All Levels Welcome: Why Ubuntu Bali Is for Every Body, Every Practice

There's a perception about Ubuntu Bali that we've noticed. People walk past our shalas, see serious practitioners moving through Ashtanga sequences with focused intensity, hear the silence between breaths, and assume this place isn't for them. "That looks too advanced," they say. "I'm not flexible enough." "I've only done yoga a few times."

We get it. When you peek into a Mysore Ashtanga class and see someone binding in Marichyasana D or floating back from a headstand, it can feel intimidating. But here's what you don't see from the doorway: the person next to them who's still learning to jump back without crashing to their knees. The seasoned practitioner who fell out of a simple tree pose this morning because they were distracted. The teacher who just last week admitted they're still working on the same bind they've been attempting for three years.

The Paradox of Serious Practice

Yes, we take yoga seriously at Ubuntu. Not in a stern, joyless way, but in the way you take something seriously when you love it deeply. We embody this practice—we live it, feel it, let it permeate our days. Our space is quiet not because we're strict, but because silence creates room for you to hear yourself. We're focused not because beginners aren't welcome, but because presence is a gift we give each other, regardless of level.

And here's the truth: this reverence for practice is exactly what makes Ubuntu safe for beginners. Because when practice is honored, every stage of it is honored. Your first awkward sun salutation matters just as much as someone's thousandth graceful one.

We Fall Down Together

Here's something the serious-looking exterior doesn't reveal: we fall down constantly. There was a day when we learned inversions, five of us—including Damien—were attempting forearm stand variations. All five of us crashed into walls, onto our backs, into fits of laughter. Even after thirty years of practice, our body sometimes says "not today."

There's a regular student, Atikah, who's been coming for six months. She still can't bind in any of the Marichyasanas, might never bind in them given her shoulder structure, and she's completely fine with that. She's learned more about patience and self-acceptance from those poses than from the ones that come easily.

And then there's James, an experienced Ashtangi from Australia, who admitted last month that being in a room with beginners actually deepens his practice. "Watching someone discover their first vinyasa reminds me why I started," he said. "It keeps me from turning yoga into just another accomplishment."

Why Beginners Thrive Here

Beginners often thrive at Ubuntu precisely because we don't water things down or make yoga into circus entertainment. We teach the real practice—the one that's been transforming people for thousands of years. But we teach it at your pace.

In Mysore style, there's no "keeping up with the class" because there is no class pace. You learn one pose, practice it until your body understands, then learn the next. If that takes one week or one year, it takes what it takes. Meanwhile, the advanced practitioner beside you is doing exactly the same thing with their edge, whatever that edge happens to be today.

Our Vinyasa and Yin classes work the same way. Teachers offer variations for different bodies and experience levels. You choose what serves you. The practice isn't about achieving Instagram-worthy shapes; it's about meeting yourself honestly wherever you are.

The Real Reason We're Serious

We're serious about yoga because we've experienced how it can change lives—not through perfecting poses, but through showing up consistently, breathing through difficulty, learning to be present with discomfort, discovering strength you didn't know you had.

That transformation is available to everyone. The 60-year-old who's never exercised. The athlete who's incredibly strong but can't touch their toes. The anxious overthinker who needs to get out of their head. The experienced yogi looking to deepen their understanding.

So yes, come as you are. Stiff, flexible, nervous, confident, beginner, advanced—all of it belongs here. Book your first class at Ubuntu Bali and discover that serious practice and warm welcome aren't contradictions. They're two sides of the same deep respect for yoga's power to meet each person exactly where they are.

All levels welcome. Always.