It was in the fall when I finally joined a studio yoga class after trying to use YouTube yoga videos for four or five months. I was terrified. I was convinced everyone would stare and ignore me, that they were all going to be so much more advanced than I was and that I would feel like such an outsider.
Thankfully, I was wrong. I found a welcoming community and discovered that my hope was right rather than my worries. The studio experience was sooo much better than following YouTube videos at home where I was distracted and surrounded by pets and a sense of obligations and responsibilities and the excuse to not challenge myself. The supportive studio atmosphere was just what I needed to progress my practice.
That doesn’t mean it won’t be overwhelming to step into a new studio or a new class or to start a completely new type of exercise. Be your own advocate as you start a new practice by being armed with my 5 tips for staying safe as you start and work to maintain a yoga practice over many years, while traveling, in different studios with different teachers. Grab that safety guide here.
If you are considering taking your first yoga class in a studio, I hope this post helps you take that first step. Have questions? Let me know! Happy to help you see if yoga can be for you what it has become for me.
