As a beginning yogi, you will be almost duty-bound to look at photographs on the Internet and in magazines and see people performing poses that you did not think possible, poses that you may even think are Photoshopped. And your reaction, once assured that these poses are completely genuine, will be to say “but I can’t even stand on one leg for much longer than ten seconds … you expect me to do that?”

The answer to that question is, of course, “Not initially”. Perhaps never, in fact, because there are certain levels of yoga that take an incredibly long time to reach, and there is no guarantee that every beginner will want to follow their practice that far. The most important thing about a yoga regime is that you at least progress a little, and thankfully there are ways to make your progress more assured and less … well, frightening. One way is to invest in some equipment – and there are few better places to start than with a yoga brick, or yoga block.

The advantage of having a yoga block is that there are some exercises which require you to stand in a way which might be considered “awkward” without touching the ground with your hand. It does not matter so much that you don’t “prop” yourself, more that you maintain the shape as prescribed by the exercise. It is best to do this “free”, but not always possible, so at the beginning many budding yogis will use a yoga brick to allow them to maintain the position while being supported. Eventually, you can lose the block and do the exercise “free”.

It is not essential to use a yoga brick in the early stages, and really it depends on your general flexibility and also your confidence in your ability to master certain poses. If you feel relatively confident that you can master the moves without a block, then so much the better, as this will help you progress quicker. If, however, it is to difficult initially, you will find that the block helps you get to a level where you eventually do not need it and can move on with harder exercises.