If you’ve never tried yoga before, walking into your first class can feel a little intimidating.
You might wonder:
Am I flexible enough? Will I be able to keep up? What if everyone else knows what they’re doing? What if I can’t touch my toes?
Here’s the first thing to understand:
You don’t need to be flexible to do yoga.
You do yoga to gradually develop flexibility, strength, balance, mobility and a greater connection with your body.
Everybody has to start somewhere.
What Is Yoga?
Many people initially think of yoga as stretching, but yoga is much more than that.
A physical yoga practice combines movement, posture, breathing, balance, strength and relaxation.
Over time, yoga can also teach us something incredibly valuable: how to notice what is happening in our body and mind without constantly reacting to it.
You begin to notice your breathing.
You notice where you’re holding tension.
You notice when you’re pushing yourself too hard.
And gradually you learn when to challenge yourself and when to soften.
You Don’t Have to Be Flexible
This is probably the biggest misconception about yoga.
Saying you’re too inflexible to do yoga is a little like saying you’re too unfit to start exercising.
Flexibility is something that can develop through practice.
Some people naturally have a greater range of movement than others, and that’s perfectly normal. Yoga isn’t about achieving the biggest stretch or making your body look like somebody else’s.
A yoga posture should work with your body, not against it.
Start With a Beginner-Friendly Class
If you’re completely new to yoga, look for classes described as beginner, gentle, foundations or slow flow.
A good beginner class should give you time to understand the movements rather than expecting you to race from one posture to another.
Your teacher should also be able to offer alternatives.
You might use blocks to bring the floor closer to you, bend your knees rather than forcing your legs straight, or choose a gentler version of a posture.
These aren’t signs that you’re bad at yoga.
They’re simply ways of making yoga fit your body.
Learn to Listen to Your Body
One of the most important lessons in yoga is learning the difference between effort and pain.
You may feel your muscles working.
You may experience a comfortable stretch.
You might wobble.
You might get tired.
But yoga should never be about forcing your body through sharp or worrying pain.
You are always allowed to come out of a posture.
You are always allowed to rest.
You are always allowed to choose the easier option.
Your body is giving you information. Yoga teaches you to listen to it.
Don’t Worry About What Everyone Else Is Doing
This can be difficult at first.
You look across the room and somebody appears to be effortlessly folding themselves in half while you’re wondering why your hamstrings seem to have turned into concrete.
Don’t compare.
Bodies are different.
People have different proportions, mobility, strength, injuries, experience and natural ranges of movement.
The person next to you may also have been practising yoga for ten years.
Your yoga practice belongs to you.
What Do You Need?
Very little.
Wear comfortable clothes that allow you to move freely. Most studios provide mats, although eventually you may prefer having your own.
You don’t need expensive yoga clothes.
You don’t need to know Sanskrit.
And you certainly don’t need to arrive knowing the postures.
That’s what the class is for.
Understanding the Breath
Breathing is an important part of yoga.
When we’re anxious, stressed or rushing through life, our breathing can become faster and shallower.
During yoga, we begin paying attention to it.
Rather than holding your breath while concentrating on a difficult posture, you’ll gradually learn to keep breathing calmly while you move.
This relationship between breath and movement is one of the things that makes yoga different from many other forms of exercise.
Yoga Builds Strength Too
Yoga isn’t only about stretching.
Many postures require you to support your own body weight.
Standing poses challenge the legs and hips. Planks and other weight-bearing positions work the upper body and core. Balance postures require many muscles to work together to keep you stable.
A well-rounded yoga practice can therefore develop both strength and mobility.
The Benefits of Yoga
With regular practice, yoga may help improve:
Flexibility and mobility
Muscular strength and endurance
Balance and coordination
Posture and body awareness
Breathing awareness
Relaxation
General wellbeing
For many people, however, one of the greatest benefits is simply having some time when they can stop rushing.
You arrive on your mat and, for a little while, there is nowhere else you need to be.
You Don’t Have to Be “Good” at Yoga
There is no prize for touching your toes.
There is no medal for doing the deepest backbend.
And the person who can perform the most complicated posture isn’t necessarily getting more from their yoga practice than you are.
Some days your body will feel open and energetic.
Other days it will feel stiff and tired.
That’s normal.
Yoga teaches us to work with the body we have today, rather than constantly fighting it.
How Often Should a Beginner Practise?
You don’t need to practise every day.
One class a week is a perfectly good place to start.
If you enjoy it, you might eventually attend two classes a week or add a few minutes of gentle yoga at home.
Consistency is more important than trying to do too much too quickly.
Ten minutes of regular practice can be more useful than doing an enormous session once and then nothing for three weeks.
What If You Can’t Do a Pose?
Then don’t.
It really can be that simple.
There will always be another variation.
Use a block. Bend your knees. Reduce the range of movement. Hold the position for less time. Rest in child’s pose or simply sit and breathe.
A good yoga practice isn’t about forcing yourself into every posture.
It’s about learning what your body needs.
The Final Relaxation
At the end of many yoga classes you’ll experience Savasana, or final relaxation.
You lie comfortably and allow the body to become still.
For beginners, this can almost feel strange. We’re so accustomed to doing, achieving, checking phones and thinking about what comes next that deliberately doing nothing can feel unfamiliar.
But relaxation is part of the practice.
Yoga isn’t only teaching your body how to move.
It’s also teaching you how to become still.
Your First Yoga Class
If you’re thinking about trying yoga, don’t wait until you’re fitter, slimmer, stronger or more flexible.
Come exactly as you are.
Choose a beginner-friendly class.
Tell the teacher that you’re new.
Listen to your body.
Rest whenever you need to.
And don’t worry if you don’t understand everything during your first class. Nobody does.
Little by little, the movements become familiar. You start recognising the names of the postures. Your balance improves. Your body becomes stronger. Your breathing becomes easier.
And eventually something else may happen.
You stop worrying about whether you’re doing yoga perfectly.
You simply enjoy how it makes you feel.
You don’t need to be good at yoga to begin.
You just need to begin.
