Yoga for Beginners: 5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting a Yoga Practice

I have to admit, the first yoga class I ever went to was NOT a great experience. It was about eight years ago, and I was an everyday, sweat your ass off workout girl at the time. HIIT class? Absolutely, I’m in. Power hour lifting? For sure. Train for a marathon? HELL YEAH! The more challenging, the better in my world. But when it came to the thought of doing yoga, I didn’t think it was for me. For years, yoga to me meant bending yourself into a pretzel, and since I wasn’t flexible, I thought I couldn’t “do” yoga. It took a long time for me to get that image of what I thought yoga was supposed to look like out of my head.

To make your journey into the world of yoga a little less painful as get started, I came up with the following list of 5 things I wish I knew before starting a yoga practice:

1. Don’t stress about what you look like. Nobody is looking at you!

When you go to your first class, no matter how prepared you may be, you are going to feel like a fish out of water. You are going to be hearing a lot of new terms and moving your body in ways that it may not have moved before. And you are going to feel self-conscious – like you have a spotlight on you and that everyone is staring at you and judging your abilities. Believe me, we all feel that way. But after years of practicing, I will let you in on a little secret… NOBODY IS LOOKING AT YOU! Seriously, they’re not. When you practice yoga, your focus becomes entirely internal. They either have their eyes closed or their awareness is on themselves and what is going on with their body. That’s the beauty of yoga! And that tidbit brings us to our second point.

2. Yoga should not be painful. If something doesn’t feel good, stop!

In yoga we definitely want to challenge ourselves and find our “edge,” but we should never feel pain. Your muscles might scream at you in certain poses, but they should be screaming, “Hey, I’m getting really tired and don’t think I can do this much longer,” and not “It feels like a knife just got stabbed into my knee joint.” This I can say from experience, when I forced myself into pigeon pose and tore my meniscus. My knee was definitely telling me something was not right, but I ignored it and continued to go deeper. Our bodies tell us a lot of things. When they are telling us they are in pain in a yoga pose, don’t suffer through it – back out. “No pain, no gain” does not work in yoga.

3. Start in a place that feels comfortable and safe.

In recent years, virtual yoga classes have really taken off. This provides the ability to practice in the comfort of your own home, which can be appealing for beginners who might not feel comfortable in a studio filled with seasoned yogis. This can allow you the opportunity to practice without feeling self-conscious as you become comfortable in your practice. If I were at the starting point again, I would probably do a hybrid approach and go to both in-person classes and do some virtually. In-person classes provide you with the opportunity to learn modifications that would be specific to your body and ability from your teacher, which is so helpful in figuring out what feels best for you. This can be done in a live virtual class as well, but the digital environment does not always allow the teacher to see the students to provide specific feedback.

4. Choose a class that is appropriate for beginners.

If you are brand new to yoga, don’t start with a vinyasa flow or hot yoga class! This is a sure fire way to get frustrated and quit, or to injure yourself. Find a class that is geared for beginners, or a gentle yoga class with a friendly pace for a newbie.

5. Breathwork (pranayama) and Meditation are equally as important as the physical poses (asana). And no, you are not “bad” at meditation!

It’s so common when we first come to yoga to only focus on the movement piece of the practice. When I first started, I was even guilty of leaving class early sometimes before savasana, thinking that I had gotten my workout in and telling myself there was no point in staying since I couldn’t meditate anyway. What I didn’t realize is that EVERYONE’S minds wander during meditation, and that even seasoned yogis have to bring their minds back to their breath over and over again! This aspect of yoga takes practice just as much as the asana does. And it is equally (or more) important because this is how we grow mentally, emotionally, and spiritually as well as physically.