Being a beginner at anything can be daunting. By using these Yoga tips for beginners, you will hopefully start to enjoy the journey of your yoga practice. If you stick with a dedicated practice, you will be able to reap the tons of benefits that yoga has to offer.

8 Yoga Tips for Beginners

1. Create a plan

   I don’t know about you, but if I don’t plan “me time” ahead of time, it doesn’t happen. I usually plan when I am going to do yoga on Sunday evenings. That way it is on the schedule and I am way more likely to do it. You can read more about planning your yoga in my increasing your practice post.

2. Leave your worries at the door

   We all have a million and one things going on in a day. If you want to feel the full benefit of yoga, leave the to-do list, the “I should have’s”, and the major stressors of your life at the door. See the door as a boundary, when you walk through it, all those worries get blocked and have to wait outside. Hopefully, when you leave, some of them have dissipated and you can walk away feeling much lighter.

3. Focus on your breath

   This really goes along with leaving your worries at the door. If you are in an hour class, chances are that your worries will try to creep back into your mind. The best way to deal with this is by acknowledging the thought, letting it pass by without engaging with it and go back to focusing on your breath. This can be tricky at first. But, the more you practice, the easier it will get.

4. Don’t look around the room

   When you look around the room during a yoga class you are most likely comparing yourself to others. Don’t do it. Just don’t. More than likely, you will have a range of 10+ years of experience practicing together. There are different body types, different genetics, etc. There will be people who had a great day with an awesome night of sleep and also those who are new moms and haven’t sleep for 3 hours straight in months. Yoga is not about being better than your neighbor or being hard on yourself because the person next to you seemingly knows what they are doing. It’s about accepting where you are at and enjoying the journey.

5. Focus inward

   Instead of looking around and focusing on others, turn your focus inward. How are you feeling, can you go deeper into a pose, or do you need to let off. Your time during yoga is really about you and what your needs are in the present moment.

6. Acknowledge your improvements

   When I started getting serious about my yoga, I couldn’t do one chaturanga without putting my knees to the floor. Now, I can do a whole vinyasa or Ashtanga class without using my knees to lower myself down. It happened slowly, though. Starting with one time, then two, then maybe five times in a class. Working on the side plank? Maybe this time, you can hold it for 5 seconds instead of 3. Make sure that you are recognizing and celebrating the little steps. Always remember that you can learn and grow at any age.

7. Be patient with yourself

   Rome wasn’t built in a day. Don’t expect perfection, expect progress. (By the way, there is no perfection in yoga, even if you are a master yogi.) Sometimes the progress will seem slow, but don’t get discouraged. If you keep practicing, over time, you will notice more and more improvements.

8. Soak up Savasana

   This is my favorite yoga tip for beginners. It is easy for you to start thinking about your to-do list once savasana starts. But, I would highly recommend putting off those thoughts until you have left class. Keep that time sacred. Use savasana for complete relaxation of the body and mind. If you can’t completely relax the mind, use the time for gratitude. Thank yourself for coming to the class, for giving yourself time to focus on you, for pushing yourself physically and mentally, and so on.

If you put these 8 Yoga Tips for beginners into your practice, you will quickly start to love and appreciate your yoga practice. Trust me, when I do these things I leave my class feeling refreshed, calm, and powerful.

Want to learn more about how I increased to a daily yoga practice? Check out Increasing Your Yoga Practice.

Namaste,

Abby

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