What Are Some Tips For Yoga Beginners?

If you are just starting out with yoga and have no idea where to begin, there are a few things that can help you along the way. These tips and tricks are not meant for someone who just wants to grab a DVD and get to it. These are tips for people who are true beginners and want to expand their knowledge and routine of yoga in order to benefit from it on a routine basis. This are also tips to help you from a beginner phase into a long term yoga practice.

Use Accessories

One of the first and best tips any yoga practitioner can give to a beginner is to use accessories. These accessories are yoga blocks and straps. You may not understand why you need them, but consider a specific pose first. Consider the standing forward bend. It is a bend that ends, for the fully practiced individual, with the hands flat to the ground next to or in front of the feet and the head flat to the legs. When you first start out, if you aren't flexible, this can be difficult. You can use a brick standing upright to help you. As you get more flexible you can lay the brick on its side, then finally flat and removed.  Straps can help with stretching your legs or holding stretched poses that normally would be difficult for beginners to hold. You can, just as with the yoga bricks, move the strap or remove it as you become more flexible.

Start with a Class

You may be inclined to start your yoga practice at home with DVD instructors or online streaming instructors. Though this can be good to let you know if you want to do yoga, it may not be good in long term practice. When you go to a class, you can get one on one assistance with your yoga poses. This ensures that you are doing them correctly. If you do them incorrectly you will not get the same benefit and you may end up causing injury. You don't have to go to classes for the long-term, but initially it can help to ensure you are doing things correctly and safely.

Start a Routine

Even if you are trying out different yoga paths and practices, you still want to try and start a routine. This should be done at around the same time daily and treated almost like a health ritual like a bedtime ritual or routine would be. The routine should be a few poses that you can do in a slow smooth movement. Ideally, you want to go with poses that are easy to do and easy to remember. Create the routine, make sure you are doing the poses correctly, and then start doing them daily. This will help you learn what works for you and get your body used to the yoga routines. 

If you use these tips and combine them, you will find yourself well on your way to a solid yoga routine. You can also use the tips for classes or for private yoga practice in your home. Keep in mind, expand your knowledge base and your routine as time permits to give yourself the full range of what yoga can do. 
