What to Expect From Your First Yoga Class

While the art of Yoga has been around for centuries, it can be hard to know what to expect from your first yoga class. While you can expect different intensity levels from each varying form of yoga, what else can you really expect from each class? Will everyone be perfect at poses? Will you be giggled at for finding it difficult? What if you find yourself lost when trying to execute a pose? Here is what you can realistically expect from your first yoga class at Ohm Santih.

Nailing all the Poses will Prove Difficult for Everyone

Yoga works muscles you didn’t know existed, it puts your body in poses that doesn’t come natural to most people. Most of the poses you’ll do will feel foreign to you and prove difficult even if they look easy. No one expects you to nail your poses in your first class, just like you wouldn’t expect anyone else to. Yoga is a non-competitive art form. If you begin to wobble or fall over simply pick yourself back up, centre yourself and try again. If you find it difficult to comprehend the poses being executed, take the time to study your instructor or your neighbour.

Your Instructor will Adjust your Poses, if You’re Comfortable with it

When practicing Yoga, a hands on teaching approach can be very useful. Instructors will often walk around the class, helping people move their bodies into the correct position when needed. This will allow you to understand where your body needs to be compared to where it is. This is very useful because it can be near impossible to maintain your balance in certain poses while craning your neck to look at other classmates. Most instructors will ask if anyone is uncomfortable with being adjusted during class. If you are uncomfortable with this idea, just voice this out to your instructor. If they do not ask this and you are uncomfortable with the prospect of it, let them know before class begins.

The Emphasized importance of Breathing

It is only natural to hold your breath while performing certain tasks, especially those that we find challenging. However, breathing is a crucial and methodical element in Yoga. The routine of breathing in Yoga is called Pranayama and will often require you to tailor your breathing in a certain manner. Often in Yoga, you’ll be asked to inhale when you open your chest and exhale on bends. Exhaling in twists will also help detoxify your body and most importantly your lungs. Your instructor will always inform you of a breathing routine during poses, so there’s no need to fret.

You’ll Hear the Famous ‘Namaste’ A lot

Namaste translates to ‘I bow to you’ and is seen as a gesture of respect and gratitude. This simple word creates a bond between the whole class; you, your instructor and classmates. It is usually said before and after class, accompanied with the action of putting your palms together and bowing.

The influx of social media yogis presenting intricate yoga poses on your feed or the flexible yogi practitioner often depicted in movies can be enough to scare you away from trying out the popular exercise. There is no need to be intimidated, these people have had years of practice and do not reflect a beginner yogi. At Ohm Yoga, our classes adhere to the non-competitive nature of yoga and will leave you feeling amazing not inferior.