How to Find a Yoga Class That You Love
I cannot tell you how many times over the years I have heard people tell me either “I wish I could do yoga, but I’m not flexible.” OR “I hate yoga.”
As a yoga instructor, I have to bite my tongue to keep my eyes rolling Beetlejuice back in my head because
1. The reason you go to yoga is to improve flexibility, and 2. If you live in the United States: there is 100% a style and teacher for you. Now that comes with it’s own baggage as yoga has been culturally appropriated and turned into what it really is fundamentally against (ie: Come to yoga and drink wine after, or let’s stare at ourselves in a mirror in some $300 outfit while we talk about getting a juicy booty) BUT at the end of the day:I could care less about what gets you in the room and keeps you coming on to your mat: if it’s wine, fine. If it’s ratchet hip hop: great. As long as humans are taking time to move their bodies and connect to their breath: that’s all I want.
To quote my friend’s 4 year old son: “Yoga makes me feel better and not be so upset or sad.”
So, first off, if you’re too intimidated to take a class for the first time because you’ve never done yoga before: the internet is here for you! There are amazing options on YouTube for FREE yoga classes for beginners that can teach you the basic poses you’d need to feel confident enough to walk into a room.
What are those poses?
Downdog
Plank
Cobra
Up Dog
Warrior 1
Warrior 2
Revolved Warrior
Crescent
Those 8 poses are what most classes are sequenced on and around: regardless of the style.
Also: READ THE DESCRIPTION. If the class description says “fast,” or has a level indicator that isn’t “beginner” or “1” don’t let that be your first class. UNLESS you like a challenge, will let the teacher know it’s your first time, go in the back, and not get down on yourself because it’s a practice and the more you go the stronger you’ll get!
I always suggest to first timers to look for a “basics” or “level 1” class, OR call the studio. At my studio our Flow classes all have different pacing and flavors because we are trusted by our owner to use our own voices. Therefore, my classes are going to be on the faster more challenging side than some of my peer’s Flow classes. So if you call our desk, the staff will be able to tell you what teachers would best suit you.
Let’s say you’re the other comment I get a lot when suggesting yoga to people: “I hate yoga.”
No you don’t. You hated the teacher and class you took before, or the studio you went to. So don’t go back there.
If you kissed somebody and they were a bad kisser, would you then just be like “I don’t kiss anymore. I hate kissing.”
No. No you would not. Or maybe you would…in that case, I am sorry for you.
But it wasn’t KISSING that sucked, it was the person and the way they did it.
Yoga is the same.
Take some time and think about what you like:
What type of music do you like? What type of movement do you like? Are you competitive? Do you like being pushed? Are you sensitive and a little insecure? Do you feel overwhelmed easily?
Those are things you can use to find the right teacher, style of yoga, and studio for you!
And you can talk with the staff about it: in email or on the phone, and they can help you. You can even walk in and see how the place FEELS to you. And guess what? If they’re dicks or don’t help…that’s not YOUR studio. Thank you next, swipe left or whatever the kids are doing these days. You get what I’m saying.
The yoga studio you go to should feel like home, like family, like a community. You may only like one class that one teacher teaches once a week: AND THAT IS OKAY! But you can’t just give up!
Yoga truly cultivates so many amazing benefits in people’s lives: physically, mentally, and emotionally. There is no “goal” in yoga other than to take some time for and with yourself. That’s it! It’s like a massage, or church, or a nap…it’s time you take to put your phone away (unless you’re streaming your class from it at home, in which case silence all alerts) and spend breathing with yourself. Honoring yourself. Caring for yourself.
Do you ever wonder WHY yoga has become SO popular over the last decade?
I have been teaching for 11 years, I have been practicing for almost 20: and I have seen it grow and change and evolve…especially in Los Angeles (totally not eye rolling here about the trends I’ve witnessed) COUNTLESS times. I’ve seen some of the greatest teachers in the world have small classes, and some of the least educated “teachers” with no certifications but big instagram followings sell out classes. I’ve taught preschoolers, and people in their 80’s. Literally, there is a type of class and a studio and a style for everyone: and those things keep increasing because the demand keeps increasing.
The reason yoga is so popular is because IT MAKES US FEEL GOOD. Because over the last 20 years, over the last 10, heck over the last 5, we have become such a disconnected society. There is SO MUCH pressure put on people do DO and HUSTLE and PUSH and GO, and nobody looks anyone in the eyes anymore and says hello, or puts their trash away. Yoga STOPS you. Yoga lets you FEEL your breath. Yoga CREATES CONNECTION TO THE MOST IMPORTANT AMAZING PERSON IN YOUR LIFE: YOURSELF.
And we desperately crave and need that as humans: more now than ever.
So stop making excuses, stop thinking you’re not “good” at yoga…you cant be “good” or “bad” at yoga, stop telling yourself you hate it. None of that’s real.
Get out there! Find your jam and take epic care of yourself! This world needs you to love yourself more, and there’s no better place to start that process than wherever it is you yoga.