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    5 Things Every Yoga Beginner Needs to Know

    By DietsInReview | Healthy Living – Wed, Sep 1, 2010 9:17 PM EDT

    By Heather Ashare - Yoga Expert for DietsInReview.com

    Everywhere you look, the young and the old, the bendy and the not-so bendy are downward-dogging. It is estimated that more than 20 million people practice yoga, more than triple the amount just 15 years ago.
    But for those who have never performed triangle pose, the idea of doing yoga amongst a group of flexible and sweaty practitioners can be downright intimidating. Rather than letting fear get in the way of experimenting with this ancient mind-body practice, here are five things every beginner yogi needs to know.

    1. Start with an open mind. Forget about the cute yoga clothing and the custom-designed yoga mat, the real prerequisite of yoga is having an open and willing mind. Cast expectations, fears and inhibitions aside as you roll out your yoga mat and start your yoga journey clear from any ideas of what your yoga experience is supposed to look like or how it should result.

    2. Flexibility is not a requirement. We have all seen the pictures of yogis contorting their bodies in pretzel-like postures. While the bendy practitioners are a fun ideal to aspire to, yoga can be practiced by anyone, the flexible and the not-so flexible. If you are someone who has been blessed by stiffness, you are likely to see the most immediate effects of yoga showing up in your hamstrings, hip flexors and the lumbar spine after just a few sessions.

    3. Thinness is not a requirement. While many of the popularized yoga bodies, like Jennifer Aniston and Sting, promote the idea that only the thin and the beautiful practice yoga, anyone, regardless of their waist size, can practice yoga. In fact, in a large-scale study funded by the National Institutes of Health, yoga was found to help people shed weight or kept them from gaining weight. Yoga invokes a powerful sense of body awareness and mindfulness, which makes it easier to monitor portion sizes and food choices. Weight loss then becomes an unexpected but welcomed benefit.

    4. Seek a qualified teacher. One of the unfortunate side effects of yoga's popularity is the rise in unqualified yoga instructors who have been quickly trained without a comprehensive understanding of the 5,000-year-old tradition. To avoid the potential for injury and misinformation, seek out qualified yoga instructors, preferably one with the initials RYT (Registered Yoga Teacher) behind their name. This certification is a designation that the teacher has a solid foundation in anatomy and body alignment and has clocked a few hundred hours of yoga training and instruction.

    5. Experiment to find the right yoga for you. With so many different styles of yoga to choose from, it can be a daunting task to find one that feels right for you. But, the upside to the abundance of yoga offerings is that you can take your time in sampling out a variety of different yoga styles. Many studios offer a complimentary first class so that you can get a feel for the kind of yoga being taught, the vibe of the studio and teachers and the demographic of the students.

    September is yoga month! Learn more about this healthy practice:

    A Beginner's Guide to Yoga

    Most Popular Yoga Classes

    Yoga Dictionary

    © DietsInReview.com

     

    11 comments

    • Diana
      Diana  •  1 year 8 months ago
      RYT means only that you are a Registered Yoga Teacher who has paid to be a member of the Yoga Alliance. Of course they require you to have had 200 hrs. at least of teacher training with an acredited Yoga Studio/school whom they have deemed certifiable. As a Yoga Instructor you also get to be on their register so if someone is looking for someone like you, teaching method etc. Yoga is not regulated in most states When you also have a LMT license through a state that is regulated and with the cost of keeping such a license like Massage Therapy I think paying the Yoga Alliance who is not state regulated much less recognized through the Health Dept. is just another place who has their hand out to collect more money. I can see how it would come in handy if you do not have any type of other licensure that enables you to have more knowledge of health, human anatomy that you would want to be a part of such an organization as the Yoga Alliance. What of also people who have practice Yoga for some time and they have the right intention and do not want to pay $$thousands to get certified? Just like most things in life, there are choices.
    • Aloyo Ongiro
      Aloyo Ongiro  •  1 year 8 months ago
      Actually it got worse
    • Diana
      Diana  •  1 year 8 months ago
      RYT means only that you are a Registered Yoga Teacher who has paid to be a member of the Yoga Alliance. Of course they require you to have had 200 hrs. at least of teacher training with an acredited Yoga Studio/school whom they have deemed certifiable. As a Yoga Instructor you also get to be on their register so if someone is looking for someone like you, teaching method etc. Yoga is not regulated in most states When you also have a LMT license through a state that is regulated and with the cost of keeping such a license like Massage Therapy I think paying the Yoga Alliance who is not state regulated much less recognized through the Health Dept. is just another place who has their hand out to collect more money. I can see how it would come in handy if you do not have any type of other licensure that enables you to have more knowledge of health, human anatomy that you would want to be a part of such an organization as the Yoga Alliance. What of also people who have practice Yoga for some time and they have the right intention and do not want to pay $$thousands to get certified? Just like most things in life, there are choices.
    • Diana
      Diana  •  1 year 8 months ago
      RYT means only that you are a Registered Yoga Teacher who has paid to be a member of the Yoga Alliance. Of course they require you to have had 200 hrs. at least of teacher training with an acredited Yoga Studio/school whom they have deemed certifiable. As a Yoga Instructor you also get to be on their register so if someone is looking for someone like you, teaching method etc. Yoga is not regulated in most states When you also have a LMT license through a state that is regulated and with the cost of keeping such a license like Massage Therapy I think paying the Yoga Alliance who is not state regulated much less recognized through the Health Dept. is just another place who has their hand out to collect more money. I can see how it would come in handy if you do not have any type of other licensure that enables you to have more knowledge of health, human anatomy that you would want to be a part of such an organization as the Yoga Alliance. What of also people who have practice Yoga for some time and they have the right intention and do not want to pay $$thousands to get certified? Just like most things in life, there are choices.
    • Diana
      Diana  •  1 year 8 months ago
      RYT means only that you are a Registered Yoga Teacher who has paid to be a member of the Yoga Alliance. Of course they require you to have had 200 hrs. at least of teacher training with an acredited Yoga Studio/school whom they have deemed certifiable. As a Yoga Instructor you also get to be on their register so if someone is looking for someone like you, teaching method etc. Yoga is not regulated in most states When you also have a LMT license through a state that is regulated and with the cost of keeping such a license like Massage Therapy I think paying the Yoga Alliance who is not state regulated much less recognized through the Health Dept. is just another place who has their hand out to collect more money. I can see how it would come in handy if you do not have any type of other licensure that enables you to have more knowledge of health, human anatomy that you would want to be a part of such an organization as the Yoga Alliance. What of also people who have practice Yoga for some time and they have the right intention and do not want to pay $$thousands to get certified? Just like most things in life, there are choices.
    • Diana
      Diana  •  1 year 8 months ago
      RYT means only that you are a Registered Yoga Teacher who has paid to be a member of the Yoga Alliance. Of course they require you to have had 200 hrs. at least of teacher training with an acredited Yoga Studio/school whom they have deemed certifiable. As a Yoga Instructor you also get to be on their register so if someone is looking for someone like you, teaching method etc. Yoga is not regulated in most states When you also have a LMT license through a state that is regulated and with the cost of keeping such a license like Massage Therapy I think paying the Yoga Alliance who is not state regulated much less recognized through the Health Dept. is just another place who has their hand out to collect more money. I can see how it would come in handy if you do not have any type of other licensure that enables you to have more knowledge of health, human anatomy that you would want to be a part of such an organization as the Yoga Alliance. What of also people who have practice Yoga for some time and they have the right intention and do not want to pay $$thousands to get certified? Just like most things in life, there are choices.
    • Diana
      Diana  •  1 year 8 months ago
      RYT means only that you are a Registered Yoga Teacher who has paid to be a member of the Yoga Alliance. Of course they require you to have had 200 hrs. at least of teacher training with an acredited Yoga Studio/school whom they have deemed certifiable. As a Yoga Instructor you also get to be on their register so if someone is looking for someone like you, teaching method etc. Yoga is not regulated in most states When you also have a LMT license through a state that is regulated and with the cost of keeping such a license like Massage Therapy I think paying the Yoga Alliance who is not state regulated much less recognized through the Health Dept. is just another place who has their hand out to collect more money. I can see how it would come in handy if you do not have any type of other licensure that enables you to have more knowledge of health, human anatomy that you would want to be a part of such an organization as the Yoga Alliance. What of also people who have practice Yoga for some time and they have the right intention and do not want to pay $$thousands to get certified? Just like most things in life, there are choices.
    • Jimmy C
      Jimmy C  •  1 year 8 months ago
      Big yoga fan! thanks!
    • Sarah
      Sarah  •  1 year 8 months ago
      It actually got worse for me too. I cannot seem to gain weight. I am at the other end of the spectrum. I am so tired of people telling me I need to eat something. If that was all it took I would be much happier.
    • Diana
      Diana  •  1 year 8 months ago
      RYT means only that you are a Registered Yoga Teacher who has paid to be a member of the Yoga Alliance. Of course they require you to have had 200 hrs. at least of teacher training with an acredited Yoga Studio/school whom they have deemed certifiable. As a Yoga Instructor you also get to be on their register so if someone is looking for someone like you, teaching method etc. Yoga is not regulated in most states When you also have a LMT license through a state that is regulated and with the cost of keeping such a license like Massage Therapy I think paying the Yoga Alliance who is not state regulated much less recognized through the Health Dept. is just another place who has their hand out to collect more money. I can see how it would come in handy if you do not have any type of other licensure that enables you to have more knowledge of health, human anatomy that you would want to be a part of such an organization as the Yoga Alliance. What of also people who have practice Yoga for some time and they have the right intention and do not want to pay $$thousands to get certified? Just like most things in life, there are choices.
    • MsMillie
      MsMillie  •  1 year 8 months ago
      I have practiced yoga for 8 years (Hatha-Vinyasa and Power) and I feel and look awesome. My stiffness in my shoulders and hips are gone. The pain from arthiritis has vanished and in its place is a younger stronger taller senior. Yoga has transformed me into a marvel at 73 years of age.
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