Starting a Yoga Practice – Hugger Mugger

As much as we don’t always like to admit it, we humans are creatures of habit. Our intentions and actions are often guided by our own habits and by the conditioning of the larger culture. This applies to most things we do, even starting a yoga practice.

For example, fall is back-to-school time. We often get the bug to “get back to business” as the leaves begin to change. The other time of year when we’re drawn to reassess and start something new is at the beginning of a new year. Either way, there are likely to be lots of new students starting a yoga practice at these times.

Starting a Yoga Practice: A Few Tips for Finding the Right Class

So how do you go about finding a yoga class that’s appropriate for you? Here are a few tips:

Ask Friends

The bigger, better-funded studios have much more advertising power than the more modest studios and teachers, so they are easier to find. They may also have great teachers, but huge classes are not for everyone. Ask friends, relatives and co-workers where they like to practice, and what teachers and classes they love. They will likely have a good idea as to what you might like.

Start Small

When you are first starting out, steer clear of huge classes. You may have to do a bit of sleuthing to find smaller, more customized classes, because the people who teach these classes may not have the resources to advertise as widely as the bigger studios. But it’s worth your while to seek out a smaller class, at least to start. Practicing with healthy alignment is important, both in the near term and in the long term. Healthy alignment helps you avoid injuries right now, but it also helps you practice in a way that will be sustainable for years to come. Smaller classes allow the teacher to pay closer attention to each individual.

Try Different Teachers and Studios

It’s great to go to a studio right around the corner from your home or work, but be willing to step out of your comfort zone a bit. It could be that your neighborhood studio isn’t a perfect fit. Keep searching. There are many types of yoga and many types of teachers out there these days. There’s a list below with brief descriptions of some of the more popular yoga styles.

Get Outfitted

While many studios have props you can use, it’s really nice to have your own yoga mat. Here’s a guide for choosing the best mat for your practice. If you plan to practice at home you’ll need not only a mat, but also blocks, a strap, blankets and possibly a bolster. Here are posts that can help you decide which blocks and bolsters are best for you.

Do Your Research

The training and experience of yoga teachers these days is all over the map. New, young teachers can be inspiring with their enthusiasm for teaching, but they may not have developed the eye for possible misalignments that a more experienced teacher has. Again, try different teachers out, and once you have found a few that you like, there’s nothing wrong with continuing with more than one teacher.

Types of Yoga

Hatha Yoga

Hatha Yoga is the basis for most styles of yoga in the U.S. Physical practice and breath awareness are key to Hatha Yoga practice. Hatha Yoga classes will typically be on the gentler, more meditative side.

Hot Yoga

Do you like heat, specifically 105 degrees? Hot Yoga might be for you. Many Hot Yoga practices follow Bikram Choudhury’s series of 26 poses. (If a studio is named after Bikram, you can expect to practice this series.) Other Hot Yoga studios practice other poses as well. Here are some pointers for starting a Hot Yoga class.

Iyengar Yoga

Iyengar Yoga was formulated by B.K.S. Iyengar, a teacher who lived in Pune, India, from 1918 to 2014 and taught worldwide. Iyengar’s well-known emphasis on alignment inspired him to invent yoga props—blocks, straps, blankets, sandbags and bolsters. Iyengar Yoga is the practice that originally inspired Hugger Mugger’s founding in 1986.

Restorative Yoga

B.K.S. Iyengar originated Restorative yoga, but Judith Hanson Lasater , a former senior Iyengar teacher, has taken this style of practice to the next level. Restorative practice utilizes props such as blankets and bolsters to support your body in deep relaxation. (Restorative yoga is not the same as what is often called “Restore,” which is often a slightly less active version of Vinyasa Yoga (see below).)

Kundalini Yoga

Yogi Bhajan introduced Kundalini Yoga to the world in 1968. Kundalini practices include postures, breathing techniques, chanting and meditation to awaken the kundalini energy that originates at the base of your spine and winds through your chakras (energy centers).

Ashtanga Yoga

K. Patabhi Jois, an Indian teacher who lived from 1915 to 2009, developed Ashtanga Yoga. He and B.K.S. Iyengar studied Yoga with the same teacher as B.K.S. Iyengar when he was a teen. Ashtanga is a “flow” practice based on four series of poses of increasing intensity. Practitioners flow from one pose to the next.

Vinyasa Yoga

Vinyasa is based on Ashtanga Yoga. It is also a flow practice, where practitioners flow quickly from one pose to the next. Vinyasa practices such as Power Yoga are often practiced in a heated room to increase the intensity.

Yin Yoga

Yin Yoga is one of yoga’s more relaxing yoga styles, and includes seated, supine or prone poses in very long holds, anywhere from 45 seconds to two minutes or longer. The longer holds aim to stretch connective tissues such as tendons, fascia and ligaments to create greater flexibility.

Keep looking for a class until you find a teacher that really resonates. There are so many different teachers and practices now. If you don’t enjoy your first class, keep looking. Chances are there’s a yoga teacher or studio in your community that will inspire you to love yoga.

About Charlotte Bell

Charlotte Bell discovered yoga in 1982 and began teaching in 1986. Charlotte is the author of Mindful Yoga, Mindful Life: A Guide for Everyday Practice and Yoga for Meditators, both published by Rodmell Press. Her third book is titled Hip-Healthy Asana: The Yoga Practitioner’s Guide to Protecting the Hips and Avoiding SI Joint Pain (Shambhala Publications). She writes a monthly column for CATALYST Magazine and serves as editor for Yoga U Online. Charlotte is a founding board member for GreenTREE Yoga, a non-profit that brings yoga to underserved populations. A lifelong musician, Charlotte plays oboe and English horn in the Salt Lake Symphony and folk sextet Red Rock Rondo, whose DVD won two Emmy awards.