Are you thinking of starting your own yoga practice at home or joining a yoga class in your area with absolutely no previous experience?
There is a lot to keep in mind when jumping into this globally famous health regimen. The web has a whole host of resources covering yoga for beginners, and this guide condenses all of these helpful tips into one comprehensive resource.
We are going to cover best online yoga resources, yoga for beginners classes, and a few yoga positions for beginners that will help guide you through the first steps in your journey to becoming a yogi.
Ready? Let’s go!
Are you Doing an At-Home Practice or Professional Classes?
Before diving into this guide, it is important that you consider how you want to learn yoga.
Do you want to find a local class and pay for a professional to guide you through all of the poses?
Or do you want to learn everything on your own at home with resources you find online?
We suggest complete beginners take a few yoga classes in person to get the personal attention of a hands-on instructor. This will properly introduce you to the methodology of yoga, and the instructor will give you insight into the correct posture, which is a crucial component to any good yoga practice.
However, if all of your local yoga classes are a rather spendy investment, you can find sufficient guidance on the web as well!
There are plentiful free resources to help build a progress-based yoga regimen on your own at home. There are also fantastic, paid services that design a yoga routine for you and guide you via video.
So, no matter what works best for you or your budget, there are resources out there that you can use to build your own yoga routine.
Now that you have taken a moment to consider how you want to become a yogi, what are some of the best yoga for beginners local and online resources?
Online Yoga Resources
First, let’s take a look at what the online world has to offer. All of the following suggestions, both free and paid, will help guide you in forming your own at-home yoga practice.
1. Yoga with Adriene
This is a comprehensive Youtube channel and website run by Adriene Mishley, a yoga teacher based out of Austin, Texas. She creates a whole host of videos that you can pick and choose from based on what feels good to your body.
The theme of her Youtube channel is to find what feels good to you. This is a great yoga for beginners resource because it helps you build a regimen you really enjoy, giving you a stronger incentive to stay with it for a longer period of time.
She also includes a 30-day sequence that you can start at any time. This removes a lot of pressure off of you as the beginner and lets you dive in whenever, and you don’t have to plan your own lessons.
She also includes yoga for weight loss and other instructional videos. Yoga with Adriene is one of the best free resources out there.
2. Kino Yoga
This is another, free Youtube channel hosted by Kino Macgregor. Kino has over 20 years of experience as a professional instructor.
She has a whole host of yoga videos for beginners and separate tutorials on various yoga poses. The separate tutorials are a nice addition. This helps you spend extra time with each pose, ensuring you get the most out of your practice.
3. YogaToday
Last but not least is a paid or free yoga service. Classes are all filmed in beautiful outdoor locations in the southwest. Qualified instructors lead all of the sessions.
This is known as one of the best online yoga portals. Once a member, you gain access to over 200 full-length yoga classes.
You can choose between three different memberships, with free being an option as well. This is perfect if you want to try out this service before committing to it for your yoga practice.
Best Yoga Poses for Beginners
While these online resources will do a good job guiding you through these poses, it is also nice to know what poses you should keep in mind while sifting through these vast libraries.
Here are some foundational poses to get you familiarized with yoga.
1. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog)
This is a classic pose on the list of yoga for beginners. You start flat on your stomach, face down, and then push up into a triangle formation. Keep your knees bent and your heels lifted from the ground.
Exhale, lift your hip, press your thighs back, press your head through your arms, and stretch your heels to the floor. Make sure your legs stay straight at this point.
2. Anjaneyasana (Low Lunge Pose)
From downward dog, step either your right or left foot forward between your hands. Then, drops your other knee to the ground, and bring both of your hands up to your bent knee.
Switch legs after slow breaths in and out.
3. Tadasana (Mountain Pose)
Last but certainly not least is Tadasana. This is the foundation. You must learn how to stand strong and straight before expecting your body to fluidly move into other poses.
Stand with your feet, ankles, and legs together and touching. Pull your thigh muscles up, avoid flexing your glutes and let them drop, keep your back straight with no curving, and roll your shoulders back.
Extend your arms down and keep your head in line with your body. Hold this for 5 to 10 breaths. The more you practice standing straight in Tadasana, the better your posture will be.
Best Yoga for Beginner Classes
Let’s say you are thinking of joining a local class. There are a lot of classes out there. It is hard to choose as a beginner which one you might want to join.
You can choose between:
- Hatha, which is strictly pose based,
- Kundalini, which is both meditative and flowing, or
- Vinyasa Flow, which is the most popular, westernized form of yoga.
Sifting through these choices can overwhelming. In order to determine which one feels best with your body, we suggest you try a few walk-in classes at studios near you.
If the price is a concern, look on Groupon for discounted walk-in classes or a short series of classes. Groupon is full of local deals that will help save you a lot of money while looking for that perfect fit.
You might get some good deals on your yoga clothes, mat, and more on Groupon as well!
Never Be Intimidated With Yoga as a Beginner
Well, there you have it! A comprehensive guide in building an at-home practice or joining a local, instructor-led class.
No matter what you choose to do, never be intimidated by starting yoga. It is a wonderful, holistic, and fun exercise designed to bring peace of mind and strength of spirit.
And remember, when doing yoga on your own, pay special mind to your body’s natural limitations. If you do this, you will have a wonderful yogi journey and learn a great deal along the way.
So, what kind of yoga for beginner practice are you going to build and how are you going to incorporate yoga into your life?
Share in the comments below!
Leave a Reply