Block Head or Block Party?
A yoga teacher walks over and hands you a block, you:
a.) Smile, and say thank you.
b.) Smile, say thank you and mean it.
c.) Smile, say thank you and internally seethe, you don’t need a stinking block.
Choice c anyone? Do you feel like blocks symbolize not being good enough or not being capable? For way too long I and so many of my students looked through this lens. But what if it wasn’t true? What if we just thought it was true? What if our value as a human is not determined by whether we use a block in yoga. But what if our experience was? What would happen, what could happen if we changed our perception?
Our minds are incredibly powerful. What we tell ourselves, we believe. If we changed our perception of blocks, we could have a whole different experience on our mats. After all perception creates our perspective. For example, if you look out your window and see a big, green coiled snake in the yard, you walk to a closer window to get a better look. If you’re braver than me, maybe you walk outside toward it, in any case as you get a better view you realize it was only a garden hose. What you saw didn’t change but your perception and therefore, perspective of it sure did!
Culturally we have this idea needing support or assistance is a negative. We have bought into this message that vulnerability is for wimps and self-care is selfish, instead of a necessity like air or water. We give support endlessly to family, friends, co-workers etc. but struggle to offer ourselves the same. If we withdraw money from our bank account every day and never make a deposit, we know eventually we will have nothing left. It’s the same with humans.
Perceptions are what we interpret, and our interpretations create our perspective, or point of view. Wayne Dyer said, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” What if we changed the way we looked at things? What if we looked at yoga blocks as little rectangles of love, hope and possibility. As an invitation to experience a pose in a new way? What if we saw yoga blocks as an opportunity to see things through a different lens? What if they allowed us to develop strength, techniques, and skills. What if they help us attain what we want? What if we decided using yoga blocks was fun and could even be challenging?
Next time you head to class, grab a couple blocks. Celebrate when blocks offer more stability in your standing poses, more power in your inversions, more lift in your arm balances, or more freedom in your backbends and especially when blocks offer support, stability, and ease.