Learning to Lean on Something Other than Myself

I used to think I didn’t need yoga blocks.

Or straps.

Or blankets.

Or props of any kind.

When I first started taking yoga classes, I was confident that I could do it all on my own. I could stretch, contort, and muscle my way through my practice. I convinced myself that every extra strain, every push to reach my toes, was progress. And doing it on my own would make me a true yogi.

Then I came to Yoga Centre Winnipeg, where a mat surrounded by props is a normal part of practice. Where blocks bring the floor to me so I can lengthen my spine. Or give my knees something to release into in baddha konasana, so I can stop gripping. Where a chair supports my forehead in a forward fold and challenges my extension in a backbend. 

Little by little, props began to not only transform my yoga practice, but me as well. 

Yoga comes off the mat

Like my staunch belief that I didn’t need props in yoga, I also believed I didn’t needed help in my personal life either. Raised in a vacuum of people pleasing, hustle culture, and total independence as a badge of honour, I prided myself on doing everything on my own. 

And then a teacher slid a block under my hand in triangle pose – a pose I used to avoid doing – and with that simple act, a loosening began. I got curious about triangle instead of fearing it. The block allowed me to find length through my side body and a little more openness in my chest. Rather than being concerned that the block would reflect what I couldn’t do, it made me wonder how it could deepen my practice. 

As I kept exploring prop use in Beginner and Intermediate classes, I noticed that my yoga mat looked lonely without at least on a block on it. And ever so slowly, I noticed that doing everything alone off the mat was a bit lonely too. 

Props as a practice of community

There’s vulnerability in building relationships with others and asking for help. There’s also vulnerability in beginning to use props. They’re unfamiliar and it can be challenging to know how to use them straight away. It takes some experimentation and a willingness to try combined with an openness to observe what comes up in our experience. 

What happens in my body when I use a prop this way? How does it feel? By adding these external tools, we can go deeper into ourselves and build new connections. 

Can’t it be like that with our community too?

Surprising strength

I remember the first time I pressed my heel into the wall in a lunge. Like a shock to my system, my back leg suddenly fired up in a way it hadn’t before. A sense of buoyancy reverberated into my hips, my spine, my chest. 

By using the support of the wall, I was discovering and using different muscles, noticing different parts of my body, and building new neural pathways. I may not need the wall to come into a lunge, but I often think about it being there to remind myself of the power of support and the strength it unlocked in me that day. 

It's like asking my friends, coworkers, and acquaintances for help. It can be uncomfortable and feel strange at first, but it can also allow me to open new parts of my relationships with them and new parts of myself in the process. 

I may be able to get groceries alone, but running errands with someone else is that much more enjoyable. It strengthens our bond and my sense of connection beyond myself. Just like props have strengthened my yoga practice.

Props can help us build connection

I no longer think of props as a symbol of how I “can’t” do a pose. I look at them as a form of connection between myself and the things and people around me. I think that connection is a key piece of yoga; something we can practice on the mat, so that we can take it into our daily lives. By embracing yoga props, I’m learning how to embrace the community around me too.

These days, I can’t imagine my practice without a prop or two in reach. And while leaning on my community is still a tough one for me to do, it gets a little easier every time I do it. 

Think Less, Feel More

As I was standing in my kitchen waiting for my tea to steep, I found myself perusing my many magnets, stickers, and photos on the fridge. Memories of where I got them washed over me until my eyes stopped in the upper right corner. The spot where a sticker I had gotten at a yoga festival in Hawaii 12 years prior used to be. It had read: “Think Less, Feel More” and unfortunately, it had been lost in a move.

 

Its sentiment though, has not been lost at all. It embodies one of the most healing aspects of yoga for me. Ever since I picked it up on that sunny Oahu beach, “think less, feel more” has been a drumbeat that pipes up when I need it most. 

 

Getting back into my body

 

I tend to live almost exclusively in my head (some days I’m actually surprised it’s attached to my body) and the practice of yoga is one of the only things that gently guides me out of it. As I settle into a series of poses, I rediscover my breath, my limbs, my feet, and my body’s sensations. 

 

Whether it’s the moving meditation of a vinyasa class or the meditative quality of a yin practice, yoga allows me to quiet the mind by engaging my body and building self-awareness as I move. It’s hard for my mind to wander in Warrior III, but observing the way my sacrum feels in a supported paschimottanasana can be just as immersive.

 

Slowing down

 

I recently slowed down a yoga flow class I teach to help cultivate that healing presence with a focus on transitions. Together, we took special care to notice the moments in between each pose and breath. We walked our feet slowly from downward dog to uttanasana to notice the change in pressure as we stepped from heel to toe. We articulated each vertebra as we came down from bridge pose. We felt the air between our fingers as we moved our hands from Warrior II to Exalted Warrior and back again. 

 

It’s in these moments that I often find myself in awe of my body and can rest in the little bit of ease that noticing gives me. I think the students felt that too.

 

Bringing yoga off the mat

 

Over the years, this idea of “think less, feel more” has found its way off my mat as well. Walking from downward dog to uttanasana reminds me to feel the change from linoleum to carpet in my home as I move from room to room. I notice my spine being hugged in softness as I wrap a blanket around me and feel the fall breeze on my skin as I walk my dog. Little by little, my yoga practice helps me feel a little more awake, a little more open to my experience, and a little more connected between head and heart.

 

A journal practice for noticing

 

It's also recently inspired a new kind of journaling. Taking a cue from Matthew Dicks’ Homework for LifeTEDTalk, I’ve started to end each day with a question to myself: “What was the story-worthy thing that happened today?” 

It doesn’t have to be monumental – a chat with a stranger in a grocery store line, a book club conversation, a compliment that really hit my heart - all moments are worthy of attention. 

 

Recording these little bits of humanness each day has felt like an extension of “think less, feel more.” I find myself noticing things as they happen rather than only at the end of the day when I sit with my pen and notebook in hand. A mindfulness tool that helps me slow down and feel the sensations that yoga teaches me to tune into. 

 

I may no longer have that sticker on my fridge, but its message is integrating itself into my being with every yoga practice.

 

Think less. Feel more. 

So today, maybe pause to notice the air outside before getting into the car or the warmth of a coffee mug in your hands. Feel your muscles move, flow, or rest in any class that supports you best at Yoga Centre Winnipeg. And then, let the practice on the mat weave its way into your day. 

Jill Ritchot

Find Your Fall Flow

4 Classes to Ease the September Scaries at Yoga Centre Winnipeg

There’s a crisp in the morning air and many of us are getting back to work, school, and autumn routines. While September can bring us cozy sweaters, it can also stir up stress as we transition into a new season. 

 

To help you bring calm into fall, Yoga Centre Winnipeg is back with our fall schedule and yoga workshops. 

 

Here are four ways to settle into the season!

 

1. Relax and Restore: Restorative Yoga

 

As the leaves change and our schedules adjust, our nervous system can use some support. YCW’s newly minted Relax and Restore class (formerly Relax Deeply) provides gentle restorative yoga, allowing students to replenish mind and body. 

props typically used in relax and restore

 

Suitable for yoga practitioners of all levels, including new students, those healing from injury or dealing with chronic pain, Relax and Restore brings calm to the nervous system. You can expect low lights, breath awareness, compassionate meditation, and supportive postures chosen to help you let go and relax. 

 

Think of your mat as a little calming oasis with its supporting actors all within arm’s reach – a chair, a bolster, blankets, blocks, and a belt can all be used to give your body what it needs. Through this class, you’ll tone the vagus nerve and offer restoration to body, mind, and spirit. 

 

Offered 3 times a week in our Winnipeg studio, online, and through rebroadcast, Relax and Restore can make moments of self-care a little easier. Check our full fall schedule to find the class that fits into your week.

 

2. Kaiut with a Kick Yoga Series

 

Like your yoga with a little attitude? Join Larry for Kaiut with a Kick beginning on September 8. In this 8-week series, expect to use a variety of props and settle into familiar poses in different ways. Kaiut Yoga is all about freedom of movement and improving quality of life.

 

This style of yoga is a great option for those who experience chronic pain, injuries and general aches. It’s also supportive for those with inflexible, hyper-flexible, or aging bodies. What sets it apart is its focus on the joints rather than the muscles. 

 

Hosted in studio on Monday nights, Larry will help you see your body’s opportunities for movement in a new light. Join this series (with a kick!) to experience how our bodies are whole interactive machines!  

 

3. Rise and Shine Morning Yoga Series

 

From Monday nights to early mornings, Darlene is helping us rise and shine with an  8 week early morning practice beginning on September 11. Grab your coffee, arrive in studio, and drink in all the benefits of yoga, like improved mental clarity and focus, before heading out for the rest of your day. 

 

Darlene brings her passion for movement as a fitness leader for over 20 years into the Winnipeg yoga community. She bridges the functional and the spiritual for a practice that will awaken your body and mind.

 

Suitable for students of all levels, including beginners, Darlene will blend different yoga methods to bring a mindful start to the day leaving you refreshed and invigorated. Thursday mornings have never felt so bright! 

 

Who knows, you might not even need that second coffee.

 

4. Monthly meditation series: Cultivating the Seeds of the Divine

 

Curious about meditation, but not sure where to start? 

 

The long-running YCW meditation program, Cultivating the Seeds of the Divine, begins its 8-month series in September. Suitable for those new to meditation and more seasoned practitioners, this program is offered in-person and online. 

 

Join Jan one Saturday a month for an in-depth series of meditation teachings, practice, and sharing in a group setting. In a supportive and community-oriented environment, Jan will guide you on a meditative path to discover your true nature. This series offers everyone a soft place to explore, observe, and grow.

 

Join us for the first class on Saturday, September 20. 

 

September Yoga at Yoga Centre Winnipeg

 

September can be a busy time, but Yoga Centre Winnipeg is adding some zen into Sept-zen-ber with classes and workshops for all students, whether you’re yoga-curious or already yoga-enthused. 

 

Want more? Stay tuned for what’s ahead like our Thanksgiving Remembered Wellness workshop in October and Yoga Nidra in November. 

By Jill Ritchot

Jill is a writer and yoga teacher who loves exploring the places where words and movement meet. She completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training at Yoga Centre Winnipeg in 2016 and became a Yoga Fitness Leader through the Manitoba Fitness Council in 2024. With her background in professional communications, she cares about creating spaces – on the page and on the mat – that are accessible, reflective, and infused with a sense of connection that extends into daily life. 

Look for regular posts by Jill on the Yoga Centre Winnipeg Blog coming Fall 2025

An Irish yoga adventure

 

Last month, I returned home from the Yoga Centre Winnipeg’s annual yoga trip. It’s my third with YCW and another adventure to a country with “land” in the name:  Iceland, Newfoundland, and now, Ireland. It turns out, that isn’t only a pattern in destination names, it’s also a theme that weaves these seemingly distant places and experiences together.

 

On each of these trips, reverence for the land and going off the beaten path have been a consistent undercurrent. It’s part of what I love most about these trips: a connection to the land we find ourselves on rather than just the sights and sounds upon them. And while the agendas are usually packed (there’s so much to see!), Shauna and Jan beautifully guide us in moments of pause, twice a day, so that we can breathe, move, and ground into the land we’re visiting. 

 

That gratefulness worked its way into the Irish morning and evening yoga practices and subsequently grew within me as a participant. I found myself wondering about how I could engage in this practice wherever I find myself. An enduring reminder that yoga extends far past the mat. 

 

Awe-struck

 

The feeling of the land in Ireland left me in a particular state of awe. I knew it would be stunning, but I didn’t expect its beauty to burst in from all corners. The multitude of greenery, the massive roses growing on vines around city doors, the ivy creeping up building after building, the blue bays strewn with trees and rocky posts. 

 

Had I travelled to Ireland on my own, I would have missed many of these small natural treasures. Like ferrying to Garnish Island to explore its incredible gardens featuring plants with leaves bigger than my hand. Or wandering through the stunning Bantry house and its wisteria-laden grounds. I feel grateful that I got to spend time breathing them all in.

It’s also the beauty within the group that makes these trips special. Everyone embraced everything we did from visiting the Kerry Woolen mills and the Clonakilty Black Pudding Museum to trekking down into Doolin Cave and hearing emotional local history on Whiddy Island. We were curious about the places we were headed next, fascinated by the 

place we had just been, and open-hearted to each other along the way. 

I felt like we made a little community of seeds blowing across Ireland’s lush land before going home to plant ourselves with the trip’s nectar and seeing what blooms.

How Ireland came home with me

 

For me, it’s wanting to cultivate more joy, warmed by the sunniness of laughing Irish folks overflowing from the seams of pubs onto bright streets. More pride and whimsy, fed by the stories of Ireland’s past and the fairy folk tales that still ripple into the present. And more love, rooted by the strong sense of community across the cities and towns we visited. 

 

These ideas are also weaving into my yoga practice. More silliness, more fun, and more openness. Slowing down with small movements to notice the details, experimenting with new transitions and laughing at the result, and remembering to pause and notice the land around me.

 

Thank you, Shauna and Jan, for another wonderful trip! Although I won’t make it to Croatia next year, I look forward to my next YCW adventure one day. Perhaps the next time “land” is in the destination!

Jill Richot