Top 5 Tips for Beginner Yogis
Are you a yoga newbie? Don't worry, we've got you covered! We know that starting a new practice can be overwhelming, but fear not. We've compiled a list of our top ten tips for beginners to help you kick-start your yoga journey and ensure you get off to the best possible start.
1. Find the Right Style: With so many types of yoga out there, it's important to find the one that resonates with you. From gentle Hatha to energetic Vinyasa or relaxing Yin, explore different styles until you discover the one that suits you best.
2. Listen to Your Body: Yoga is not a competition. Tune in to your body and respect its limits. Don't push yourself beyond what feels comfortable. Yoga is about self-care and self-awareness.
3. Breathe Mindfully: It might seem silly that you’d forget to breathe, but we all do it. If you find yourself in a challenging shape or particularly difficult balancing posture, remind yourself to breathe. When we breathe in an even and relaxed way, we send a message to the body and brain that everything is okay, and this helps to reduce stress levels, and increase a sense of wellbeing. If you don’t remind yourself to breathe, your yoga teacher will.
4. Accept you’re a beginner: Learning to play an instrument, driving a car, and even baking a cake are all things we can accept we’re beginners at when we start off, so when it comes to starting a yoga practice, remember being a beginner is okay. If you feel frustrated that your hips are still tight after a couple of classes, or you’re still confused about the postures after a month, remember that you’re at the beginning, and just like tuning an instrument, fine-tuning the body takes time.
5. Forget the pictures: It’s easy to get caught up in the notion that you’ll have to squeeze yourself into a shape or perform acrobatic feats during a yoga class, especially when there are plenty of images on social media of pretzel-like shapes and handstands perpetuating this idea. Everyone is different, and everyone comes to yoga for a different reason. There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to practising yoga, and it certainly isn’t about what you can do with your body. Forget about the pictures or perceptions of yoga you may have seen before; your yoga practice is about you.