My Top Five Tips for Beginners

Setting intentions is integral to yoga practice, and helps gain awareness, peace and clarity.  But for beginners, it can feel a little daunting, so I always share these top five tips to all my beginners as a starting point:  

1. Start with acceptance: 

This course is for beginners, however no two beginners are the same.  In yoga we appreciate and respect that everyone has a different level of conditioning, strength, flexibility, and health issues, honouring that we are all different and unique.   The invitation is to meet yourself on the mat with acceptance, and I will help you move from there. 

2. Release expectations

Please don’t worry about your lack of experience, or think you should be able to touch your toes.  Take that pressure off, this course is perfect for you, exactly as you are. The most important thing in yoga is to show up.  So feel good about that.  We will take time to find the right level of intensity for you individually, offering modifications and strategies to make the poses easier or deeper, providing safe and stable foundations to then grow your journey with yoga in any direction. 

 3. Embrace the core of yoga

Yoga is not about extreme flexibility or fancy shapes.  It is simply about breathing and moving with intention, creating freedom in the body for energy to flow though basic poses, and calming the mind with stillness and meditation.  Take a moment before class to remind yourself of your intention in starting this yoga practice. 

4. Notice your breathing

The connection between awareness and breath is one of the most beneficial aspects of yoga.  Noticing your inhale and exhale can yield better sleep, reduce stress, and ease tension.  Noticing your breath will have a far more profound effect on your health and wellbeing than being able to touch your toes or stand on your head!

5. Be open to stillness

Beginners often find it challenging to sit still.  We are conditioned to keep busy, achieve goals, rush around, plan the future, review the past, move forward to the next thing.  One of the most fundamental teachings of yoga is being present, and I will invite you to a moment of stillness at the end of each class.  Over time, these moments may fill you with a sense of peace and happiness. 

Even if you have some previous yoga experience, I invite you to come with a beginner’s mind, be compassionate with yourself, and know that learning takes time, persistence, and patience.  The rewards can be transformational. 

 Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

Peace Peace Peace

JoJo