Yoga for Beginners | Power Yoga

Yoga for Beginners

Yoga classes for beginners, whether in a studio or via beginning yoga video or even a yoga book for beginners, can vary. So please know it’s possible to dislike one class immensely while really appreciating another class.

How to start doing yoga or practicing yoga? Well, as mentioned above, there are classes, yoga books for beginners and videos, so take your choice. There are many types of yoga a beginner can start with, as there are many types of yoga. Yet obviously a beginner yoga class needs to be approachable to beginners. There needs to be basic info and philosophy, otherwise, old habits patterns may slip into your yoga class and pollute it without you even knowing. What makes a yoga class yoga and differentiates it from most other exercise is its philosophy and approach. Understanding the philosophy and approach is essential. Then we take action in the form of meditation and/or asana which are exercises, positions, or moves. We put the philosophy into action, which equals satisfaction and creates a mind-body experience.

The teaching yoga to beginners objective should be to try to express the objective of the poses and how to go about achieving that objective. Hopefully putting all this into a simple yet not easy, dynamic beginners yoga routine. For best effect, these exercises or a beginners yoga pose should be approachable without strain.

Whether the class focuses on meditation or asana, or whether it focuses on alignment or dynamic flow, whatever it might be, be gentle with yourself. The objective of yoga could be articulated as "Wellness."  When wellness is the objective, any effort or sensation more than modest is overkill. Remember, we are not trying to change ourselves, we are trying to care for ourselves, and the only way to take care of anything is to touch it gently. You could describe this as the middle path. Don’t push to hard but don’t run away. Moderation or gentleness. I’d rather call yoga a maintenance practice than a workout. Because in a maintenance practice (like brushing your teeth), we are not trying to change anything, we are just trying to care for things. Whenever you want to care for anything, the approach must be gentle or moderate. This gentleness thing alone can be a new idea for most in the exercise community, as so many exercises can be so physically aggressive or demanding. This is why understanding the philosophy and approach initially is so important.

For the beginner in yoga online, there are many choices. I always understood all the varying possibilities and choices there are within the yoga world as a reflection of all the varying personalities and body types. In other words, there is something for everybody. What are you into? Are you young? Older? Injured? Athletic? Academic? Devotional or philosophical, etc?

The beauty of it is, as you age and change, as you morph and grow, your style of yoga practice will also morph and grow. It evolves and becomes more subtle and acute. And the beginner learning about themselves is no longer the beginner. Welcome to PowerYoga.