Why Everyone Should Try Yoga, Including You

Everyone should try yoga, at least once. Personally, I’ve been doing yoga for decades. OK, that’s a ridiculous claim. What IS true is that I’ve been attempting to become “she who regularly practices yoga” for, oh, the past 30 years.

Important Note! I’m totally not giving you professional advice here; this is just my opinion based on what has worked for me. As always, check with your doctor before starting any sort of new exercise.

You’d think that if by now, I haven’t made this a regular habit, I never will, and you won’t either. Fear not! It’s never too late, and you should never stop trying to incorporate healthier habits into your life.

Why Everyone Should Try Yoga

If it’s a good class, you’ll feel ahhh-mazing afterward. Really, you will. Every time I go, I wonder why I don’t go more often. I leave feeling fantastic:

• I feel like both a strong boss woman AND incredibly flexible, like a high-quality rubber band. In case you were wondering, high-quality rubber bands have a pretty healthy self-esteem. Here’s what they’ve told me differentiates them from regular rubber bands:
• They don’t feel cheap
• They don’t feel underappreciated
• They don’t feel undervalued for all the ways they make people’s lives better

OK, I’m mostly kidding. I asked our rubber bands, and they didn’t answer. But here’s what you will feel after a good yoga class:

• You will feel like your body can do amazing things
• You will feel incredibly strong
• You will feel blissfully relaxed

Your First Yoga Class: Dos and Don’ts

As someone who’s attended yoga classes all over the country, in wildly differing venues, from the beach to yoga studios to small gyms to church basements, here’s what you should know about your first yoga class:

• DO dress comfortably You don’t have to buy new clothes, unless that will help you get motivated to actually show up, in which case: Target Run! (Important note: this is a link to Target’s women’s yoga “stuff”; naturally, men can do yoga too, although the classes I’ve been to definitely skew female). Speaking of which…
• DO try yoga if you’re a guy It’s really a great workout. The first time my husband went, he was shocked by what a great workout it was.
• DO arrive a few minutes early Disclaimer: This is one of those pieces of advice where I tell you not to be like me; I’ve never been early for anything ever in my life. But if I’d shown up to even one yoga class early, I know it would have gone better. If nothing else, you’ll get to pick where you want to sit/stand/contort yourself.
• DON’T worry about how you look Really! Just. Don’t. If you feel like someone in the class is making fun of you, all I have to say is Bitch, Please. I left seventh grade behind a long time ago, and I pity anyone who’s stuck in the hellish mindset of middle school.
• DON’T try to be a showoff I can’t stress this enough. Yoga truly is a practice; you start with where you are, and you go from there. Whatever you can do today is fine, and it’s more than you’d be doing if you hadn’t shown up at all.

Finding a Yoga Class

Finding the best yoga class for you depends largely on where you live. If you’re in a big city, it’s probably easy; just walk a block and you’ll probably find, like, five yoga studios. Ask people for recommendations. And, of course, you can always just search for “Yoga Classes Near Me,” read the reviews, check out social media, etc. You could call some places too, unless you hate calling like me.

So there you have it – my very personal take on why everyone should try yoga. As for me, we have an awesome beach yoga class every Sunday morning. Time for a Target run. ⧉