There are a few guidelines which it makes sense to follow, however. The first one of these is that when you are doing yoga, some of the exercises will involve bending in such a fashion that your head is lower than your hips. Gravity dictates that if you do that, any loose top will begin to roll up (or down, depending on your perspective), and if you are doing yoga in a class this may become embarrassing, so you should wear a close-figure top – not skintight, or anything uncomfortable, just one that won’t lead to you revealing yourself.

The same applies to anything worn loose, really, including any hair or ear adornments. Some of the poses you have seen will appear very difficult, but rest assured that they are infintely more difficult if you attempt to perform them with an earring caught in your t-shirt. There is precious little opportunity to reach a level of peace if your earlobe is threatening to split.

With regard to garments worn on the bottom half, the “looseness” aspect obviously applies equally, but in addition it is important to remember that for many of the exercises some aspect of control is required over your hips where they come into contact with the ground. Trying to maintain balance is exponentially more difficult if your hips are clad in Lycra or any similar slick fabric, and it therefore makes sense to wear a duller fabric. As for your feet, they are best kept bare for the purposes of yoga, whatever the position, so no new footwear is required.

The answer to that question is, of course, “Not initially”. Perhaps never, in fact, because there are certain levels of yoga that take an incredibly long time to reach, and there is no guarantee that every beginner will want to follow their practice that far. The most important thing about a yoga regime is that you at least progress a little, and thankfully there are ways to make your progress more assured and less … well, frightening. One way is to invest in some equipment – and there are few better places to start than with a yoga brick, or yoga block.

The advantage of having a yoga block is that there are some exercises which require you to stand in a way which might be considered “awkward” without touching the ground with your hand. It does not matter so much that you don’t “prop” yourself, more that you maintain the shape as prescribed by the exercise. It is best to do this “free”, but not always possible, so at the beginning many budding yogis will use a yoga brick to allow them to maintain the position while being supported. Eventually, you can lose the block and do the exercise “free”.

It is not essential to use a yoga brick in the early stages, and really it depends on your general flexibility and also your confidence in your ability to master certain poses. If you feel relatively confident that you can master the moves without a block, then so much the better, as this will help you progress quicker. If, however, it is to difficult initially, you will find that the block helps you get to a level where you eventually do not need it and can move on with harder exercises.

For certain, yoga is an excellent way of improving general flexibility. This will come as absolutely no shock to anyone. But fewer people think of how the more general application of that level of flexibility can translate to a higher level of fitness. After all, the more flexible you are the more effectively you can exercise. If you find yourself stalling at an early stage when trying to advance your fitness, yoga can get you an extra stage further by permitting you to exercise for longer and do a wider range of exercises.

Another thing that yoga helps people to improve is their breath control. Controlling your breathing is something that people do not pay enough attention to when it comes to general fitness. However, practising yoga for long enough will get you to a level where you can take greater control over your breathing and perform much better when in the gym. Most of us have been in the situation where a run or a bench pressing exercise extends us perhaps more than we would have wished. If we practice yoga, this will happen less often.

Of course, as the first paragraph mentioned, we may not see sportsmen practising yoga on the field very much any time soon, but already a number of teams have specialist instructors to give players a level of instruction which will indeed allow them to become more effective players. Although the players themselves may be sceptical to begin with, the results speak for themselves.

One of the most helpful pieces of equipment when it comes to performing yoga exercises is the strap. The reason that this is so beneficial is that yoga often requires you to perform exercises which are dependent on holding a position where your feet are unsupported by the ground, and are held in place, ideally, by your hands.

In order to make this achievable by someone who does not have that level of flexibility, a strap is used. While some people may consider this to be “cheating”, in actual fact it gets them to use the muscle groups that would be required by someone more flexible and allows them to develop muscle memory which will get them closer to not needing the yoga strap.

Although a yoga strap is not expensive, for a beginner there may be a resistance towards buying new equipment before they know how they will get on with yoga, and it is possible to fashion a makeshift strap by using a long, sturdy towel folded properly. This will provide the same level of support and the same amount of flexibility, and will allow them to perform standing exercises which require lifting one leg off the ground for an extended period of time.

It may help to think of a yoga strap as being like the training wheels most of us used as children before we could ride a bike as easily as we wanted to. It allows us enough latitude to get the basics right, and can be discarded the more proficient we become.

Another thing of which we are often guilty is going into something “all guns blazing” and then letting our interest slip dramatically. It really is a big shame to throw a lot of money at something and then decide that it is not for you, resulting in a lot of wasted money and wasted time. Even though equipping yourself for yoga does not usually cost much, you may have spent a lot on classes before giving up. So, as a beginner, it is a decent idea to seek out cheap yoga classes. Hopefully you will enjoy it enough to stick at it, but if you should decide that it isn’t for you, you won’t have thrown your money away.

Cheap yoga classes are not hard to find. After all, because of the low level of complication in the early stages, and the minimal need for equipment, there really is not much to pay for beyond the hire or maintenance of the premises, or the time of the instructor. As yoga becomes more advanced you will find that the classes can be more expensive, but if you have decided to take yoga seriously then this will pose virtually no problem.

Another reason why cheap yoga classes are a good idea is that often money is a “swing factor” in a decision over whether or not to so something. If you are sitting at work about two hours before you are due at a yoga class, deliberating over whether to turn up, then you are less likely to dissuade yourself if the price is easily affordable. By making it easy for yourself to decide positively, you make it more likely that you will continue.

Yoga Mat, Strap and Block

Although it is true that yoga is one of the more affordable wellness pursuits you can follow, it is equally fair to say that you can find that a small outlay here and there can be beneficial from time to time. That is not to say that your yoga exercises will be of zero value if you decide that your mat is your only equipment. Simply, it means that you can add to the experience from time to time by having the right extras. Often, this will be advised by the instructor. They may advise you in advance, or distribute the equipment during a class – but you may then be advised to invest in your own for home exercising.

One of the forms of yoga used most commonly in classes for beginners is Iyengar yoga. This form of yoga is based in the theory that the most important element of yoga is in the body alignment and that the correct alignment is hard to achieve without props – at least in the early stages. These props, however, are not mechanically intricate or expensive – simply practical items which will make the exercises easier to achieve until you have become more comfortable with the basics.

Some of the more important poses you will have to perform involve sitting in a position with your hips higher than your knees. In order to achieve this, it helps to have a blanket to fold and place underneath your hips and your buttocks. It can also be used during the relaxation periods, to cover you and stop you from becoming cold and therefore tense.

A yoga block is also a beneficial tool of the trade. In a number of poses, you will be expected to stand in a position without your hands touching the ground – something which, for a beginner, will be difficult. By using a block you can maintain the pose without becoming tired and tense.

Finally, it is also beneficial to have a yoga strap. There are many poses which require you to hold your feet in position, usually using your hands – but this is not always possible for beginners and the strap can be very beneficial in this. All of the above equipment is generally inexpensive, and you may already have something suitable at home.

The first step – as with many things – is to find a source of certification near you. Whether this is an individual instructor or an academy is partly up to you and partly up to the level of choice in your area. What you will find is that specific academies tend to have their own specific approaches for teaching yoga instructors. If you have an instinctive impression of how you want to do things, then it is worth a short conversation with each of the places you contact – you may learn a bit more from working with someone whose methods differ from yours, but equally you may find that the conflict in approaches restrains you from progressing.

After all, if you are setting off on an intention to become a yoga instructor, you will have your own philosophy and someone who insists that, before they will put you forward for yoga certification, you must learn Sanskrit (for example) might turn out to be the wrong person to approach for the purposes of becoming certified. As long as you know how to communicate your philosophy and gain results, that is all that matters.

You can find nearby yoga certification authorities by looking on the Internet. A quick Google search for “Yoga certification”, adding on the name of your home town or nearest large town/city, will shed light on the potential sources for you certification, and you can then contact the academies or individuals directly, before making a decision on where you will go to get certified.

As not everyone can afford to pay for a yoga instructor to come to their home and take them through the basics, a DVD is a good idea as a compromise. It may not be as in-depth nor as explanatory as a class, but it can be a step prior to going to classes. The thing to really ask, however, is whether a DVD is really going to be good value when you buy it. How do you know that this DVD is going to teach you anything at all?

Well, before purchasing a DVD – or anything for that matter – it is very difficult to have an absolute guarantee that it will work. However, the most important thing to remember is that some yoga DVDs will be very helpful to a beginner, while others will not. It may sound like an obvious statement, but the fact is that while there are instructors making yoga DVDs which help the novice yogi grasp the basics and even more advanced poses, there are some – occasionally those fronted by celebrities – which are little more than glorified music videos. These, naturally, are the ones to avoid.

How do we know which ones are hype and which ones are helpful, then? Well, it is useful to read through online reviews of a few different yoga DVDs and get an idea for what people who know their stuff are saying. A few reviews from sites like Amazon may not cover it totally – sites are prone to “astroturfing”, where production companies encourage individuals to post positive comments to create an inaccurate impression of customer satisfaction. If possible, look for reviews on sites run by yoga experts.

Yoga Meditation

When you first tell someone that you practise yoga, or will be beginning yoga classes at an indeterminate point in the future, this may draw a reaction from roughly 30% of people that runs something along the lines of “Oh, so you’ll be sitting cross-legged going “Ommmmmm” for a while then, yes?”. Although unamusing, this is a relatively common reaction and it is helpful to be prepared for it. But on the other hand, there is an undeniable link between yoga and meditation which, although not compulsory, is certainly available to those who wish to explore it.

Of course there is a link between yoga and Buddhism, as well as with other faiths, which encourage meditation. But it does not need to be religious or even spiritual meditation that the novice yogi indulges in. Meditation is nothing more than seeking to clear your mind and achieve a certain amount of peace and balance – something that can very well be free of any religious attachment. A lot of people find that yoga simply helps them to arrive at a level of relaxation that helps them deal with the stresses of everyday life. Whether that includes meditation, spiritual or otherwise, is a choice for the individual.

This may be something that is decided by the class or the books which are read by the novice yogi when they choose to take up yoga. If someone is uneasy about a perceived religious aspect, then there are plenty of entirely secular and non-denominational perspectives on yoga which will suit them. However, the link between yoga and meditation can be positive and beneficial for anyone, allowing us to be relaxed and peaceful in mind as well as in body.

The word “yoga” itself in Sanskrit means “union” and represents the union of mind, body and spirit. Whether or not the “spirit” aspect interests you, having a level of balance between mind and body which allows you to deal with stressful situations – a spiritual matter in and of itself, some would argue – is something that most of us would welcome as a matter of course in today’s world.

Yoga Mat

For any inexperienced yogi, one of the truly attractive aspects of taking up this branch of exercise is that you do not have to max out your credit card at the local sporting goods store making purchases which will eventually turn out to be a waste of money. There are few families in the world who, when it comes to cleaning out their loft, do not find something in there covered in dust and cobwebs, and wonder what it is and who bought it. Roughly half of the time it is a piece of exercise equipment. Yoga is not like that. Often, you’ll be fine as long as you have your mat.

The major importance of having a yoga mat is that, for some exercises, you will need to place a lot of trust in your balance. In many training rooms, the floor is made of a very smooth material which has been polished up to look good, and the thing about a polished floor is that it gets slippy. Added to the fact that many exercise outfits are made of relatively slick material, there is an inherently greater chance that the exerciser can slip and hurt themselves. Hence the importance of a yoga mat. It increases purchase.

When performing these more intricate poses, a yoga mat will simply allow you to have a greater amount of balance than not having one. Most yoga classes have a supply of mats which they will distribute before each class, but these are not always a great option. The reason for this is that when you stretch, you sweat. Eventually, sweat builds up and can be both smelly and unhygienic. You don’t know who has used that loaned mat before you, so it helps to buy your own and wash it regularly.

Usually, the mats are available for £15 or less, which is a very small amount when you bear in mind that it is just about the only thing you will specifically need for yoga, and that in many other exercise classes you will need to spend up to ten times that on equipment before you have even cracked the basics.