Wanted to join a Yoga Class? Read it first….

Professionals are always under stress, especially when it comes in to IT and related industries. Yoga is a buzzword for reducing the stress now a days, and probably you might be already thinking about joining a Yoga class. Deciding to start doing yoga is one of the big steps that could reap benefits both physical and mental. It’s easy to get fascinated by someone who’s more flexible than you doing a scorpion pose or a relatively simple looking forward bending pose and then go register to the nearest available yoga class, but what is normally seen is that very few keep that spirit alive even later on.

But this isn’t about what’s to keep boosting your morale to continue Yoga’ing

This is meant to help a novice get started

1. Finding a class

Googling might help here. There are many yoga classes out there, and you may be turned off if you pick one that does not suit your personality and state of physical fitness.

I have seen yoga classes that have classes conducted for groups. I am not in much agreement to such classes. The main reason being that they don’t look into individual capabilities. Each one of us is different in terms of flexibility. Also different people might have come for different reasons like one person might be suffering from Asthma, while another might have wanted to join  because of back pain, while maybe another would be for just being more flexible.

Many of the so called 2 month study groups do not focus on these kinds of individual needs. They have a prescribed kind of syllabus that might include 50-60 asanas which they try to force feed to the students in this small time.

Though I am not in much favor of such classes, I still think this is better than not having any yoga class at all.

There are some yoga classes that focus on individual progress and their problems, and these have my full marks.

2. Find out What to Bring

Most of the classes will have a Mat (usually plastic) , or a grass mats . If you are averse to lying on a mat someone else has laid upon, you could bring a cotton sheet or a chowkala to lie on top of it.

Loose fitting clothes would be ideal.

Men could come in loose pants or 3/4th and a normal T shirt. For ladies it would be better to come in loose cotton pants and a t shirt tight around the neck. Though there might be fans in the halls, people coming early in the morning would be better if they have T shirts covering their hands and legs mainly because of the mosquitoes. You could alternately have some insect repellent cream smeared on hands or legs.

3. Learn What to Expect

In a typical yoga class, the students place their mats facing the front of the room in a loose grid. It’s best not to line up your mat exactly with the one next to it because you and your neighbor will need some space in certain poses. The students often sit in a cross-legged position waiting for class to start or do some gentle stretching.

The teacher may start class by leading the class in chanting “OM Kara” three times.

This is followed by warm-up poses, more vigorous poses, then stretches and final relaxation. At any time, lie in the savasana (corpse pose) if needed.

Most teachers end class with the “Shanthi Manthram”

Know that you may be a little sore the day after your first class. It would be good if you take bath with warm water sprinkled with salt after you have cooled down from the yoga exercise. This will drastically decrease your soreness.

4. Dos and Don’ts

Don’t…

Have a big meal right before class. Try eating lightly a few hours before class starts.

Wear shoes or socks during class.

Never try to stretch to a pose which you are not capable of doing at least for now. Different people have different ranges of flexibility. The idea for a stretch is to have bearable pain, No more.

Do…

If you can,  have a bath before your class begins.

Ask the teacher for help if you need it.

Look around and follow what other students are doing, especially if the teacher does not demonstrate every pose.

Familiarize yourself with some beginners’ yoga poses before you take your first class.