How many yoga support props can you spot in the photo above? There’s the rope in the foreground, more ropes near the far windows, bolsters, benches and a chair. If you were to enter this yoga studio and look around, you’d also notice a stack of folded cotton blankets, foam blocks, straps, and rolled mats in all the colors of the rainbow.
This is Yog Ganga, a yoga studio I visited in Dehradun, India. I was fascinated by the sheer number of props in the studio and how beautifully they fill the space, becoming works of art as well as functional objects. This got me thinking about how we use props and supports in our everyday lives.
The Purpose of a Support
When we turn the body upside down, we create a new and slightly bewildering view of the world. With this perspective there is a natural fear which accompanies it. ~ David Swenson
Supports in yoga practice help you find and maintain proper alignment safely. For example, if you arch your back and tense up your shoulders while doing handstand, you’ll train your body in poor alignment, not to mention possibly injure yourself.
Instead, you might use ropes for a supported inversion as my friend E is doing in the photograph. Eventually, you’re able to discard the ropes and do a full handstand while maintaining correct alignment. A yoga support prop creates a bridge between your ability and your intention.
Using Supports to Make Life Easier
Sometimes our goals or intentions seem near impossible. Using supports allows us to easily accomplish our goals. Just as in yoga, the idea is to eventually discard the support and manifest the intention in its full form.
Huh?
If that’s hard to conceptualize, keep reading. The rest of this post delves into specific types of supports we can use in our lives. The metaphor may get a bit stretched at times, but hey, a metaphor is a prop too – discard it when it’s served its purpose. 
1. Use Virtual Support Blocks
Say you’re anxious about traveling alone, but your dream is to go to Budapest. What kind of support prop can you use? Well, maybe you sign up for a group package tour with a travel agent. This enables you to manifest your intention of traveling while not forcing yourself so far out of your green zone that you have a meltdown.
This is similar to using a support block in yoga asanas like reverse triangle to effectively raise the floor (i.e. make the goal more accessible). After your trip, you’re familiar enough with Budapest that you’re able to discard the support block (package tour) and achieve the full asana (travel) while still maintain alignment (feeling confident and safe).
If you think about it, you probably have dozens of virtual support blocks in your life right now. Without them, you’d collapse. Have you felt gratitude for your virtual support blocks lately?
2. Make It Less Painful
When doing shoulderstand, I often place a blanket under my shoulders. This helps me maintain proper alignment without straining and struggling to resist the discomfort of my bones grinding into the floor. Likewise, sometimes all it takes to manifest an intention is to eliminate the accompanying pain somehow.
Here’s an example: Graham Hill wanted to become vegetarian. He was unable to accomplish this goal because of the painful thought that he would never again enjoy the taste of meat. Watch the video below to see how he eliminated the pain and achieved his goal:
Can you think of an intention you want to align yourself with that feels too painful to even think about? Maybe you want to declutter your home so you can sell it and move to Costa Rica, but the task feels heartbreaking – and therefore impossible. How could you tweak the goal to get rid of the pain factor?
Maybe you’d pack up a few things and put them in storage. Even if you never get to the point of being able to give them away, at least your home isn’t as cluttered. But most likely, what will happen is you’ll eventually find it fairly painless to give away the stored boxes. Just like once you’ve been doing shoulderstand for a while and some jerk nicks your blanket, you find you can manage without. And who knows – maybe Graham will trade in his Sunday steak for a salad one of these days.
3. Cheat
Bolsters are used a lot in restorative yoga poses. You might do a forward bend and rest your head on a bolster. It’s soooo relaxing and suddenly the asana is really easy! It feels like cheating, but you’re still getting all the benefits.
Recently, I’ve been getting up consistently at 6:30 am. I love being up in the morning when it’s quiet and peaceful, and I started thinking, “Wouldn’t it be even better if I were able to get up a full hour earlier?” But I just wasn’t motivated enough to put in the extra effort.
Then, daylight savings time came around. Aha! Instead of sleeping an extra hour in the morning and getting up at the clock time, I set my alarm an hour earlier. When I got up, the clock said 5:30, but it felt like 6:30 to my body. But I got all the benefits of the extra hour anyway. Now, I get up at 5:30 every day just as easily as I got up at 6:30.
Aligning with your intentions doesn’t need to feel like hard work. Look for a way to cheat.
Claim Your Natural State
“You cannot do yoga. Yoga is your natural state. What you can do are yoga exercises, which may reveal to you where you are resisting your natural state.”
~ Sharon Gannon
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking there’s only one path to accomplish your goal and it has to be all or nothing. Instead, look for virtual support blocks, ways to make the goal less painful, and sneaky little cheats.
No matter what it takes to get there, once you succeed you’ll know what it feels like. Eventually, you’ll be able to discard the support and manifest your intention in its full form.
What kinds of supports do you use to align with your intentions?
I want to help you find your calm center and experience travel with courage, curiosity and compassion.