The hardest part of my first public yoga class was leaving the house...

If you have decided to try some yoga and have located a class or two to try out that’s great, but what can you expect, are you apprehensive, not sure what you are letting yourself in for? All normal emotions which we all go through, the hardest part I tell my students is getting leaving the house.

The first yoga class is a time of discovery. You'll discover that not every yoga practitioner is a highly committed, eco-conscious vegetarian or that the media representation of this wonderful activity is just not so. You’ll also work out, fairly quickly that the teacher is genuinely interested in you and will go out of their way to make sure you are comfortable through the class.

Yogis, (and you’re one now), are a friendly bunch and come in all shapes and sizes, it is truly a diverse group. The dynamics of each yoga class and each studio vary but all should be welcoming and inclusive, especially nonjudgmental. Everyone in the class is an equal in the eyes of the teacher so stop worrying about your lack of knowledge or inability to touch your toes, it simply doesn't matter.

The teacher will probably point out that this is your class and they are there to facilitate, you go at your own pace and within your capabilities, moving with ‘the body you have today.’

You will be grounded into the practice, bringing your attention inwards and you start to really work with the breath and body, letting the thoughts and issues you have been carrying all day drift away. A gentle warm up of the muscles from the outside in and then building up warmth in the body to help move fluidly from one posture to the next, truly magical.

Yoga is an individual practice and everyone is different and at a different part of their learning. Even yoga teachers aren't perfect at every pose. We all have our physical limitations and part of yoga is learning to respect our body, be kind to it and don't push it further than it wants to go. The body will open into poses when it is ready, so be patient during the early stages of your practice.

There will be some breath practice which is fundamental to yoga and the teacher will explain and clarify the steps, and we end up in relaxation, where our bodies achieve a state of total release and our minds are calm.

On a practical note, what do you take to a class? Comfortable loose clothing, some water is a good idea, you may wish to take a small towel and if hygiene concerns you, your own mat and some warmer clothes for relaxation.

It’s not essential to buy your own mat for the first class, most teachers will have a supply of decent mats; this decision comes down to personal preference. Some classes may not disinfect and update their mats as regularly as perhaps they should and practicing on a stale smelling mat is not the most pleasant experience. On an environmental note, if this is your first ever experience of yoga it is probably best not to buy your own mat until you know that the practice is for you.

The content of your class will vary depending on the style your chosen studio follows. Generally speaking though, beginners' classes focus on the postures or ‘asana’ and tend not to include any advanced breathing techniques or chanting.

If you approach your first class with an open mind, a spirit of adventure and an understanding that yoga is not a competitive sport then you will be fine. Congratulations on embarking on the first stage of your yoga journey, and enjoy!

If there are any lingering doubts, please drop me a line and I will do my best put your mind at rest.

Caption competition!

Let me have your captions by signing up or sending an email, I will add all the clean ones to the site. Best one selected by the judges (that'll be me) will get a Yogamatters sticky yoga mat. 👍

Competition to run until 15 Nov.

I'll kick off with;

"Richard had a habit of leaving the class in Warrior 2 for a bit too long....."

“Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin….”

Note from the editor..this isn't me.

Nope, not a blast from the past "Listen with Mother" programme but some thoughts and observations about the opening question.

(If you are of a certain age, you’ll know what I am referring to…if you are not, no matter but please indulge me and read on).

I do remember sitting comfortably, sat next to the ‘wireless’ after lunch, hearing the posh BBC voice and getting lost in the story. I don’t remember much after that as presumably it did its job and I fell asleep!

Sitting comfortable probably meant cross legged, or sukhasana (easy pose) as we yogis call it, which is not a bad thing. As adults however, sitting more often than not will be in a chair or comfy seat.

I’ll go out on a limb here and state we weren’t designed to sit on chairs, they came later in the evolutionary path. There are still communities on this planet that don’t have them, they probably squat most of the time.

Sitting is a relaxed hip flexion position, meaning these brilliant hip flexor muscles are not working against resistance, they are simply not working. The full weight of the upper body above is resting on the pelvic floor area, our lower limbs inactive.

If this were to be taken to extremes and held too long it will inhibit muscle conditioning, nerve response and circulation, leading to potential lower back, psoas and sciatica issues. The hip flexors shorten and weaken which will probably impact on the pelvic position and lower back. Not good.

Have a think about how much you sit during the day; having breakfast, the daily commute, the day job, evening meal and relaxing with a book or in front of the TV. I was quite surprised when I added it all up.

Simply incorporating more movement will help counter some of the negative consequences of too much sitting. We probably are aware of taking breaks from desks at work, if that’s your situation, but try to stretch the body out if watching TV or reading. There are a number of comfortable postures we can get into that will help and I can provide some guidance here, just drop me a line…

Also ensure that if you do take exercise, the movement of the hips is occurring in the 3 planes, front to back, side to side and in rotation, otherwise the programme may not be serving you as well as you believe.

There’s a lot going on in the hip area. Ask any yoga teacher and they will happily tell you about the iliiapsoas, hip rotators, SI joint, flexion, piriformis, lordosis, pelvic tilt etc, but be prepared, they will go on and on, in fact you may need to sit down but at least they can show you the best way!

And signing off in good old BBC fashion:

“Goodbye now ‘til tomorrow…. goodbye!”