Yoga for Beginners

I keep seeing on my social media “yoga this.. yoga that” and quotes from yoga masters. I’m curious. I wonder what I could learn at a beginners yoga class.

I tried Iyengar Beginner Yoga and Here’s What Happened

I keep seeing on my social media “yoga this.. yoga that” and quotes from yoga masters. I’m curious. I wonder what I could learn at a beginners yoga class.

What about this downtown Victoria yoga centre? The website has a class schedule listing a variety of yoga classes. The pricing page says I can sign up for a term, or pay for a single drop-in yoga class.

I see in the ‘What to expect’ section on the home page words like ‘strength’, ‘concentration’, ‘relaxation’. That sounds good to me! I’ll sign up.

Okay, I’m here for my class… but where is it? I’m at 919 Fort, so..

I’m walking past the restaurant..
Suite 202? It must be upstairs…there’s the sign pointing to the stairwell up to the yoga centre.

Now I’m in the class and they’re going to start in a few minutes. I wondered if I would be the only person like me … but there is a whole range of people here – all ages, genders and body types.

I’m copying others in the class by taking off my socks and getting some blocks and folded blankets from the prop shelf. I’m glad all I needed to bring was my mat. I wonder about the ropes hanging on the wall, and the pictures showing some impossible-looking poses.

Oh we are starting now.. I’m glad we are not doing those impossible-looking poses. Even though I’m stiff I’m happy I can do mostly everything.

Eight weeks later and we’re nearing the end of the term. Each yoga class was a bit different. Well, different but not really different. We learned new things every week and reviewed poses from previous classes. In one class we mainly bent forward, and in another we mainly bent backwards. Sometimes we did a lot of standing but other times we sat on our mat. Sometimes we lay on our back and in fact, we end every class this way.

The teacher would remind me to straighten one leg or bend the other leg or to relax something. Sometimes they emphasized one thing with me but something different for the person next to me.

Some classes were easy, others less so. In every class there were easy poses and challenging ones.

Okay so now I’m at my last class. This ‘sha-vaaa-sa-naa’ pose seems to be how we end every class. As I lie here, I realize I do feel lighter, stronger and more calm. I think I will sign up for the next beginners yoga term!

Sometimes it is hard to find a yoga class that fits your schedule.  Fortunately, the Iyengar Yoga Centre offers morning, mid-day and after work classes.  If your Monday to Friday schedule is such that you cannot fit in a weekday class, they also have Saturday and Sunday classes.

Check out the class schedules to see when the next yoga class and/or term for beginners is happening or call 250-386-9642, they are happy to talk to you and help you find the best class for you.