Let’s say you have finally decided to listen to me and start practicing yoga- how do you pick a class that’s right for you?

1. Cult of Personality- obviously, you want to come to my class, right? You know me, you love me, you want to learn from me.  Fabulous! We might not live near each other, though. Colorado is centrally located, but it might not be convenient to leave Massachusetts (Hi David!) on Sunday mornings to come to my class.  I get it. No hard feelings. You might ask around and find teachers whom you like personally, then find out where and when they teach. Or, ask friends who do yoga where they practice, and tag along with them. It is a great way to find a community.
2. Location, location, location- maybe there is a place a mile from your house, or next to where you work, or near the grocery store. The Sunday morning community I practice at (and substitute teach for) meets at the dojang where we do taekwondo. We wind up going there 5 days a week. Other taekwondo moms come, too.  We’re like the militant wing of the yoga alliance. As you drive down the road, you have seen the huge sign saying YOGA, but haven’t known anything about it.  Search it up online, and see if the classes fit your schedule. Which brings us to:
3. Time- I started doing a pretty hardcore Vinyasa class without knowing anything much about Vinyasa, simply because it was held at a convenient time, Sunday mornings at 10. I got strong fast, but there were some times when I was overwhelmed by the advanced poses. I kept going, though, because the time was convenient.
4. Style of class- search for a particular style, if, unlike me, you know which style you’d like to start with. Vinyasa is typically a fast, strength-based flow, Restorative is much gentler, with poses held for a long time, usually with props and supports. Most class schedules have descriptions, so you know what to expect. If I had bothered to research Vinyasa in those early days, maybe I wouldn’t have wanted to curl up in a ball and cry instead of doing dancer’s pose.

These 4 methods overlap, of course, and there are other ways to choose classes as well. After I had done the hard Sunday morning class for a while, I learned to love the teacher, and expanded to her other classes. I’ve tried other styles of classes at locations near my house, and near work, and friends have recommended classes far away. If you decide to start a yoga practice, and start to tell people about it, you’ll find more and more times and places to practice. C’mon, you know you wanna.