Hesitant to Start a Yoga Practice
Are you a new student?
Or, have you practiced before but felt intimidated by your experience?
There are many components that could have made you feel like you needed to leave the previous space or stop your practice.
Here are some common factors that play a role in your practice, and for you to be mindful of as you start your practice:
1. Dehydration/lack of nutrients. This is correlated to your vitamin and mineral intake, as well as your water intake. When sweating, increasing your heart rate, and adding new mobility/circulation to your body it is important that you are properly fed and nourished for your practice. You can think of your yoga practice as a magnifying-glass on what is happening within you. When you practice, you are hyper-sensitive to how you feel.
2. Breath. If you are breathing rapidly or through the mouth you are switching your nervous system into a fight/flight/freeze response (sympathetic nervous system). It is important to practice your breath slowly and through your nose, to move your nervous system into rest/digest (parasympathetic). This way you don’t feel like you need to bolt out of the room. As a beginner, breaks are necessary and encouraged. You can pause the movement in your body at any time to reconnect with your slow breath, before adding movement back into your body.
3. Air Circulation/Ventilation and the type of heating system being used. We use is a far-infrared heating system. You can read more about our system here. The infrared is heating objects in the room, rather than a forced air system that is focused on heating the air in the room. The way this shows up for you is: the quality of air. You won’t feel like you are choking on hot air with our system. We also use exhaust fans that suck the air out of the room, so we are not using recycled air.
4. Emotional/Mental/Physical cleansing happening in your body. The sweating, movement, and increase of circulation that happen in your yoga postures and with the climate of the room are holding the time and space for you to have major releases (especially if this is not something we do regularly). It is important to honor yourself and your own process of what you may be moving through. Again, take breaks as needed and give yourself time to digest the benefits of your practice. Lay down if you need to, come back to the rhythm of your breath. Let your teacher know about your hesitations. We are here to support your journey in your practice.
5. Type of class you are attending. At Sol Health, we have 8 different classes on our weekly schedule for you to choose from. You will notice your body will acclimate to the time and space, the more frequently that you are practicing. Classes in Sol are 95-105 degrees and classes in luna are 75-85 degrees. Here are the classes on our weekly schedule that I would recommend for you during your intro period with us:
*Sol-Hatha
*Sol- Slow Flow
*Luna- Meditation and Tea
*Luna- Yin
*Luna- Yin and Meditation
*Luna- Moving Meditation
(You can read more about these classes here)
6. Remind yourself that this is a practice. Give yourself time throughout the week that allows your practice to be accessible for you. There are a variety of different offerings that are available to increase connection to yourself and boost your ability to maintain your health. You may need to start slow, and commit yourself to trying new offerings as your body and mind acclimate to the newness of intentional connection. Having the perspective of “One Millimeter a Day”, allows you to shift into the mindset that you can sustain your practice.
Please reach out if you have any other questions or concerns. We are so excited to practice with you soon! XO
-Maya
Sol Health Yoga
(253)271-0587
www.solhealthyoga.com