Yoga blocks are an essential piece of yoga gear, right? Wrong!

Not everyone needs them. While there are many benefits to using them, it’s not a mandatory piece of equipment.

The truth is that you don’t need yoga blocks to practice yoga at home or wherever else you practice the ancient art.

Once I realized this, my own practice actually improved a lot on its own!

Here are 5 reasons why you don’t need yoga blocks and why this seemingly disadvantageous situation is actually a good thing:

1) You’ll gain more flexibility on your own

Blocks are used to prop your body up into certain positions during a pose.

This makes the pose easier to do because you’re adding support from an outside source.

This defeats the purpose of yoga in the first place, which is to help you increase your flexibility on your own.

I mean sure, it doesn’t defeat the whole purpose, because you’re still stretching, but you’ll make so much more progress without the blocks!

If you practice with blocks, you’re likely going to need them to support you in a pose when you’re off the mat.

More flexibility allows for a better range of motion, which helps you move about more freely and be more comfortable in your body.

You may not even need yoga blocks to gain the flexibility you want to begin with. There’s no real way of knowing how flexible someone is just by looking at them.

Some people naturally have more flexibility than others. Those who don’t can still build up their flexibility to a point where yoga blocks are no longer necessary.

Now: if you are a beginner and you feel really inflexible still, yoga blocks would make the transition easier for you, no doubt about it.

However, most poses are doable without yoga blocks, even if you are just starting out, because most poses have progressions with which you can make them easier or more difficult depending on your skill level.

For instance, if you find yourself struggling with the standing forward fold (Uttanasana), you can either bend your knees or only fold to a 90-degree angle at first.

The more you then progress in your journey, the easier the pose will be for you.

And once you’re flexible enough to do the pose without blocks, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment because you overcame it on your own.

And the best part?

Well, when you use blocks, you can actually become a bit “lazy” by getting comfortable with a certain range of motion to the point where you don’t keep working on your flexibility more.

Of course, this is not a good thing, you always want to keep pushing yourself to see how flexible you can become.

There are people who use blocks and then progress to the point where they no longer need them, but these people are in the minority.

The majority of people who use blocks, tend to stay using them for a long time.

If you don’t have any yoga blocks at your disposal, your end goal is clear: get to a point where you can perform the pose right.

And you’ll have the perfect control of whether or not that’s working depending on how your form is!

2) You’ll develop a better sense of alignment and body awareness

If you’re trying to support yourself in a pose with the help of yoga blocks, it’s likely that you’ll be off balance and feeling ungrounded.

This defeats the purpose of yoga and can make your practice feel inauthentic.

The main point of doing yoga is to help yourself feel more grounded and in tune with your body.

Instead, using blocks could make you feel more out of balance and less in touch with your body.

It’s more difficult to feel grounded when you’re off balance.

So if you’re trying to support yourself in a pose with the help of yoga blocks, it’s likely that you’ll be off balance.

But wait, that’s not all!

If you’re trying to support yourself with blocks, you could be forcing yourself into bad alignment.

This defeats the purpose of yoga and can make your yoga practice feel inauthentic, too.

You may not even need yoga blocks to gain a better sense of alignment and body awareness. This can help you feel more grounded and in tune with your body.

You see, without yoga blocks, you are relying on your own balance and sense of alignment.

You will know exactly where you are at with your progress and what you still need to work on.

Your bodily awareness will improve, and you’ll feel more grounded.

When I started doing yoga, I actually had some yoga blocks at first, but I really didn’t love the way they made me feel.

I know some people swear by them, and I understand how they can be a great tool for some, but if you don’t have access to them, it’s really no biggie.

I’m here to tell you that in the end, if you are working on your form and doing the poses right, you’ll get to a point where you don’t need them.

And that’s just fine!

3) Blocks can discourage authentic movement

If you’re trying to support yourself in a pose with the help of yoga blocks, it’s likely that you’ll be off balance and feeling ungrounded.

The main point of doing yoga is to help yourself feel more grounded and in tune with your body.

Instead, using blocks could make you feel more out of balance and less in touch with your body.

You see, when you use yoga blocks, they can discourage authentic movement in your poses.

After all, you don’t naturally have two big foam blocks on your hands, do you? So why would you want to use them in your yoga practice?

You may not even need yoga blocks to gain a better sense of alignment and body awareness.

Authentic movement is when you can move your body with no help or support, simply using your own strength to do so.

This can help you feel more grounded and in tune with your body.

For example, if you’re doing a handstand, you’ll need to feel authentic movement in your body in order to balance.

You will know exactly where you are at with your progress and what you still need to work on.

Your bodily awareness will improve, and you’ll feel more grounded.

The practice will be authentic because you know you aren’t using any tools to help you out, it’s all your doing.

4) You can use other tools to help you out when you’re in a pinch

If you don’t have yoga blocks, that’s OK! You can use other tools to help you out when you’re in a pinch.

For example, when you’re doing a pose and need a yoga block, a turned-over garbage can or even a big water bottle could come in handy.

This will help relieve some of the pressure on your feet and make the pose easier to do.

Or, if you’re having trouble with a pose, you can sit on your yoga mat and try to find a position where you’re comfortable.

You can even use your legs to help support you in the pose.

The great thing about yoga is that you can do it almost anywhere. You don’t need to be at a yoga studio or even in a yoga room to practice yoga.

So if you don’t have yoga blocks on hand, you can still practice yoga with the help of other tools.

Now: what you end up using is up to you, you can get really creative with this!

The bottom line is that if you’re going to practice yoga, it should be authentic.

Use what you have on hand to support yourself and make the pose easier for you.

If you don’t have yoga blocks but need more support, use other things!

5) They are mostly about added comfort

Yoga blocks aren’t necessary for your practice, because essentially all they do is add comfort to your poses.

The thing is, if you aren’t that good at certain poses yet, then it will be uncomfortable at first.

Yoga blocks can really help with that discomfort, but that also means that your progress might be slower because you’re relying on them.

If you’re going to a yoga class, you’ll probably see your instructor using yoga blocks in their poses.

It’s most probably not because they absolutely need to, they simply find it more comfortable that way.

So, do you need yoga blocks?

Not really.

Will they make your practice more comfortable?

Sure.

But if you want to make lots of progress really quickly, then you don’t need to rely on these blocks to do the trick!

What are some benefits of yoga blocks?

Now that you know you don’t absolutely need these blocks, let’s take a look at why they might still come in handy for some people:

They help to bring the floor to you

Uhm, duh, that’s the whole point, right?

Yeah, yoga blocks will help you to bring the floor to you when you’re in a pose.

So if you’re feeling pain in your knees, or your back is hurting, or any other part of your body for that matter, you can use the blocks to bring the floor closer to you.

This is especially true for forward folds, sidewards bends, and inversions.

Now: while this is just an added comfort, as we mentioned earlier, it can improve your self-esteem while practicing yoga and even help you understand the idea of certain poses better.

They can help you to stay safe in a pose

If you’re new to yoga, or if you’re just not that flexible yet, your body will probably be too weak for some of the poses.

In that case, if you try to go into a pose without the support of yoga blocks, there’s a high chance that you’ll get injured.

You see, some poses have lots of variations, but with others, you just need to be at a certain level to safely perform them without injuring yourself.

The problem with that is that most people don’t even know what their level is!

So, if you’re still new to yoga, and you’re not sure if you can do a certain pose or not, then the best way to find out is to try it with some yoga blocks.

If you feel pain in your knees or back or any other part of your body while trying the pose, then you probably shouldn’t attempt it.

That’s where yoga blocks come in handy: they can help support your body while performing the pose and make it easier for you to stay safe and injury-free.

They make certain poses easier

If you’re not super flexible, yoga blocks can help make poses easier.

So they are especially useful if you’re just starting out with yoga and have a hard time holding certain poses.

This is why they are especially useful for beginners, but even if you’re not a beginner, you might still find yourself using them every now and then.

For example, you might use them to make certain poses easier when you’re injured or if you have a hard time getting into certain poses.

When you have injuries, it might be very important to only practice yoga using some tools to support you, otherwise, you might end up accidentally hurting yourself even more!

They help you maintain proper alignment

If you are new to the practice, yoga blocks can be very useful for helping you to maintain proper alignment.

For example, if you’re not an advanced practitioner and you’re still a bit weak, using yoga blocks can help you stay in the pose properly.

That way, your muscles won’t be strained while they are still too weak or injured to hold a pose.

They can also help you with poses that require balance and control, as they help support your body while performing the pose.

In this way, yoga blocks make it easier for you to stay in control of your body even if you are not yet very skilled at controlling it.

The thing is, with many yoga poses, proper alignment of the knees, hips, and shoulders is key.

With yoga blocks, you can ensure that you are learning proper form and aren’t straining your body while you are still new to the practice.

In this way, they can help you avoid injuries by keeping your body in its proper alignment.

They help with balance and coordination

Yoga blocks can also be very useful for helping you to improve your balance and coordination.

They can help you to perform certain poses that require a lot of balance and coordination, as they support your body while you do the pose.

They can also help you to learn how to balance your body in certain poses, as you can use them for assistance and then work toward doing the pose without them.

This way, you can improve your balance and coordination without having to worry about falling over or getting injured.

In this way, yoga blocks can be very useful for helping you to improve your body control and coordination with time and practice.

Now: admittedly, your coordination and balance might improve even more if you simply practice without yoga blocks, but in the beginning, you might feel scared to do so, in which case it is 100% okay to use the blocks.

They help eliminate fear

There are some yoga poses that can feel really scary when you are learning them.

For example, if you’re a beginner and you’re learning how to do a crow pose, it can be scary, especially when you’re doing it without any support.

This fear can make it harder for you to learn the pose.

For this reason, yoga blocks can be very useful for helping you to eliminate your fears and feel more secure.

They can help you to feel more secure while you are learning the pose, which will in turn make it easier for you to learn the pose.

They can help you relax

Okay, this one is not about progression at all, but after all, yoga is also about relaxation and yoga blocks can really help you with that.

You see, sometimes it can be hard to relax while you are practicing yoga. If you’re trying to do a pose that is very difficult, it can be hard to relax.

Yoga blocks can help with this because they make certain poses more relaxing. This is because you don’t have to worry as much about falling over when you’re using them.

In this way, they can really help you to relax and feel more at ease during your yoga practice.

So, do you need them?

The truth is that you don’t need yoga blocks to practice yoga at home or wherever else you practice it.

You’ll gain more flexibility on your own, and develop a better sense of alignment and body awareness, blocks can discourage authentic movement, you can use other tools to help you out when you’re in a pinch, and they are mostly about added comfort.

So you see, there really isn’t any need for them.

However, as you could tell from the benefits of those blocks, they will make your life easier in some ways.

Now: whether you personally want to invest in them or not is up to you, it really just depends on your preference!