How do I start yoga? FAQs How do I find a suitable teacher or class? What are the questions I should be asking in my search? Some of my students found me in the phone directory but you can ask your friends or colleagues to recommend a teacher of yoga centre. Visit the yoga centres and take a look at the facilities. Are they quiet and conducive to practice? It is best if the yoga class is conducted at a convenient location so that it is easy for you to attend classes. You do not want to get yourself in a position where you experience more stress rushing to yoga class that the amount of stress that your yoga practice alleviates! Try out different teachers and different venues to find a class that you like and one that is suitable for your current physical fitness. Talk to the other participants in the classes you try out after the sessions and ask for tips on teachers and venues. Ask the teachers about their yoga teaching experience and if they have any relevant certifications. Also ask about their own practice and current training, what is their preferred style of practice: is it a more slow, meditative style or a fast, aerobic style, etc? If you have any special health or physical problems, discuss this and see if the teacher feels confident in teaching you. Generally, if you have any heart problems, high or low blood pressure or if you had any recent surgery, accidents, fractures or sprains, you should mention these. Of course if you have any of these conditions, do consult your doctor before that to ensure that it is okay for you to start yoga classes. Find out the average size of the class: More people in a class means that the teacher has less time and attention for each of you. I feel that one teacher to a class of less than 20 is fair. Any more students than that, the class becomes a little hard to teach if most of them are beginners or if there are people of different levels of abilities in the same class. Ultimately, ask yourself if you feel if a particular teacher is one you can trust and try to do a series of regular classes with the same teacher for a few months. Allow for a period of consistent practice to feel the effects of the practice and then decide how you want to develop your practice, whether you want to continue with the same teacher. Ask about the duration of a class (usually most are about one hour to an hour and a half) and get the weekly timetable. Enquire if there are any provisions for making up for classes that you miss when you are away on the odd urgent business trip occasionally. Ask about the cost of classes bearing in mind that many venues and teachers offer class packages which offer a better deal on price of an average class if you prepay for a set number of classes. These class usually come with an expiry date so do ensure that your own time schedule permits you to finish all the classes you are buying. Find out if the venue provides you with yoga mats and towels or if you have to bring your own. Even if yoga mats are provided it is a good idea to bring your own large bath towel so that you can cover the shared mat with your towel. This is more hygienic and also provides a surface with better grip for beginners to work with. It is a good idea to invest in a good yoga mat if you are going to commit to yoga practice. Do you need to be flexible to start yoga? Will yoga help me to lose weight? No, you need not be flexible to start yoga. Yoga can not only help to make you more flexible but it will improve your body coordination, balance, posture, strength and general health. And yes, yoga can help you to lose weight. With consistent practice you may lose more than just your excess weight – you will lose your attachment to an unhealthy body image. Yoga practice helps us to understand and appreciate our own bodies, accept who we are and awaken us to what we can be.
How frequently do I need to practise yoga? Do I need to practice at home? I always recommend new-comers to yoga to come to class once a week for a start. Even if you are enthusiastic and have the time, I would not suggest that you come everyday or too frequently. Give your body the chance to get used to yoga practice and the time to recover from the sessions. Regularity of practice and continued practice are more important at this stage. Observe the condition of your body during the course of the week after yoga class – be sure to inform the teacher if there is any enduring pain in any part of your body which does not recover after a week’s rest. After doing weekly practice for a few months, you can decide if you would like to attend more frequently. As you continue to grow in your practice, you will naturally integrate yoga into your life and want to start a home practice. For beginners, do not worry too much about how to go about your home practice. (Do not spend yoga classes, for example, trying to memorise yoga poses!) You can try some of the simple breathing techniques and warm ups in the morning when you wake up or some stretches and seated twists when you are taking a break in the office. If you want to do more, you can do a few rounds of “Sun Salutations” daily. Sun Salutation is a sequence of yoga poses following into one another. These are easy to remember and work as a complete set of exercises especially beneficial for spinal flexibility and health. After you gain some familiarity with yoga practice, ask your teacher for recommended sets of yoga poses suitable for your personal daily practice. What do I need to bring for yoga class? Usually yoga studios can provide yoga mats for new students. But it is a good idea to invest in a good one after you have gone for trial classes and have decided to commit to a regular yoga practice. This means that you can clean the mat yourself and also means that you can practice at home. Yoga "sticky mats" are essentially flexible PVC sheets normally 3-5mm in thickness and measuring about 60cm by 160-170cm – an area large enough for you to lie down flat on. They provide cushioning and traction in yoga poses. As the yoga mat is probably the only essential equipment you need for yoga practice, it makes sense to invest in a good yoga mat. Yoga mats range widely in prices from about $20 to $100 or more. This is often a confusing situation for new yoga students. These mats are usually produced in China, Taiwan, Australia, Germany or the United States and the prices largely reflect the relative costs of production and shipping from these countries: those from China and Taiwan costs less than those from Australia, Europe and the U.S. Sometimes more stringent environmental protection regulation means that the mats produced in the European Union costs more as the manufacturers need to use environmentally safe materials. For your own purposes, choose the best mats within your budget. Be sure to check the following qualities of your yoga mat buy which are not necessarily reflected in the prices: Does the mat provide adequate support? Press the mat layer between your thumb and index finger – Is the mat as soft as a sponge, too soft to offer any support? Or does it display some good firmness under pressure? Is the thickness of the mat suitable? Generally, a yoga mat that is too thin 3mm or less is not recommended for beginners as it may not provide you with enough cushioning. Interestingly, a mat that is too thick 6mm or more may not be a good idea either! So never do yoga on your mattress! Does the mat provide slip resistance? Use your palm to press and slide against the surface of the yoga mat. Does your hand slide too easily against it or does the surface texture or stickiness provide you with some helpful grip? How durable is the yoga mat? The price of the mat must be considered together with its durability. If possible scratch the surface of a mat sample with your fingernail or a
coin: a good mat can take several scratches without its surface showing any signs of crumbling. Some mats crumble after just two or three scratches. Is the mat easy to clean and maintain? Some manufacturers can guarantee that their mats can be thrown into your washing machine to be washed! Usually mats only need to be surfaced cleaned – just wipe with a damp cloth and allow to air dry. Is the mat ecologically safe & are its materials tested against harmful ingredients? You will have to discard your mat one day. If possible check to see if the manufacturers ensure the safety of the materials so that these are not toxic to the user nor the environment.
Besides a yoga mat, a large bath towel is a good thing to have with you as you can lay it over your mat if you have sweaty palms or soles. You can also use the towel as a blanket when you lie down at the end of the class for the relaxation session. Some yoga studios can get quite cold once your body starts to cool down after a good workout! Do not attempt to use the towel in place of a yoga mat though. It does not provide adequate cushioning and it tends to slide around on a smooth floor. Bring your water bottle – drink up before and after class to keep well-hydrated. Remember to go to the toilet before your class though. It would be hard to hold it in when you are trying to do some of the yoga poses. . . What do I wear to yoga class? Wear comfortable stretchable clothing (sports/aerobics wear with 95% cotton and 5% lycra or spandex is suitable). Wear clothes that are not too baggy so that your teacher can check your body alignment in poses and so that you will not have your clothes’ fabric flopping over your face in inverted poses. Yoga is practised without footwear. Can I eat just before a yoga class? Do I have to change my diet when I practise yoga? Avoid heavy meals anytime less than 4 hours ahead of the class. If you are hungry, you can have a light snack 2-3 hours ahead. If you have a heavy meal before yoga class, you will experience discomfort during class as many poses will twist and bend at the abdomen. Also if your stomach is digesting a heavy meal, you will be lethargic during class. You do not have to be vegetarian or change your diet when you start yoga. Some yoga practitioners are vegetarian because they believe in Ahimsa, non-harming or compassion for all beings. However, this change is a personal choice and it is up to the individual. What I find does result from yoga practice is that you will naturally tend towards healthier food choices because you have developed a sensitivity to your body. This heightened sensitivity allows you to feel which foods promote a sense of well-being versus those which do not make you feel good after consumption. You will be able to differentiate between what in yoga we call the sattva (pure, fresh, light), rajas (fiery, processed, spicy), tamas (stale, cold, heavy) as the qualities of different foods. As your meals become more sattvic, your body and personality also adopts the same sattvic qualities. What do I need to inform my instructor at the start of a new yoga class? If you have any serious medical conditions or injuries, please consult your doctor on the suitability of yoga classes before you begin. Generally, if you have any heart problems, high or low blood pressure or if you had any recent surgery, accidents, fractures or sprains, you should mention these. Slipped discs and other spinal problems need special care too. Many teachers make adjustments to your posture during yoga class. If you are not comfortable with the teacher touching you or if any of such adjustment is too severe, inform the teacher immediately. I find it helpful when a teacher lightly touches a muscle that is too tensed to draw my attention to it. But everyone’s comfort zone is different so you need to give
your teacher some feedback on how you feel about these kinds of contact. It is possible to teach you about proper posture and adjustment without any touch at all. Indeed, we were trained by our Indian instructors to correct a student’s posture without any physical contact. However, as a teacher, I found that nothing beats a gentle momentary tap on the shoulder, for example, to remind the student to bring awareness there to relax the shoulders and ease the whole body into a steady warrior pose. What can I expect in my first yoga class? Are there any do’s and don’t’s for attending yoga class? Most yoga classes have the following format: you may start with some pranayama (breathing techniques), then warm-ups to loosen all your joints and warm the muscles, this is followed by a series of yoga poses called Sun Salutation (the sequence varies from school to school), various yoga poses or asanas in standing, sitting, prone (laying face down) and supine (laying on your back) positions, with each pose followed by a counter-pose (e.g. forward bend complemented by backward bend, left twist by right twist, etc.) deep relaxation in savasana (corpse pose) where your teacher will verbally guide you through a thorough relaxation of the whole body part by part, most teachers will end the class with a series of pranayama techniques, some may do chanting or meditation. Other Do's and Don'ts:
DO arrive early. Arriving 10-15 minutes early for class means that you will have time to settle down and have the right frame of mind for yoga. DO sit or lie down quietly rather than start chatting with your classmates. This way, you can start tuning in to your breathing and drawing your attention away from distracting thoughts. DON'T enter class late or leave early. This disturbs your classmates’ practice. Arriving late means that it is likely you have missed out on the breathing exercises or warm-ups and your mind and body are not well-prepared for you to launch right into the asanas (yoga poses). If you leave early, skipping the final deep relaxation at the end of the class, you body is unable to fully enjoy the benefits of the entire yoga class. DO switch off your mobile phones before class. DON’T answer calls during class. DO be quiet. Respect that there are others in the class practising and that the quiet is essential to their practice and to enable the teacher to conduct the class well. DO ask the teacher, not your classmate, your questions on instructions and poses. DO arrive clean. DON’T wear overpowering perfumes and make sure your feet are clean and odour-free. Use a towel to mop up your sweat from the yoga mat or floor. DON'T force yourself to adopt a painful position. DON’T compare nor compete. Practise the poses to the best of your abilities without straining yourself. DO observe your own body’s limits and accept that any change for the better takes time. DO inform your teacher if you experience any pain when doing the poses. DO rest if you must anytime during the class. DON’T practice yoga asanas if you are very tired or if you are sick. DO help to roll up and put away yoga mats and props you have used in the yoga studio after the class. DO try and recall what you have learnt after each class. Perhaps you would like to write down any instruction your teacher gave that helped you in the session. DON’T worry about memorising the entire sequence of asanas in the class. You will develop your home practice naturally after you have some experience with yoga classes. DO practice yoga for a while with the same teacher so that he or she can understand your needs and you can have the chance to experience the full effects of the practice.