, and just rest. This is an option I took a lot as a beginner yogi. I was recovering from a serious injury and years of unhealthy behaviors, and sometimes during class, I’d just feel done. I practiced compassion with myself during those times and let myself come to child’s pose or to rest on my back. Instead of kicking myself for needing that extra support, I’d focus on my breathing and send myself love. Giving myself this grace is one of the things that kept me coming back to yoga class, which led me to get stronger, love myself better, and eventually even get my yoga teacher certificate. Everyone starts somewhere. 

How to use props in yoga

You can also use props to help modify poses. At Delta Groove yoga studio in Memphis, you’ll find straps, blocks, blankets, cushions, and bolsters in the back of the studio. You don’t have to wait for an instructor to tell you to grab them. Experiment with props to find how they can support your practice. 

A few ideas for how to use props to support your yoga practice include:

• Add a layer of cushion under sensitive knees with a blanket or by using two mats stacked on top of each other.

• Bring the ground to you in standing forward folds by placing blocks under your hands. Notice how you can also deepen the stretch with grounded hands.

• Create more length in your spine in seated twists by using a block under your back/kickstand hand behind you.

• Sit on a blanket, cushion, or bolster (whatever works for your body) in seated forward folds to unpin your tailbone and make it easier to hinge forward at the hips. 

• Use a bolster under your torso or a block under your head for child’s pose to make this a truly restful pose. 

• Use a rolled or folded blanket under your hip in pigeon pose to help your body release into the pose. 

• Place a folded blanket between your heels and your bottom in rock pose to decrease the intensity of sitting your hips back on your heels. 

• Use a folded blanket under your heels in squatting poses like crow so you can really ground down into the feet.

• Use blocks under your hands in downward-facing dog to decrease the amount of pressure on your wrists and shoulders. 

Often, beginner yogis think about props as just being for people who “can’t do” the pose. There’s nothing further from the truth. In addition to providing support, the use of yoga props also helps you explore the pose more fully. When our body parts are just dangling, our body feels unsteady in space. By providing support, we let our muscles feel grounded and that helps them relax, which can help us really feel the effect the pose has on our bodies. 

You are your best yoga teacher

We learn a lot about ourselves on our yoga mats. We learn about our physical bodies, like what does and doesn’t feel safe or “good” to us, and we also learn about our habits. If you push yourself too hard on your yoga mat because you’re concerned with how others might perceive your practice, odds are you do that off the mat too. If you notice you’re clenching too hard in your practice, tightening your muscles more than is needed for the pose, maybe think about where else in life you might take that too-tight stance. Over time, yoga helps you learn to listen to your body and identify your habits, and that’s when you start truly being able to make mindful adjustments to give yourself what you need. 

Remember that you are your greatest teacher and there’s no better way to find the right yoga modifications for you than to experiment in a variety of yoga classes. At Delta Groove, we are a true community where yogis of all types are welcomed and encouraged. Our teachers, staff, and community members are inclusive, supportive, and friendly to help you feel comfortable checking out any class. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice to support your body. See you on the mat!