If you are a beginner at yoga, you may have mixed emotions. The experience can be both daunting and exhilarating all at the same time. Through regular practice you will become confident and adept at performing each yoga posture.
You should keep in mind the following tips to help ensure that your yoga experience will be a beneficial one.
Don’t Try to Be Perfect
This may seem counter-intuitive, but focusing too much on how you should look while doing that headstand will only make you miss out on the most important part of learning yoga.
Instead of focusing on perfecting a certain pose, pay close attention to what your body is capable of performing right now. If you push too early you may miss out on basic fundamentals. Listen to your body first, perfection comes later.
Listen to Your Body
As you perform each pose, try to notice the sensations you feel in your body. Notice what is happening to each part of your body when you perform the different poses.
Don’t let any uncomfortable sensations keep you from performing at your best. Instead, think about how powerful your legs or your arms are while they are supporting your entire body-weight and notice how the energy flows to each part of your body.
Choose the Right Yoga Mat
This is something that should not be overlooked especially when you are a beginner. The right type of yoga mat should be something that provides a firm footing whenever you perform any yogic pose.
A sticky mat will help prevent the risk of being out of balance and suffering from an injury especially when you have to perform poses such as the spread-legged and downward-facing dog poses. There are also mats available that have printed lines that help serve as a guide.
If you are attending a class, you can also ask the advice of your yoga instructor regarding the best type of mat for you to purchase.
Don’t Compare Yourself to Others
Comparing yourself to other people in a video or in your yoga class will only deprive you of enjoying your journey as a beginner. You may find yourself overwhelmed with the abilities of those advanced practitioners but you should view their talents as your inspiration instead of something to be jealous of.
Be a keen observer instead and learn from their skills. Believe that you will also be able to obtain the skills they have if you just continue to practice yoga on a regular basis.
Avoid Making Any Unnecessary Noise
This isn’t really a problem if you are watching videos at home, but if you are in a class, don’t make the mistake of making unnecessary noise. Don’t be an attention seeker by sighing or exhaling too loud. Keep in mind that ‘silence is golden’ especially in a yoga class. Your sighs and breathing should only be heard by you as much as possible.
Even if the room is jam-packed with other yoga participants, you still need to respect each other’s space by not creating any sound that is loud enough to distract other people’s focus.
Following these simple steps will help you to enjoy yoga even more!
