To be annoyed with these yoga people

[ApocalypseNowt]

Ok, so the other day I went to a beginner's yoga class.

It was at this lovely yoga centre in a converted church....beautiful place and I'd heard lots of good things about it.

Anyway the yoga man teaching the class is up on the stage bit doing his thing and we all start copying him. Well, at a conservative estimate I'd say that more than three quarters of the class were sodding yoga gurus! They were flawless, bendy, did all the 'hard' versions of the poses without breaking a sweat!

These people could have folded themselves into an overhead locker had they a mind to.

The class had a couple of helpers that kept coming over to people me to help adjust poses, etc. Majority of people needed no help whatsoever. They could have run the class to be honest.

AIBU to expect there to be mainly beginners at a BEGINNERS yoga class?

I appreciate there will be some variance between people who have never done it before and people who are progressing but really, most of the ones here could and should feck off to intermediate or advanced hero superstar level.

It just doesn't seem very yoga-minded to keep to a beginners class when you're clearly way past that level.

Rant over...!

ApocalypseNowt I go to a beginner's yoga class, well it is a course. In a basement. We're all a bit rubbish at different things, but it is really supportive (and in the building next to our flat). Our group is an Iyengar one so a very precise form of hatha where there is more focus on alignment than pretzel stuff. I'm happy when my teacher corrects me, means I'm not making my dodgy knee worse or breaking something else. Getting into good alignment means I need to concentrate on what I'm doing right now, not think about whether I've defrosted the fridge or where my parcel is. For me that's the special bit, that's why I go.

When you find the class that's right for you, it is a great thing.

Similar happens to me in my spin class - there are people at mad speeds on high resistance not following the class at all, but just using the basic class to pad out their training. That's distracting, they could just sit on a bike outside the class. Bugger off and good day to them.

But people go to the class which fits into their day rather than the right class for them, I do believe there's a good class for everyone that wants one, you just have to kiss a few frogs first.

I have been doing yoga for years and I am seriously CRAP. ie can't move.

I would avoid a big class with an instructor on a stage. Look for something smaller.

don't feel stupid apocalypse being 'adjusted' is one of the many reasons I keep going to classes rather that do what some people do and copy stuff of the internet. Once you've been going for a while and you are used to the general poses, the teacher can tell you to move this bit or that bit a fraction and then everything just clicks and it's like an epiphany but in your limbs!

Once I was the only person who turned up (near Christmas). Despite my 15 years yoga experience it was an hour of being constantly adjusted! I never realised there was quite so much room for improvement . It was all extremely helpful though!

I have been doing yoga for years. I couldn't make it to my usual intermediate class last week, so went to a beginners class later in the week with the same teacher. I hope I didn't put anyone off

Even after all this time, I am still rubbish at balancing poses. Especially tree pose, which is supposed to be the most basic. Everyone is different.

I've always felt that I'm getting better value for money if I get lots of adjustments and one-to-one attention. Think of it that way.

I do hear you, OP. I am naturally stiff and not very strong, and have been 'that student' in many a yoga class.

Maybe the more advanced types just really like the teacher/class, or there just isn't that much choice of class in your area? But anyway, one way to think about it is that they're probably all so busy admiring their long hamstrings and their non-wobbly tree poses that they're not looking at you or criticising you.

A very interesting thing about yoga is that it does bring you up against all your fears, insecurities, ego issues etc. It can be really hard (I've cried in or after classes many a time). But it's great for, as someone else said, helping you forget temporarily about defrosting the fridge or picking up milk or whatever. And you will notice the difference physically and mentally/emotionally if you stick at it.

Problem is timing. I have a small window in my week for exercise and so the classes I can do are limited to that time. I have contemplated a more advanced class recently just because it was the only one I could make.

I get grumpy about all the people who manage to do daytime classes myself

I get grumpy about all the people who manage to do daytime classes myself

^^Yup. Me too. I can be grumpy about more than one thing at once. It's one of my skills.

that's a really good point about being 'adjusted'. Will try to bear it in mind. It just kept happening and I felt really stupid

I have a dance background (ballet training) and still do as many classes as I can get to, and if I DON'T get corrected (the ballet version of 'adjustments') I know I'm not doing well in the class.

Corrections/adjustments are a compliment - they mean you're being seen, and worth paying attention to.

And how are you going to improve if you don't get hands-on corrections? They'll stop you getting bad habits ingrained. It's wonderful that you were getting adjustments - lucky you.

I teach Tai Chi and another subject. I have found there are 2 main reasons why people continue to attend beginners classes when they are way more experienced - day & time of class suit them best and they like the teacher. I also understand it can be demoralising to be just starting in a subject when everyone else seems miles ahead. Have a word with the teacher - explain this situation to him - ask if there is a 'real' beginners class you can join.

I teach mixed experience groups but I do occaisionally tack on a 'real' beginners group if someone is really uncomfortable working alongside the more experienced. I find that I rarely have to run the group for along as people's confidence grows and they are happy to join the rest of the class.

Don't give up just yet

Think the yoga class I go to has the kind of crowd you say you'd like OP, but the teacher is pissed off because she wanted it to be an intermediate class but it was advertised as mixed ability and a load of beginners and inflexible types like me turn up!

We are all good at corpse pose

I know exactly what you mean, yes you are focused on yourself and you know that nobody else is really interested in what you are doing but the whole group thing is part of your enjoyment of the class. I did a daytime yoga class for about three years, it was a beginners class and most of us were of a similar ability. Over time people moved on and the demographic of the group changed with an influx of pensioners. In the end it was just me and the golden girls. I still enjoyed yoga but I just didn't enjoy the class. I felt like I'd be left behind and my enjoyment of the yoga wasn't enough to keep me going! I now go to an evening class it ticks me social box as well as being a good class

My sister's a bit like this. Anyone who is happy or confident or slim or assertive is a cow. Everyone was a bit stuck up, everyone was looking down at her, everyone was giving her dirty looks. She wants everyone to be as as unhappy or uncomfortable as she is.

It's so depressing and I want to scream, "It's not all about you!!".

Haha, I asked my boss if I could come in late one day a week in order to go to yoga-during-the-day first I think he may have said yes out of pure shock. Maybe it'd be worth calling the yoga teacher to talk about the class and how you felt? As a general rule I find yoga teachers like to talk about how you feel about their classes and maybe that will help someone guide you to the best class for you? It might also be worth calling ahead if you decide to look somewhere else, so you can be reassured about the level of the class. I'm pleased you're not going to let it put you off, if yoga works for you it is sooo rewarding (I am a bit evangelical about it!)

I think any good yoga teacher would go out of their way to make a beginner feel welcome, emphasise that it's all about loving your body and feeling good, not how far you can bend, and suggest adaptations for certain poses that beginners can't fully get into.

I use a YouTube yoga teacher and even she does that, even though we're all doing it alone!

ask if there is a 'real' beginners class you can join

I think (using the ballet analogy) that you need a paid-for series of lessons, rather than a drop in, pay as you go. You sign up for X number of weeks, pay a fee ahead of the classes, and go each week, learning a progressive curriculum.

I'm a beginner at yoga, but have hung out in dance studios all my life, so I just laugh at myself for not being able to do yogi stuff: I find some of the simple stuff quite hard (mainly because I can balance for ever in turn out, but not in parallel).

But I'm used to corrections & guidance & falling flat on my face. And the thing I enjoy about yoga is that it's NOT competitive. I just go along to a class & do my own thing (with the teacher of course, I don't literally do my own exercises)

ThickBleach I haven't called anyone a cow. I didn't say (or think) anyone was giving me dirty looks. I don't think they're stuck up.

I was surprised at how bendy and good at it everyone seemed and because I'm human it made me feel a bit rubbish so I had a bit of a moan.

The only thing depressing in this thread is your comment tbh.

Maybe try some yoga to calm you down...?

isuppose It's worth a try. It'd give him a laugh if nothing else!

OffTheCuff Yes! I've seen a few 4 or 6 week courses. Might try that as i'm more likely to keep going and more likely to be 'proper' beginners there.

sniffle totally agree. I just need to find that teacher! I need someone very kind who is able to stifle a laugh

OP deffo go for a smaller group and teacher literally on the same level as you.

Its dispiriting to see others way ahead of you but a good teacher can allow for mixed ability. In my class they are able and i am mixed.

btw fanny farts are always a good ice breaker

btw fanny farts are always a good ice breaker

Now this I won't have a problem doing....

I used to be into Yoga so much: I would tour different yoga classes like I was possessed, including Ashanga with one of Madonna's old teachers, yoga holidays, retreat weekends... I was obsessed with doing yoga. I LOVED it.

Many of the classes were hideously competitive and judgy. The ones in the city of London were the worst. I can remember being made to feel extremely uncomfortable and unwelcome in a class near Wapping after I'd returned to yoga following the birth of my son. I never went back. It took me ages to get back into it.

If the teacher makes you feel welcome and there are adjustments then I would persevere. A good yoga class can make you feel like you are floating on air. There's a yoga teacher in my town whose classes are so welcoming she genuinely makes everyone feel good, no matter how fat and sweaty they are (that'll be me - oh for my yoga bod of 14 years ago. I was never one of those bendy skinny tiny things, but I was strong and fit and felt like an amazon. Now I'm the Pillsbury dough girl. So depressing)

Ice breakers - fanny farts are good, general farts excellent and snoring during relaxation is my speciality.

What OfftheCuff said. I also come from a ballet background so would be taken for one of those slim, 'bendy' people. Again, I was there because I'd been injured, had recovered enough to try it with doctor's clearance and wanted to try something that could help and try something new. I was still experiencing pain and swelling if I overdid things. At one point I'd sit crying, thinking there would never come a time when I would walk without pain.

Assistants going round making adjustments is a very good thing. I went to a barre class 2x/week the past entire Summer with my sister who had also been a ballet dancer. Some were super fit, some were quite obese (my sister is and doing it for fun exercise), everyone is different. It was a fab experience, the teacher and assistants were fab, it was good to be 'back', so to speak but I was adjusted quite a bit, so easy to stick the ol' bahoukie out or cheat by leaning on your barre arm a lot, got the odd, 'Oh, someone is a dancer with some bad habits!' laugh. 'WAS a dancer.' 'Once a dancer, always a dancer.'

Give it another go and don't be put off. We're all dealing with our own issues and yoga is about you and where you are.

I would like to start my own yoga classes for genuine beginners. Anyone who worries they may be suffocated by their boobs when bending over, who feels slightly queasy when they have to try to stretch their toes apart boak, or who is guaranteed to shake with laughter if someone in the class breaks wind will be doubly welcome.

Note: those toe sock things would be banned. shudders

ApocalypseNowt you mentioned upthread trying it online and I am another who'd recommend Yoga with Adriene. I did her January 31 days and have become addicted to her practices.

I'm still a bit intimidated by the 'real thing', plus Adriene's are only 30 minutes and at my gym, all the yoga classes are 1 hr 30 which seems excessively long.

I love all the posters who start new class as complete beginners and get immediately into the vibe of concentration and self contemplation and don't look at what anybody else is doing!