Yoga Props
what are you doing with all that stuff?
Yoga props in Iyengar yoga
You know that joke about people who do Iyengar yoga and their props? It goes like this:
-How many Iyengar Yoga students does it take to change a light bulb?
– Only one. But they use: a sticky mat, a folding chair, a bolster, two blocks, five plankets, a set of ropes, four belts, two odd-shaped wooden benchs, three sandbags, and last but not least… a certificate.
All kidding aside, you know you’re in an Iyengar studio when you enter a room full of ropes, chairs, blocks, bolsters, and all sorts of wooden furniture that you can’t immediately identify. Blocks and straps are now used in almost every yoga style, but the extensive use of props is a hallmark of Iyengar yoga. So distinctive is it, in fact, that Iyengar yoga is sometimes jokingly called “Ikea yoga” or “furniture yoga.”
But why all the props? How did they come about? And more importantly, what exactly are they for?
Kapotasana in ceiling rope with blankets, belts, trestle and chair.
Props in the big room of iYoga Utrecht. Chairs, blankets, bolsters, blocks, mats and even an Ikea stool.
Big collection of wooden props at RIMYI in Pune
History of yoga props
The use of props is almost as old as yoga itself. In ancient temple carvings and scriptures we see yogis using props such as ropes or straps (the so-called yogapatta) to support meditative postures. This was especially useful for sitting upright for long periods of time, something that remains a challenge for most people.
This picture comes from the Wikipedia page about ‘yoga using props’, where you can see more beautiful examples.
Yet the use of props played no role in early 20th-century yoga, as taught by Krishnamacharya, the teacher of B.K.S. Iyengar. In old footage, such as this 1938 film in which a young Iyengar demonstrates asanas, you see a dynamic yoga style without props. The precise technical approach that later became characteristic of Iyengar yoga is still absent in these images. A big difference from a Restorative yoga class in 2025.
So how did Iyengar come up with the idea of introducing props?
(By the way, if anyone has any information about who exactly is in this video, especially those ladies from minute 13 and between 33 and 37, please let us know)
BKS Iyenar as prop-innovator
When Iyengar was sent to Pune to teach yoga, he noticed that students often had difficulty achieving proper alignment in postures due to lack of strength or flexibility, or physical limitations.
Take Setu Bandha Sarvangasana for example. In the iconic Light on Yoga this pose is presented without a single prop, as a variation of Salamba Sarvangasana.
This posture is not so easy for the average person to achieve. Here you see how BKS Iyengar balances the sacrum of his student Yehudi Menuhin on his knee, while supporting his legs with his hands.
This way of teaching undoubtedly has advantages for the student: it makes a difficult posture accessible and gives insight into its effects without being too strenuous. For the teacher, on the other hand, it is quite an effort, and in a larger group it is not practical to support each student individually.
Searching for a solution, Iyengar began using everyday objects. Paving stones became predecessors of the wooden and cork blocks we know today. Suitcase straps became yoga straps, and oil drums inspired him to develop wooden Viparita Dandasana benches. And so, in an Iyengar yoga class, you often see a variation of Setu Bandha Sarvangasana like the one shown here, where Eyal Shifroni uses bolsters under his pelvis while his feet rest on a block.
Props are everywhere, you just gotta see it
Iyengar continued to develop everyday objects into props until his last years.
Below you see – besides a mat, belts and blocks – a set of doughnut-like circles of cloth. These are called chumbals, and are the last props that Iyengar himself invented. The word comes from Marathi and is used to indicate a piece of cloth that is rolled up into a ring, for example to be able to carry a water jug on the head.
In the 2013 calendar ‘The body is my first prop’ BKS Iyengar writes the following:
” Science is ever-evolving. New hypotheses and observations are continuously added, discarding the previously accepted one. There is no stagnation; it is a flowing process. Same is the case with the props. It is not frozen in time. Intricate observations can contribute to and enrich the usage of props.
We all know the concept of sitting on some height in Baddha Konasana to get freedom in the groins by lifting the spine up. I have only advised that technique of taking something like brick or bolster below the buttocks. But when I was doing Baddha Konasana around a year and a half ago, it suddenly occurred to me that the buttocks are rounded structures and the heights we use are flat like bolsters, pillows or bricks. How can the round buttocks fit into the flat supports? We’re getting height with this, but not the necessary configuration. Are we gaining freedom in the groins at the cost of the buttocks?
So, I rolled two of my dhotis, one for each buttock. […] I attempted Baddha Konasana on them and the pose manifested beautifully. “
The use of props: from helper to challenger
There are many reasons to use props, ranging from support to providing new challenges. The way props are used is also an art that is refined through experience.
Below we give a few examples of the role props can play in your practice. And there are many more possibilities.
As a helper: increasing accessibility
Props make poses attainable that are otherwise difficult due to physical limitations or lack of strength. For example, a block under the bottom hand in Trikonasana can make the pose accessible to students with tight hamstrings or hips. By using props such as the ‘horse’, someone with poor fitness or pain in a hip or knee can still practice standing poses, thereby building or maintaining strength.
Props can also provide mental support and help overcome fear. By doing inverted poses such as handstand against the wall (also a prop!), you overcome the fear of falling. Shoulderstand with the support of a chair under your sacrum and a bolster under your shoulders. Headstand can also be done as a beginner or with injuries while hanging in the ropes. Or between two Ikea stools (shown here).
As a supporter: extending your stay
Skillful use of props can help you hold poses for longer without straining. In Supta Baddha Konasana, blocks and straps support the legs, allowing you to relax more deeply. Props help you experience inner silence and space – as described in Patanjali’s Sthira Sukham Asanam (a pose should be firm and comfortable).
Combining Setu Bandha Sarvangasana and Supta Baddha Konasana
A number of props: in the foreground a chair and a bolster, behind that a ‘simhasana bench’ and a ‘horse’ with two belts hanging over it. On the horse a laptop (also a kind of prop for online yoga). And in the background a set of ropes.
As a caregiver: therapeutic applications
Props play an important role in the therapeutic aspect of Iyengar yoga. For those recovering from injuries or chronic conditions, or simply those who are tired of the challenges that life can sometimes throw at them, props allow you to adapt poses to your individual needs. Through the skillful use of props, surrounding muscles and tissues can relax while the targeted areas are worked more intensely. In this way, a potentially challenging pose is transformed into a therapeutic experience that provides relief.
As a challenger: making poses ‘more difficult’
You can use props to make a pose more challenging or to get deeper into the pose than you would be able to without props. You can also use props to activate certain areas extra, which sharpens your insight.
For example, take a block between your hands in Paschima Baddhangulyasana. In the pose without a block, you have your fingers interlaced behind your back while standing in Tadasana. If you instead hold a block between your hands without clasping the block with your fingers, you activate your arms. This makes the pose (much!) more difficult and trains your muscles to perform the correct action. The prop is not used for support, but rather for activation. When we later do the pose again – or a similar action in another pose such as Sarvangasana – you can recall the memory of that action and your body is better equipped to perform the action.
Changing the ‘geometry’ of a pose can also help you sharpen your understanding. For example, by placing your front foot on a block, chair or even a tree stump in standing poses, you are putting more weight on your back foot. This can increase your understanding of the actions of the back leg. At the same time, this same modification can help you if you have an injury: you can elevate your injured leg, which will put less strain on it.
As a teacher: improving alignment
Props can help to better understand correct posture and alignment in yoga, so that postures can be performed safely. Many physical problems are related to imbalances in the body, which arise from habits – or the other way around: habits that arise from imbalances. These habits feel ‘normal’, and are therefore difficult to correct during asanas. Props can act as a kind of framework for the body. This allows a student to feel where asymmetries are, for example by noticing differences in contact between the props and the body. By regularly moving to a symmetrical posture, either in static or dynamic postures, the structures in the body (both at the level of muscles, tendons, connective tissue and neurological control) can adapt.
As an artist: offering a new experience
Sometimes a prop does not make a pose easier or harder, but only has a mental effect: a change of consciousness. For example, placing the back foot against a wall in Trikonasana. Or using a strap so that you can observe in Sirsasana whether you are standing straight. This does not make the pose easier or harder, and the geometry of the pose is not changed either. You cannot stay in the pose longer because of it. The only purpose of this kind of prop use is to bring a new sensation and awareness into the pose.
More than just furniture
In short, props are not an end goal, but tools to deepen your yoga practice. They offer support, they point out, or expose the core of the problem. In addition, the props teach you to observe your own body and feelings from within. They make you aware of subtle body signals that might otherwise go unnoticed. This not only improves the physical execution, but also deepens the mental insight into your own physical state. This increases sensitivity and interoception, and this introspective approach deepens the meditative aspects of yoga and strengthens the mental benefits of the practice.
Want to try out our props yourself?
Are you curious to experience what props can do for you, or do you want to come and hang in the ropes? Discover the typical Iyengar yoga props in our well-equipped Iyengar yoga studio in Utrecht. Book a class now!