Your First Yoga Class: Why Your Anxiety is Actually Perfect
And other truths they don't tell you about starting yoga…
Let's be honest: you've been thinking about trying yoga for months, maybe years. You've watched those Instagram videos of impossibly flexible humans doing impossible things, and thought "that's not for me."
Here are some stories of our students from Ubuntu Bali that we like to share. Why because we recognise that sometimes looking in from the outside, seems intimidating and that beginners do not belong.(far from the truth). Here's what nobody tells you about your first yoga class: that anxiety you're feeling? It's not a bug, it's a feature.
The Beautiful Mess of Beginning
Last week, Sarah showed up to class ten minutes early, changed her mind three times about which mat to use, then spent the entire warm-up comparing herself to the woman next to her who could effortlessly fold forward while Sarah's fingers barely reached her knees.
"I don't belong here," she whispered after class. But she came back the next day. And the day after that.
By the third week, something shifted. Not her flexibility – that would take months. But her relationship with the discomfort. Instead of fighting her tight hamstrings, she started saying hello to them. Instead of cursing her wobbly tree pose, she laughed when she toppled over.
Your tight hamstrings aren't something to fix before you start yoga. They're exactly why you need it. That voice saying you're not flexible enough is the same voice that tells you you're not good enough everywhere else. The mat is where we start questioning that voice.
When the World is Too Much
Then there's Mo, who'd been putting off his first class for two years. "I'm too stressed for yoga," he kept saying. "My mind never shuts up."
He finally showed up on one of his worst weeks – work deadlines, family drama, the whole mess. During his first meditation, he lasted exactly thirty seconds before his brain started its usual spiral of worries.
"I'm terrible at this," he said afterward.
But here's what Mo discovered over the next few weeks: yoga isn't about having a quiet mind. It's about noticing when your mind is loud and choosing to breathe anyway. It's about learning that you don't have to fix your stress before you start – you start with your stress, exactly as it is.
His breakthrough came in week four, not because his life got easier, but because he stopped fighting his racing thoughts and started watching them pass by like clouds.
The Revolution is Internal
Every time you choose your breath over your thoughts, you're participating in a quiet revolution. In a world that profits from your anxiety, your peace becomes an act of rebellion.
This internal work ripples outward. The person who finds compassion for their own tight shoulders starts extending that same gentleness to others. The student who learns to sit with discomfort in warrior pose discovers they can sit with difficult conversations about justice and change.
Start Where You Are
David, a 45-year-old father, walked into his first class convinced he'd be the only man, the only stiff person, the only one who couldn't quiet his mind. He spent the entire hour planning his escape route.
Six months later, he still can't touch his toes. His mind still wanders during meditation. But something fundamental has shifted. When his teenage daughter slammed her door last week, instead of yelling back, he took three deep breaths. When work stress peaked, he remembered how warrior pose taught him to find strength in discomfort.
Your practice might look like slow movements when the world feels heavy, or sitting quietly for five minutes because that's all you've got. A rushed mother does sun salutations while coffee brews. An overwhelmed student practices breathing between classes.
All of it counts. The best practice is the one you actually do.
At Ubuntu Bali not only do we have long term practitioners as teachers, but very accommodating and compassionate recalling the start of their own journey. We all started from the beginning, we all know what it's like to step into the unknown, be Hatha, Ashtanga or Yin Yoga or a simple meditation class. It doesn't matter, what matters is to remember, YOU ARE ENOUGH, as you are, you showing up and doing what you can is enough, it's not a show where you get points at the end, and actually every one is busy doing their own practice most likely not even noticing your wobbly poses and lack of flexibility. Yoga is about the oneness and inclusiveness and that is what we do at Ubuntu, including everyone, young, old, big small. Just show up, take the leap and see where it takes you, but most of all give it time. Rome was not built in a day……