Thinking about your first yoga class? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. In the launch issue of Dance News Worldwide I gave you a whistle stop tour of yoga. We looked at several types of yoga, discussed some of the health benefits of practicing as well as a brief history of yoga and why it’s become so popular. But for some of us, taking that very first step onto a yoga mat can be incredibly nerve wracking. The fear of the unknown, self-doubt and worrying about not being ‘flexible’ can often be enough to prevent us from trying a yoga class. With so many different styles of yoga it is of no surprise it might be a little daunting. Plus, thrown into the mix are the vast number of different poses and their names, which are sometimes spoken in Sankrit (an ancient Indic language). As a yoga newbie it can be overwhelming, but its ok, we are always learning. That’s why we call it yoga practice. So, in this article we look at just 6 basic asanas (asana is Sankrit for a physical posture) that you may be doing in your first yoga class – the ones I like to think of as the building blocks of yoga poses. Mountain Pose – Tadasana You would be forgiven for thinking I’m not doing very much here… But Mountain pose is a foundational pose for standing poses and often used to prepare for others. It’s a great way of checking in with your body and helps improve posture as well as establish good alignment.
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Cat-Cow – Marjariasana-Bitilisana Often used as a gentle warmup sequence. This is a fluid movement of one pose to the other, whilst inhaling on each Cow posture and exhaling on each Cat posture. The synchronised movements with the breath stretch the front and back of the body, encourage spine flexibility and help you relax.
Childs Pose – Balasana A wonderfully restorative pose, often referred to as your resting pose. It also gently stretches the hips and
