When you take your first hot yoga class usually you feel a bit nervous. Or you're hoping the class doesn't end up being "too weird." In other instances some of you may feel concerned about how "hard" it may be. And all these feeling are honest and trust me, you're not alone. We've all experienced it at one point.
Once you make it past the front denk, you find yourself entering the yoga room. You feel the heat for the first time and as you look around the room you notice some people laying on their backs and once in while you find someone doing a headstand or arm balancing pose. They're warming up and you may be thinking "oh my god, what did I get myself into." You then find a place for your mat and right away the teacher enters the room. There is no turning back man.... Gooood luck!
You're asked to stand up and the class begins with the breathing exercise. And guess what? You've never done any breathing exercise like this one. Automatically the class already became "too weird." As you try to breathe like everyone else and you start to feel your neck, your shoulders and the heat. Man, doubt starts to set in. But you continue and it just seems to get harder. The teacher continues and everyone just seems to be flying through this. And you ask yourself, why do I feel like this? Everyone else seems fine. I'll try to keep going, but I'm starting to see black spots and a bit nauscious. You kneel down and you think I need to get out of here! And right at that moment you hear the teacher say "remember that you're in here for yourself so take breaks when you need them." Suddenly, she or he presses on your back and asks if you're doing ok. Automatically you feel safe again. And your nervous system clams. You can breathe again. Ahhhhhh..... You think to yourself "man, I almost lost it there for a moment."
This my friend is only the beginning of your first yoga class. Soon enough you'll realize that there are techniques to the poses. That form is important. That there are sequences you have to follow. That the yoga poses systematically are compressing certain organs and glands and they're having an influence in how you feel. You start to realize that you're actually working every single system in your body. And your body physically lends itself to some poses better then others. And your mind! Man, what goes through your mind the entire time. Think about this for a moment. You're asked to push, to take it easy and to follow along. You're asked to pay attention to your body and instructed to go a little deeper. To take breaks, but to keep moving when can. You're in the heat for the first time and noone seems to be having hard time but you. Your ego is bruised and all the weightlifting or running that you've been doing doesn't seems to be helping in there. Your mind just races.
Then the class ends and you think wow! What just happened in there? Is this awesome or what? If you went through this don't be discouraged. Return back as soon as you can and take another class. It gets better and you'll get better. My advice is give it a few classes before you make your mind.
To your health & success,
Marco Gamez
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