I remember a woman arriving early to her first class, hovering by the door for a good minute before she came in and admitting afterwards that she’d nearly turned around in the car park. “I didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “That was the scary part.” I think that’s true for almost everyone walking in for the first time, so let me try to take a little of that unknown away.
Before You Arrive
You don’t need much. Comfortable clothes you can move in – leggings or loose trousers, a top that won’t ride up over your head in a forward fold. Bare feet are usual in most yoga classes, so socks aren’t necessary, though you’re welcome to keep them on if your feet run cold until you’ve warmed up. If you don’t have a mat yet, don’t let that stop you – I have spares for a first visit.
Try not to eat a full meal in the couple of hours beforehand. A light snack is fine if you need it, but a stomach full of lunch and a forward fold don’t tend to get on.
Walking In
Arrive a little before the start time if you can – it gives you a few minutes to find a space, get your mat down and simply settle before we begin. Nobody will be looking at you, despite how it might feel. Everyone in that room was new once and most people are far too occupied with their own breath and their own mat to be paying much attention to yours.
I’ll usually have a quick word with anyone I haven’t taught before – nothing formal, just checking whether you’re carrying any injuries or things I should know about, so I can offer the right options as we go.
Once We Begin
Every class I teach follows roughly the same pattern and it’s worth knowing in advance. We start with a body scan – a few quiet minutes simply settling and arriving, letting whatever’s left over from your day begin to soften. From there, we move into a short period of breath awareness, nothing technical, just a chance to notice the breath before we ask anything of the body.
Then we move gently through asanas (postures), built gradually to develop strength, improve balance and ease out whatever tension you’ve arrived carrying. You will not be expected to touch your toes, fold yourself in half, or do anything that looks like the version of yoga you might have seen online. Every pose I teach has options – a block within reach, a bent knee instead of a straight one, a smaller version of the shape that does exactly the same job as the bigger one. Using these isn’t a lesser version of the pose. It’s very often the more intelligent one.
There’s a good chance, at some point, you’ll wobble, lose your balance, or simply not know what to do with a limb. This happens to everyone, regularly, including those who’ve been practising for years. I’d genuinely encourage you to let it be funny rather than frustrating, if you can.
We finish every class with a proper relaxation – lying still, doing essentially nothing, for several minutes. I mention this because it surprises people every time. It’s often the part newcomers feel strangest about and by a wide margin, the part most regular students come to love best. Don’t be surprised if it turns out to be your favourite part of the evening too.
Afterwards
You’ll likely feel looser through the body and for most people, noticeably calmer than when you arrived – sometimes more than the physical effort alone would explain. That’s fairly normal and part of why people keep coming back.
You don’t need to know any poses, any Sanskrit, or anything at all about yoga to walk in for the first time. You just need to be willing to try and to let yourself be a beginner for an hour.
If you’re ready to come along, I’d love to see you – in Bebington or Hooton, whenever suits you to begin.
If you’d like to go a little deeper, the Philosophy section explores the ideas behind yoga, while Practice and Poses offers a natural next step onto the mat.
If you’d like to try a class, I teach in Bebington and Hooton – you’d be very welcome to join us.
If you’d like a little more structure to guide you, Coming Home to the Body is a gentle course on alignment, awareness and ease – a good place to begin building your own practice.