Yoga is a great exercise for beginners, and with regular practice, it can help you improve your flexibility and strengthen your muscles. It can also be beneficial for your mental health.
Beginners should start with a hatha yoga class. This style teaches postures and balance and moves slowly, so new students can keep up.
How to find a class
Choosing the right yoga class is key. The right class will set you on a path to a fulfilling and sustainable yoga practice, while the wrong one could leave you frustrated or injured.
When choosing a beginner yoga class, look for one that’s slow-paced, unheated and has a lot of time to help you modify poses for your ability level. You may also want to choose a class that focuses on alignment and is taught by an instructor who has plenty of experience working with beginners.
You can stick with beginner classes as long as you like, but once you feel comfortable in your body and are ready to challenge yourself a bit, consider trying intermediate yoga classes. This type of yoga is a bit more intense than beginners’ yoga, but you’ll learn how to build strength and stability through a series of poses. You’ll also learn to hold postures for longer periods of time, which can be a little uncomfortable at first.
What to wear
You’ve found a class and carved out time for it, but what do you wear? Clothes that are too loose can get in the way or pose a tripping hazard, and those that are too tight may restrict your movements.
The best yoga clothes should be form-fitting and sweat-wicking, which helps you regulate your body temperature. It’s also a good idea to wear comfortable shoes that don’t restrict your feet, since most classes are done barefoot.
The type of yoga class you choose will also impact the clothes you want to wear. For beginners, a non-heated class that offers foundational poses is likely your best bet. That way, the instructor can focus on helping you find poses that are appropriate for your level of experience and any injuries or conditions you have. Other classes, such as vinyasa or restorative, tend to move more quickly and focus on breathing techniques. Wear loose, comfy pants and a T-shirt or tank.
Props
Yoga props are an important tool to use during practice because they help level the playing field between bodies. For example, if someone can’t reach their toes in the forward fold pose, a block can be used to help them achieve the full benefits of the posture without straining or overworking the muscles. Using props is not a sign of weakness and everyone should explore how to best use them in their practice.
In Iyengar yoga, a slow-paced form of the practice that focuses on alignment, teachers often use props for beginners to make poses more accessible. This helps them focus on finding the right alignment and deepening their rejuvenation experience rather than worrying about getting injured or tiring out too early in the class. The best part is that props can be incorporated into the practice and then stopped as the student learns how to do the pose without them. This can open up many more doors for new poses, strength and flexibility.
Breathing
Yogic breathing techniques, known as pranayama, are a critical component of yoga. They help students to connect their mind, body, and spirit. They also support a healthy lifestyle.
For beginners, the first step in the yoga breathing practice is to sit in stillness and establish their breathing. This is the foundation for more advanced yogic breathing exercises. Slowing the breath, equalizing the inhale and exhale, and exploring a quiet pause at the top of the inhale are all basics.
Once the beginner has mastered these fundamentals, a teacher can introduce more advanced pranayama. This can include Ujjayi, which involves constricting the back of the throat to create a soft hissing sound. Other popular yogic breathing techniques include Kapalbhati, or skull-shining breathwork; Nadi Shodhana, which balances the brain hemispheres; and Dirga Pranayama, which focuses on deep belly breathing to calm the nervous system. Yogic breathing is safe, but it should be practiced under the guidance of a qualified teacher who can instruct students in how to perform the exercises safely and effectively.