Yoga for beginners
I wanted to write this short introduction to yoga for beginners because I get a lot of people come to me who are exactly that, yoga beginners. If you are reading this – I figure you might be a yoga beginner too?
In this post I will cover a few things as a newbie coming to yoga and address a few of the common misconceptions around yoga, hopefully making it sound more approachable and more of a valuable practice you might like to try whether for movement, breathwork or mindfulness.
First things first, I must address the ‘I’m too’ sentence that I hear all the time. Many individuals think they are too stiff, too inflexible, too muscly, too old, too unfit, too [insert whatever word you like] to do yoga.
There is no such thing as ‘too’ anything for yoga – the only thing you need to be able to do to practice yoga, is to breathe.
Why? Because the movement part of yoga (known as asana) is just such a small part of this ancient practice that has such an incredible power to influence the way we move and think and ultimately live.
Yoga in its simplest form means to join, to unite. It’s connecting the body and mind together and that’s it! A full body and mind workout.
In the roots of yoga, there are eight ways in which we can then do this. However, the most common three building blocks which are part of nearly all yoga classes are movement through a specific set of poses known as asanas, breathwork and meditation / mindfulness.
So in short – you don’t even have to do the yoga poses in order to be a ‘yogi’!
As a beginner, why should I do yoga?
Science has shown that introducing yoga as part of your life can have great benefit for yourself not only physically but mentally too (1). The follow are just a few of the great benefits that can be gained from practising yoga even as a beginner.
Reducing back pain
Improve balance
Increase focus
Build strength
Reduce stress
Relieve anxiety and depression
Increase mobility
Prevent injury
Aid longevity
Increase resilience
Improve general overall wellbeing and quality of life.
Yoga for beginners – how do I know that the yoga I choose is right for me?
There are many yoga styles on offer as someone coming to the practice – it is likely to feel overwhelming to know which one to choose from. They range from very relaxing to quite vigorous and energetic. They include the following:
Hatha yoga
Vinyasa yoga
Bikram yoga
Ashtanga yoga
Iyengar yoga
Restorative (Yin) yoga
It is likely that you have already done a lot of yoga ‘poses’ in other forms of exercise that you have done - a high or low lunge and plank are two good examples.
In another post I will elaborate on the different types of yoga however, for not, it is important to bare in mind, not all yoga is created equal.
I am not here to shun other practices, but as someone who values the importance of our bodies and has a strong understanding of biomechanics and anatomy, I chose the LYT method to teach and share with my students and combine this with elements of functional mobility because I know that it is a safe, smart and conscious movement practice that will help build strength, mobility, and adaptability in our body, remap our mind-body mapping helping prevent injury and aid longevity.
Who doesn’t want to be self-sufficient and still able to pick things up off the floor well in to their 90s?
Is yoga really for everyone?
Yes! As I mentioned above – whether you are a couch potato, a amateur or pro athlete, or just someone looking to take care of their body and mind for the long term, yoga can benefit everyone.
When I say yoga is for everyone I truly mean it. It is for every body and every body and anyone if they practice yoga, will be able to find a benefit to what this age-old discipline has to offer.
Yoga for beginners – how should I start?
A common theme that arises when talking to people who are looking at beginning yoga is not knowing where and how to begin.
There are infinite free resources on the internet offering yoga for beginners. These include home-practice books, youtube videos, online apps and more. There are all of course, great ways to start.
However there are two things to be mindful of when using these online offerings:
1. Without an understanding of how you should be using your body, just following these free resources can often lead to incorrect alignment. This might not feel like an issue at the time, but as with anything that you do sub-optimally over time, it eventually has the potential to catch up with you.
Alignment and understanding your body when doing yoga as a beginner, I believe is one of the most important things to focus on. Not only to avoid getting into bad habits but most importantly, to protect yourself from injury and long-term damage.
2. When starting yoga as a beginner, there can be a lot to take in. This can be overwhelming – especially when in a group setting. It can be well worth the investment of having a one-to-one session with a teacher to make sure that you are on the right tracks, and to learn the correct alignments and techniques.
The early investment will reap dividends in the longer term. As they say you can’t build a great building on weak foundations.
When you begin – try and find a routine you can stick to – ideally incorporating it in twice weekly if possible as that helps to strengthen the brain and body mapping – getting the feeling of the poses in the body. Repetition and consistency is key when it comes to learning anything new.
Yoga for beginners – what kit do I need?
To start – you don’t need anything – just a commitment from yourself to turn up and perhaps a soft carpeted floor to practice on.
However – if you want to get the most out of your practice I would recommend the bare minimum to purchase is a good quality yoga mat and two yoga blocks. I absolutely love those from Yogi-bare – you can get them here. Their commitment to people and the environment is brilliant, they are run by an awesome founder and their products most importantly are great quality.
When you turn up on the mat, you don’t need shoes or socks. Generally yoga is practiced in bare feet because socks on yoga mats can be slippery.
I love blocks – because I use them in every session – so I would always recommend blocks. They sometimes get bad press as needing to be used by people who can’t get in to poses. But I believe that they offer great feedback for our bodies and help us gain the optimal posture we need to succeed in our yoga practice. I would always recommend getting two.
My approach
I call yoga my toolkit for resilience – as it allows us the opportunity to step outside of noise that the world around us often bombards us with and find a moment to connect to our deeper sense of being within – tap out to tune in.
My yoga approach is grounded in principles of physical therapy, neurodevelopmental patterns and functional movement built on a strong understanding of biomechanics and anatomy.
If you’re interested to try yoga as a beginner and aren’t sure where to start, are scared to step on a mat or are highly sceptical about whether it can help you, get in touch and I’d love to help you become the best version of yourself helping you move, feel and live well.
References:
1) Woodyard, C. (2011). Exploring the therapeutic effects of yoga and its ability to increase quality of life. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3193654/ (Accessed: 20 March 2021).