How to Get Into Yoga - My Top 5 Tips

When you’re first starting out practicing yoga it can be a bit intimidating to walk into a studio full of people who already know the ins and outs of the class. So, you head to the back corner of the room to be discreet and hope that no one sees you messing up. Everyone’s bums are in the air blocking your view of what the teacher is doing and you’re pretty sure she’s speaking some kind of foreign language. You spend so much time looking around trying to figure out if you’re doing it right that you finish the class without feeling stretched or relaxed at all.

1. START AT HOME

This is exactly what you DON’T want to happen when you decide to try out yoga for the first time, which is why my first tip is to start at home! Don’t get me wrong, classes are a great opportunity to be challenged and to have a real life instructor give you physical adjustments throughout your practice, but starting at home will allow you to get comfortable with some of the sanskrit words for poses and to experiment freely in the comfort of your living room without worrying about who’s watching. You can also pause the video at any time if you need a few extra moments to get into a pose properly or if you want to stay in a pose longer for a deeper stretch.  

2. DON’T BREAK THE BANK

You’ve probably seen yogis on social media wearing all kinds of fancy leggings, crops, and sweaters with a pile of props set up next to their mat - and while that’s all well and good, the truth is you don’t really need any of it to get started. Try not to get sucked into the commercial image of yoga and allow it to make you think you need to spend hundreds of dollars on clothing and equipment before you can properly begin. If you’re interested in starting your own practice but don’t want to break the bank before you know if yoga is even your thing, just start at home and use what you have.

You can wear anything that’s comfortable and stretchy, from regular activewear to your pyjamas, it really doesn’t matter. The only real piece of equipment you’ll need is a mat and you can find cheap ones in stores or online for anywhere from $15 to $40. You can always invest in a more expensive one later if you choose. In place of a block you can use a thick book, grab a belt or a scarf to substitute a strap, and a big pillow works wonderfully as a bolster. YouTube is a great option for practicing at home because you have thousands of instructors and flows at your fingertips for free, but if you’re keen to take a class in person ask your local yoga studios if they have a free trial class you can take, most do! Check out my Yoga at Home post for a list of my favorite YouTube yoga instructors.

3. TRY A VARIETY OF STYLES

Imagine if you went on a date with a guy for the first time and realized after about 30 minutes that he wasn’t your type. Would you stick it out until the end of the date and then immediately conclude that men just aren’t your thing and decide that you’re never going to date again? Ridiculous, right? There are so many fish in the sea, you can’t just quit after one bad date! The point being you have to think of yoga in the same way, it’s like dating - and just like men, not all styles of yoga are created equal and just because you don’t like one doesn’t mean you should give up on the whole thing. This is what happens to so many people when they take a class for the first or second or third time and it’s not the right style for them, they assume that all yoga classes must be the same and so they give up on it.

Hatha, Vinyasa, Power, Ashtanga, Yin, I get it, all these names can be overwhelming at the start. What do they mean and how do you decide which ones you like? Well, by trying them! Be patient when trying to discover the style of yoga that fits you best and don’t be afraid to try something new. Your local studio may have a starter package that will allow you to try several different classes to help you find a good fit, or you can practice for free at home and just search all different types of flows on YouTube until you find one that you love.

4. AVOID COMPARISON LIKE THE PLAGUE

Comparison is the death of joy. I’m sure you’ve heard this many times, but it applies here too. Yoga is a mindful practice that helps us get out of our heads and into our bodies, but there are so many images in the media that give us a false idea of what ‘yoga’ is supposed to look like. You’ve probably seen countless photos in your Instagram feed of crazy flexible yogis in perfect upside-down poses on the beach with six pack abs, and although these images are beautiful and impressive they can make use feel like we’re not good enough, or like we’re not truly practicing yoga if we can’t touch our toes or stand on our heads, and nothing could be further from the truth.

In class you may be tempted to prejudge a pose before trying it by thinking, “that’s way too hard!” or, “that’s way too easy!” Try not to look at a pose on an instructor or someone else in the class and compare it to how it looks or feels on you. Looks can be deceiving and poses look and feel different on everyone, so stay focused on how it feels on your body in that moment and breathe into it. Closing your eyes is a great way to avoid comparison when practicing a new pose in a classroom setting, but use common sense to avoid injuring yourself ;)

Comparison is something that we all struggle with, and it’s bound to come up at some point in your practice, so rather than beating yourself up about it just notice when you’re comparing, how it’s affecting your thoughts and ability to stay present and choose to let it go. It’s much easier said than done, but it’s part of the practice.

5. EMBRACE THE POSE YOU HATE - IT’S THE ONE YOU NEED MOST

This is the tip that no one wants to hear but that everyone knows is true. If you come across a pose that you absolutely despise, it probably means you should spend more time practicing it. Especially in Yin yoga you’ll be asked to hold certain poses for long periods of time to really open up the body and get a deeper stretch, and depending on the pose this can be extremely difficult.

When you discover a pose that’s difficult for you to sit with it’s important to realize that your body is resisting the pose because it’s stretching an area of the body where you’re holding lots of tension. A lot of women tend to hold tension in their hips, but for you it may be your shoulders or hamstrings. Once you figure out where your tension spots are you might try to avoid those poses, but the best advice I can give is to accept them and just breathe through it. Be patient when holding a difficult pose and try your best not to let your thoughts convince you to rush out of it.