Hot tips for yoga newbies

One thing that I would really love to achieve with teaching yoga is to make yogis out of people who may not have thought yoga was for them.  I want to convert the gym bunnies, the buff boys (ALL the buff boys!), the couch potatoes, the suits, those who think they are too old, too big, too generally unbendy - anyone with a body basically.

But before that can happen, these people have to feel like they can turn up to the mat - to take their first yoga class. And when they do, they can't feel too self-conscious, awkward or otherwise out of place - otherwise they will probably never come back!

Because, yes, yoga can be a bit intimidating to the uninitiated. It has its own language. The way you move your body through poses is different to most other forms of exercise that you may have tried. There are no winners or losers. There is a LOT of lycra. The classes seem to be full of mostly women. Young women. Young, thin, flexible, white women.

Ok - maybe I am one of these women. But seriously - yoga is for you too!!!! 

You can be forgiven if you think it is all just too weird and have decided it is not for you.

But I swear to you - if you have a body and are willing to move it, yoga IS for you! It will make you feel amazing. Change the way you breathe. Make your mind calmer. Create a sense of peace that you never thought possible. Its ability to transform has to be experienced to be believed - but it is something that people all over the world, men and women of different ages, sizes and ethnicities, experience over and over again. And you can too.

So - the first thing you have to do is turn up to a class. And I thought I would make this easier for you by arming you with a few useful bits of information to help you through your first class with minimal damage. If you have these covered, at the very least, your experience will not be an unnecessarily embarrassing one. And my hope is, by taking potential humiliation out of the equation, you are far more likely to be able to enjoy the class and take in the whole experience.

Tip 1. What are you wearing?
It is true that about 90% of the people in class will be wearing leggings from Lululemon. Not sure what Lululemon even is? Don't worry - it isn't some weird, yogi cult that will try to convert you. Kinda. It is a ridiculously popular brand of fitness apparel that, while expensive, makes pretty awesome leggings. For this reason, a lot of yogis seem to live in Lululemon leggings.

But don't worry - buying a pair of $100+ leggings is not mandatory attire. Almost any leggings, shorts or tracksuit pants that allow you to move freely will do - but with a few very important caveats:

• While shorts are fine, try to avoid wearing the really short loose ones that you would normally wear running. You will most likely be doing movements that cause your shorts to gape - potentially exposes your - well - everything to the class. Not pleasant - for you or your classmates that happen to have your crotch at their eyeline! If the only thing you own are short and baggy shorts, maybe wear boxers or boy-leg underwear to minimise indecent exposure. But please - for the love of everyone - wear underpants of some description! I have seen more than a few, erm, "love-spuds" drop out the side of a pair of baggy shorts in class and it was mildly traumatising. 
• Leggings are obviously great for yoga - they are stretchy and allow lots of movement. That's why  they are the choice for most women (and some guys) to practice in. However, before you head to class, check out the back view in the mirror. Now, bend over and make sure the extra stretching that this requires of your leggings hasn't just rendered them entirely see-through. Given that most women choose to wear g-strings under their leggings, if they go transparent when you bend over, you are basically going to show everyone behind you a full shot of your arse. If you haven't got any alternatives, again try putting on some more substantial underpants that are the same colour as your leggings so people won't really see much. Or chuck shorts over the top for extra coverage.
• Check out the description of the class that you are going to - does it say it is a "hot" class or is it Bikram? There is a reason those photos of Bikram always have girls in what appear to be bikinis. You are going to sweat. A lot! You don't have to wear hot pants - especially if this will make you feel self-conscious - but similarly you don't want to wear fleece tracksuit pants. Cropped leggings or bike shorts work fine. 

And for your top half - wear anything you like. Be aware that occasionally you will be hanging upside down though so if you are wearing a baggy top it will lift up. Wear a nice crop top underneath or you aren't comfortable doing that, wear a more fitted tank or t-shirt. Again, be aware of whether the class will be heated and wear something lighter if it is.

Oh - and yoga is done barefoot. So leave the shoes and socks at the door.

Tip 2. Where will you set up? 
When you are new at anything, it is tempting to go waaaaaaaaaaay up the back of the class where no one can see you bumble your way through.

And I get that - I totally do. It makes sense that you don't want to be in the very front row. But if you can summon up the courage to go in maybe the second or third row, you are probably going to be able to follow the class a lot better.

Feeling like an idiot in front of other people is not fun. And trying something new for the first time - especially as an adult - is guaranteed to make you feel like an idiot for at least some of the time. But if you can actually see the instructor - and they can see you - you are going to look like less of an idiot than if you just hide at the back, not knowing what is going on.

Also, because yoga is a personal journey and isn't a competitive pursuit, I can almost guarantee that the other people in class are not watching you. Everyone will be focussed on their own pose and on their own bodies. The only ones who will be looking at others with be the other newbies and they won't be looking at you either - they will be looking at the teacher or at the more advanced yogis in the room so they can see what they are meant to be doing too.

So set up as close to the front as you can, making sure you can see the teacher, and relax. Nobody's looking!

Tip 3. What are they doing?
Which brings us to the actual class itself. When you get there, it is a good idea to introduce yourself to the teacher and let them know that you haven't done yoga before. This way they can tell you a little bit about how they structure the class and what you can expect. They will also be able to keep an eye out for you during class to make sure you aren't freaking out or doing damage to yourself.

Then you find a place for your mat (not at the back!!!) and try as much as possible to follow the teacher's instructions.

Which sounds easy. But, as I mentioned earlier, there will be weird moves going on that are probably unlike anything you've done before. So what happens if you get completely lost or tangled up in your own limbs?

Well first - don't panic!! Unravel yourself as much as possible and breathe. If you are totally lost, just take downward facing dog or child's pose until the class moves to the next pose. If you were doing fine until the teacher started adding on some fancy-pants options - go back to the pose you were in before you got lost and enjoy that pose. The other stuff can come later on. This also applies if you are feeling intense pain (i.e. more than just that nice ache of a stretching muscle and ANY pain in a joint) in any pose. I know - you want to prove that you can do EVERYTHING right NOW! But it is your first class - so be easy on yourself and accept that yoga, like everything in life, might take a little while to get used to. Battling your ego like this is one of the most important lessons that yoga will teach you. So by taking a step back and sticking with the simpler pose you are actually being a totally awesome yogi. Yay you!!!!

And remember - falling over is always an option! It just means you are working past your comfort zone. :)

If you are really nervous about the poses, maybe check out a few yoga websites or youtube clips to make yourself familiar with some of the more common poses. Yoga Journal is a great resource for getting a breakdown of all the poses.

Also, at the end of every class you will be asked to lie down in "Savasana" with your eyes closed. And you do just that - you lie down and do nothing for 5 or so minutes. It is amazing! But you may not think so when you are just starting. You might get bored, impatient, frustrated - all these things are normal. We aren't used to being asked to just do nothing. Every other part of our life tells us to do more things. But not here. Try to stay still. If you find it hard to keep your eyes closed, maybe put your towel or jumper over your eyes. If your mind runs on overtime - that is ok. It will get easier to slow your thinking down over time. For now, you biggest battle will just be to stay still for the full 5 minutes without going crazy. Count your breath maybe. Focus on your heartbeat. Just enjoy the fact that you don't have to do anything for the next little while.

Tip 4. What was that all about? 
It is possible that you will not enjoy your first class and that your instinct will be to never bother with it again. But please, PLEASE give it at least one more shot. Maybe try a different teacher, a different studio or a different style of yoga. There are so many different options out there now and one of them is bound to tickle your fancy.

Too boring? Try a power yoga class (these tend to be more dynamic and so are stronger and move faster). Too hard or you just couldn't keep up? Try a Hatha or  Iyengar class (these tend to hold poses longer and use props to help you get into proper alignment so can be a good introduction for beginners). Tried Bikram and couldn't stand the heat? Try any of the other types of yoga that aren't heated. Didn't mind the yoga but the teacher really irked you? Check out one of the MILLIONS of teachers that will also be teaching in your hood and just dying to teach you.

I honestly believe that there are enough options out there for everyone to find their yoga nirvana. Not literally of course. Well - not unless you start taking your yoga REALLY seriously and maybe move to a cave in the Himalayas or India. But your yoga happy place is out there somewhere - you just need to give it a chance!

Good luck, yogi newbies!!!! And if you have any questions that I haven't addressed here - please leave me a comment and I will try and answer as best I can.

xx

Some like it hot: my adventures in Bikram

Even though I have been practising yoga for years now, before today, I had never given a Bikram class a go.

I have done lots of hot yoga over the past couple of years (these are normal vinyasa or hatha classes that are done in a room that is heated to around 35°C) but not an actual Bikram class.

For those not familiar with it, a Bikram yoga class is a 90 minute session made up of a specific series of 26 poses (or asana) and breathing exercises (or pranayama) taught in a room that is heated to around 40°C with 40% humidity. Sound intense? Cos it is!

Source: www.ballnroll.com

I had heard a lot about Bikram since it got popular a few years back and had heard various things about it from fellow yogis (some who were major Bikram enthusiasts and others who had done it a couple of times but weren't really taken by it). And to be honest, I never thought it would be my cup of tea. 

It is taught in accordance with a strict system and there are a lot of "guidelines" that are meant to be followed - like when you should drink water, when you can lie down, when you can wipe your sweat away (and trust me, there is a LOT of sweat - and the guideline is that you shouldn't wipe it off at all during class). My first reaction to hearing these was that it sounded too rigid - like some kind of cruel yoga dictatorship - and I was not interested in partaking in it at all. I didn't want someone tell me what my body needed at any given point in my yoga - surely I was the best judge of that!

But it is a new year and I figured I couldn't really judge it if I had never tried it - so I enlisted one of my lovely work buddies and headed to a class at Bikram Yoga Darlinghurst. 
The teacher and the other students all seemed pretty relaxed and not too showy at all so that put me at ease straight away. Also, the "guidelines" that I had heard so much about were more like suggestions and teacher would give you gentle reminders - but certainly didn't do any dictating. 

As newbies, we got ourselves set up in the back row. Unfortunately though, because the class was quite full, the only places we could find were right in front of the vents where all that lovely hot air was coming from. But even with the hot air blasting on me, I figured that I should be able to survive the class. I mean I had done yoga in heated rooms before and, even though they were no where near as hot as this one was, a Bikram class doesn't involve the same fast flowing between poses like my usual hot vinyasa classes. Also, I was from tropical Queensland.  I could totally handle a bit of heat and humidity for 90 minutes - I used to breathe it in for about 9 months of the year! 

Source: www.yoganonymous.com

Well, I was wrong. By about the 8th pose, I was starting to feel a bit woozy. After a few more, I knew I was going to throw up if I tried to stay standing any longer. So a took a bit of a breather on the ground for a little bit until the nausea past. (Apparently my ego would much rather deal with having to lie down in the middle of class than to throw up on myself - so I learnt that about myself today!) Once I recovered, I was able to get back to the class but still felt a little bit weak. Thankfully, though, all the standing poses are done in the first half of the class, so the second half was much, much easier to get through.

After the class, I felt pretty fuzzy and light-headed and that feeling stayed with me for quite a few hours. Also, even though I had tried to drink plenty of water before the class, sipped water during the class and guzzled water when I was done, I still felt dehydrated and a bit headachy. Given how popular Bikram is though, my guess is that these side-effects start to get less and less with the more classes that you do. 

And hopefully I will get to find out if I can get used to it too - the introductory offer for new students was a 10 day pass for $17 - so I can do as many classes as I like for the next 10 days. Bargain! While I don't think I will be going daily or anything crazy like that, I am such a sucker for a good value so I will definitely try to get along to a few more classes before my pass runs out. 

I doubt that I will keep doing Bikram as part of my regular yoga practice in the long term, but who knows? Maybe I will become a Bikram addict in spite of myself!