Essential Things to Know About Yoga
For yoga beginners, skeptics and enthusiasts
“I can’t do yoga; I’m way too inflexible.” This is the phrase I hear most often when I tell people I teach yoga. But hey, that’s precisely why you should do yoga! Most yoga practitioners and gymnasts were probably not very flexible before doing yoga or gymnastics either — unless they started as children.
Furthermore, yoga is a practice of balance. It not only enhances mobility but also strength and body awareness. The following covers more of what I usually say to new yoga students.
The Why Doesn’t Matter
Certain people will tell you that yoga is a path to spiritual enlightenment. However, that is not why most people start yoga, and that’s fine!
It’s OK to try yoga to release some stress from work. It’s OK to do yoga against your back pain or tight hamstrings. It’s OK to attend a yoga class between gym workouts, or just because your friends are going. It’s OK to train for cool yoga poses like lotus pose or headstand.
I believe a good yoga teacher will meet you where you are, and not judge your intentions or disinterest in spirituality. A fascination for more dimensions of yoga may or may not develop over time.
Yoga is Adaptable
Everybody can do yoga. Whether you’re very old or young, stiff but strong like a bodybuilder, untrained, overweight or injured: Some yoga poses will be doable for you, and if it’s just joint movements like rolling the wrists or ankles and doing arm circles.
Modifications allow most people to do similar versions of the same pose. As an example: Cat-cow (as shown in the title picture) can also be done standing or in a cross-legged seat with your hands lightly resting on the legs. For sensitive wrists, you can make fists in a table-top pose.
Take a Deep Breath
Breath is more central in yoga than other physical movement practices because yoga is about the union of body and mind. Some yoga teachers will tell you when to inhale and exhale for every movement, others only do so for parts of the class. I regularly remind my students not to hold their breath involuntarily, as this can happen when we’re stressed, e.g., at work.
Yoga encourages you to consciously breathe through the nose and extend the length of inhales and exhales. This can make you feel more relaxed after a yoga class.
The breath is one of the few things that probably nobody strongly likes or dislikes, which is why it’s great to concentrate on it. Breathing is required to survive, but intentional breathing can also calm our nervous system and improve our overall health. Read the popular science book Breath (2020) by James Nestor to learn more.
Every Body is Different
No human body is the same, which impacts what poses are easy for one person and challenging for another. This is due to our anatomy and previous experience. Being tall and skinny, I find it rather easy to balance on my hands or twist my arms around my body. For more details about anatomical variations, I love Bernie Clark’s insightful publication Your Body, Your Yoga (2016).
There’s no point in comparing yourself to anyone else since you will never look exactly like your yoga teacher, other yoga students, or content creators on social media. Some have done gymnastics since childhood, or have a favorable anatomy for certain poses.
Others are even hypermobile. The book Too Flexible to Feel Good (2021) about yoga and hypermobility shows why being able to straighten your knees, elbows or fingers past 180 degrees — as many high-level athletes can — makes you extra flexible, but is not necessarily healthy in the long run.
Beyond the Poses
Modern yoga classes center around physical poses called asana, which is why the Sanskrit words for all poses end in -asana (like balasana for child’s pose). Yet, yoga is much more than that. The ancient text called Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is a spiritual guide that describes the eight limbs of yoga. Along with yoga poses, these limbs or elements include aspects like breathing techniques (pranayama) and concentration (dharana).
Furthermore, the book explains the yamas and niyamas which are intended as moral codes of conduct. The yamas, for instance, are principles like non-violence (ahimsa) or non-stealing (asteya). One of several niyamas is discipline (tapas).
No Pain, More Gain
The popular fitness phrase “No pain, no gain” doesn’t apply to yoga as it is widely taught nowadays. While the dominant ideology around yoga has changed over the past decades, the current consensus in the West is: Do what feels good. I second that and would add: Don’t push your body too far.
Discomfort should not be part of your yoga practice. When you clench your jaw or feel stabbing or sharp sensations, this is a definite sign to move out of an asana immediately. Don’t let your ego or teacher tell you otherwise.
Find Your Teacher(s)
You may like the classes of some yoga teachers and dislike others. It could be the teacher’s voice, the length of the final relaxation (shavasana), their choice to have accompanying music throughout the class, or how quickly they transition between poses. What dissatisfied you with a yoga class might be perfect for another student!
However, I encourage you not to idealize any yoga teacher either. There have unfortunately been some scandals about gurus (teachers) who abused their students and were involved in sexual misconduct. Listen to the podcast series The Bad Guru by the BBC for more insights.
Any yoga teacher is only there for guidance but doesn’t hold the ultimate truth. So, once you’ve found someone whose teachings you enjoy, that’s great. But don’t get overly attached to them. Life goes on when that teacher moves town or stops teaching — and so should your yoga journey.
© Annika Wappelhorst 2025
