Ever feel like you don’t know what yoga is or, worse, wish you did? Well, you’re in luck. Here’s some advice from instructors on what’s crucial to turning that first class into a class to remember.
1. Practice in a challenging space.
Therapist and wellness consultant Anne Pietsch says she encourages practitioners to experiment with yoga in space they wouldn’t normally occupy. For her, that means going to a restaurant or a theatrical production or having people pay for a private yoga retreat. “When you practice in new spaces,” she explains, “you have to get comfortable in situations where people are uncomfortable. It helps you open your mind and heart.”
Whether you participate in a standing meditation or just find yourself taking a seat next to an ashram master, take a step out of your comfort zone. “It’s critical to practice where people are uncomfortable,” says Shea Harwood, an endocrinologist and yoga teacher who became interested in her practice when she was learning the language of the feminine.
2. Know your poses before you begin.
What’s critical in a challenge class is that the practitioner knows her poses well before she takes them, says NAPSE founder and yoga instructor David Jacobson. “Poses aren’t ready until they’re put on the mat,” he says. “A lot of people don’t listen to the rules and tend to learn how to teach yoga in their head.”
3. Know that the poses are for you.
What's important in a class is that you can participate in the fun that comes from a change of scenery, says Pelé Medimac, who practices at Beachwood Yoga in New York City and who was director of facilities and property management at the Retreat at the Farm, an organic farm in Connecticut that ran an organic yoga retreat for two weeks this summer.
“I always remind people that the poses are there for them,” says Pelé, who has helped former yogis become world-renowned spiritual leaders. “The poses are not there for anyone else. The poses are there to teach you skills you might not pick up anywhere else—because yoga is meant to be joyful.”
4. Discover who you are through the poses.
A difficult yoga pose is essentially a way to open up. “I tell them that they are not a demanding position and can learn it easily,” says medical intern Katja Klopp-Markwart.
For experienced yoga instructors, stepping into a challenging pose gives them an opportunity to hear what each individual has to say about his or her experience. “You don’t want people feeling pressured to do a particular pose or move,” Klopp-Markwart says. “Your experience is a unique voice in the class. You can celebrate your own unique breathing ability and posture.”
But first, you must get on the mat. As a beginner, you may have difficulty “because you’re still learning to do the movements,” Klopp-Markwart says. “You have to visualize the movement, as you would imagine the motion of air through a silk scarf.” A stretch like a Warrior 1 poses a lot of the muscles, so it’s helpful to get to grips with basic poses, she adds. “The more you move, the more relaxed you’ll feel.”
If you feel like your muscles are shutting down when you try to relax, take a lesson before you teach. “You should not do, then practice the same pose you’re teaching,” says Yoga Journal Executive Editor Yasmin Nair.
These experts aren’t just creative instructors. They’re also passionate about making yoga easy to learn and enjoyable to do for beginners, whether they’re newbies or just trying it for the first time. “I like seeing people go back to their bodies and into their intuition,” says Harwood. “That’s where the magic happens.”
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