11/08/2026
Last weekend, I was fortunate to attend a workshop with my teacher Eileen Weinronk. I’ve been attending online classes with her and when I heard she would be teaching a Remedial Workshop in Joburg, I was super excited.
One of the things we explored was doing ‘standing poses’ on the floor.
Eileen taught us to do floor work where you can assist someone into the standing asanas should they be unable to stand or move easily or at all.
Working with the floor, the wall and simple props isn’t just about making a pose more accessible. It changes our relationship with gravity, invites a different quality of extension, and allows the body to soften where it needs to, so it can truly open where it is ready.
During the floor work, we worked in partners and I had a good giggle when after I assisted and adjusted Rochelle into the pose and she was able to just be in the pose and let go completely, she replied dreamily that she herself is going to be doing asanas this way from now on 😁
The floor work provided maximum support, an awareness of your alignment and your proprioception., a different sense of the body in space, our relationship to gravity. Doing an asana with the floor support helped us to stay a little longer in the asana, in order to fully open up by letting go.
By using the support of the floor, Eileen reminded us that sometimes the greatest expansion comes from the fullest and deepest support. The letting go and allowing yourself to be fully you, by taking up all your space, to extend into every extremity with quiet awareness. Without striving, without performing, just being the fullest expression and expansion of you.
These supported practices give us permission to simply be.
For those beginning to move again after illness or injury, this can be profoundly healing. And for teachers, it’s a beautiful reminder that yoga isn’t about doing more; it’s about creating the conditions in which presence can unfold.