Blocks: Height and Placement

A block has three heights because it does three different jobs. Almost everyone uses the lowest one, which is the least useful, because using the tallest feels like an admission. Get over that in the first week and the rest of this is easy.

The three heights

Standard blocks are roughly 23 × 15 × 10 cm. Lying flat that is 10 cm, on its side about 15 cm, on its end about 23 cm.

Tall (on end, ~23 cm). For bringing the floor up to a hand in standing poses. This is the height most beginners actually need and almost never use.

Medium (on side, ~15 cm). The transitional height, and the one for seated support and moderate lifts.

Low (flat, ~10 cm). For fine adjustment, for sitting on, and for squeezing between things.

The rule: start at the tallest and come down. Beginning at the lowest and straining is how people practise a rounded spine for a year.

Standing poses

Triangle, Half Moon, Revolved Triangle. Block under the lower hand, outside the front foot, on its tallest setting.

The pose is about the length of the side body and the position of the pelvis. If the hand is straining for the floor, the spine will round and the top shoulder will collapse forward, and you will get neither of the things the pose is for. Raise the hand until the chest can rotate open and the spine can be long. Almost everyone needs the tall setting for Half Moon and Revolved Triangle for years.

Standing forward fold. Two blocks at the tall setting, one under each hand, at the front of the mat. Lets you keep a long spine and actually hinge, rather than hanging with a rounded back.

Warrior III and Standing Splits. Two blocks under the hands, tall. Turns an unstable balance into a stable position where you can work the hip.

Seated poses

Under the hips. A block flat, or on its side, sat on the front edge only. Same principle as a folded blanket but firmer and higher, which suits stiff hips. A blanket is more comfortable for long sits; a block is better when you need real height and stability.

Under the knees in Baddha Konasana. One block under each outer thigh, height chosen so the leg is genuinely supported. Without this, the inner-thigh muscles are holding the legs up and cannot release, which is the whole reason the pose is not working for you.

Under the forehead in a seated fold. Stacked blocks or a block on a bolster. Somewhere to put the head means the neck can stop working and the pose can be held for minutes.

Backbends

Bridge, supported. Block under the sacrum — the flat bony plate at the back of the pelvis, not the lower back. Lowest height first; the medium height is a real backbend. Feet on the floor, and let the whole pelvis rest.

Supported fish. One block under the upper back at the level of the shoulder blades, medium height, and a second under the head, lower. Two blocks, two heights, and the second one is what makes it bearable for five minutes.

Between the thighs in a bridge. A block flat between the upper thighs, squeezed. Stops the knees splaying and switches on the inner thighs and pelvic floor. This is the fourth prop function — something to push against.

When two beats one

Two under the hands in any standing forward fold or Warrior III, so the shoulders stay level.

Two stacked under the head in a seated forward fold, or under the sacrum for extra height in a supported bridge.

Two under a bolster, one at each end, to raise a supported backbend without changing its shape.

Two in Supta Baddha Konasana, one under each thigh, so the hips can release rather than being held.

Owning one block is owning half a block. Two is the working number.

Material

Cork. Heavy, dense, does not slip, does not compress. Best for weight-bearing.

Foam. Light, cheap, kinder against bone, but it compresses under weight and slides on a hard floor. Fine for supporting the head or sitting on, poor under a hand in Half Moon.

Wood. Hardest and most durable; unforgiving against a shin or a spine.

If you buy one pair, cork.

What to do without them

Blocks substitute readily: a firm stack of books, the seat of a dining chair for the tallest height, a rolled blanket bound tight, or the edge of a sofa.

Two rules for improvising. It must not slide — put it on a mat, not a bare floor. And it must not compress unpredictably under weight, which rules out cushions and most folded towels for anything weight-bearing.

The principle underneath all of it

A block does exactly one thing: it moves the floor. Everything above is a variation on choosing how far.

When you meet a pose you have not propped before, ask where the floor needs to be, and put the block there at whatever height makes the spine long and the breath available. That answer is usually higher than your pride would like, for about six months, and then it is not.