I love teaching beginners yoga, and as a yoga teacher there’s not a lot nicer than hearing that someone has enjoyed and benefited from your classes or workshop, so needless to say I was over the moon to get this wonderful review from Louise about a recent Absolute Beginners course. Louise has since joined an open class and her practice is going from strength to strength!
Here it is:
I had been to a couple of ‘beginners’ classes for both Yoga & Pilates, but to be honest I never really ‘got it’ or felt the benefits of those classes, so needless to say I didn’t carry on with either.
As I run quite a bit, I was looking for a different exercise to compliment my running, I don’t enjoy the gym and everything I read online and everyone I spoke to said I should try Yoga, I also had a friend who had just taken up Yoga and she was posting the most amazing Yoga poses on Facebook, that got me thinking!
I saw the Unlikely Yogi on Facebook, the name instantly grabbed my attention, so I followed the page for a while, then when I saw the Beginners Course being run I thought to myself why not?
Right from the off, Nikki was so friendly and easy to talk to, even when I couldn’t decide which colour yoga mat to choose, she pointed out that it didn’t matter that much!
During the Beginners course, Nikki broke everything down to basics, right from entering a Yoga class, to breathing techniques, making transitional movements, to correct knee positions in Yoga poses.
There was never any pressure in Nikki’s classes to complete a movement or pose, she made it very clear that she didn’t mind how you moved from standing up to plank, or how you ‘shuffled or shimmed’ to the top of your mat, she suggested that if you needed to use a blanket under your knees for comfort then that was ok and if you just couldn’t move a part of your body in certain way then that was also fine!
The course moved at a very steady pace, I think we covered a considerable amount in our 4 sessions, so much so I feel fairly confident in doing a Sun Salutation now!
Another area that Nikki covered was meditation and Savasana, or Corpse Pose, again I’d always felt a bit silly in previous sessions, just lying there at the end of a class that I’d found confusing and uncomfortable, trying to switch off for five minutes, but again with Nikki she explained in great depth the process of Savasana and how its ok not being able to switch off, how some people find it hard and others don’t, how its ok to grab a blanket or clothes and make yourself feel comfortable for this part of the practice.
I really, really enjoyed the Beginners Course, Nikki has converted me to Yoga, I’ve gone from ‘just not getting it’ to ‘loving it’! Nikki made me feel so comfortable throughout the course and ‘normal’ in my abilities, or ‘in ability’ to do a forward fold, I see the benefits of meditation and can fully appreciate those 10 minutes to myself, she has given me some many useful tips to improve my Yoga practice and some to use in my everyday life, she is a great teacher.
Thank you, Unlikely Yogi
Louise
xx
