Yoga belts, yoga blocks, and Thomas Moore
I sub for a yoga teacher last night and was surprised to see a lot of the students using yoga belts and blocks when they bind or bend. I have never been a fan of blocks and belts and have never encouraged any of my students to use them. I always stick to the belief that the body will eventually adjust, open, or release at the right moment. When the body is ready, it will just happen. No pressure. No comparing with the teacher or their classmates.
It’s the body’s journey.
I also believe that part of yoga is accepting where you are right now in your practice. Surrendering to things you cannot do and just accepting all of it. Not forcing change and not forcing a pose.
I have been reading Thomas Moore’s Care of the Soul and in this book, he emphasized care vs. cure. Cure is effecting change and aims for perfection while care is finding the soul in everyday situation. Caring is giving reverence to any situation – good or bad – without analyzing it and without wanting to change it. Cure is looking at your family’s background and rationalizing why you are what you are now. Care is looking at your family’s story and giving it texture and making it the raw material to work on your current life. Care doesn’t fix problems but tells the story over and over again putting back its soul.
Going back to use of belts and blocks in yoga, I didn’t feel so good last night seeing so many students using it. I felt that it was putting too much pressure on their practice wanting them to bind or bend perfectly leaving behind the soul of where they currently are in their practice. It was forcing adjustment when the body is not yet there.
I could be wrong and not all teachers will agree. I have attended classes where we used blocks and belts for alignment and I would say some of those where the best I attended. But it is when you use it to make things happen that shouldn’t be happening yet, that when it feels uncomfortable.
I’d say take care of the body during yoga. Aim for care, not cure.