New to Yoga? Here’s how to find the right yoga class for you

If you've been thinking about trying yoga in Glasgow but find yourself staring at a class timetable wondering what on earth the difference is between Hatha, Vinyasa, Yin, Restorative Yoga and Yoga Nidra, you are absolutely not alone.

There are so many different styles of yoga and so many yoga classes in Glasgow that choosing your first class can sometimes feel harder than actually doing the yoga. You might be wondering whether you need to be flexible, whether everyone else will already know what they're doing, whether you'll be able to keep up, or whether yoga is even the right kind of movement for you.

And then there's the terminology. Downward Dog. Warrior Two. Chaturanga. Pranayama. Savasana. Suddenly it can feel like you need to learn an entirely new language before you've even walked through the door of a yoga studio.

But here's the thing I really want you to know: you don't need to know how to do yoga before you come to yoga.

That's what the class is for.

Whether you're looking for a yoga studio in Glasgow city centre, you're completely new to yoga, or you've practised before but haven't found a class that feels like the right fit, you are welcome here.

You don't need to be flexible, strong, slim, calm, coordinated or particularly spiritual. You don't need to know the Sanskrit names for the poses, and you certainly don't need to be able to put your foot behind your head. Yoga isn't an exclusive club that you have to somehow qualify for. It is a practice that can meet you wherever you happen to be.

Do I need to be flexible to do yoga?

This is probably one of the biggest myths surrounding yoga, and one I'd love to see disappear.

You don't need to be flexible to practise yoga. In fact, I think sometimes we've completely misunderstood the relationship between yoga and flexibility. Being able to fold yourself in half isn't the goal, and touching your toes isn't a prerequisite for stepping onto a yoga mat.

Our bodies are all different. Our skeletons are different, our joints are different, our muscles are different and our life experiences are different. Previous injuries, the activities we enjoy, how much time we spend sitting, our strength and even our individual anatomy all influence how a posture will look and feel.

So why would we expect everybody to do the same pose in exactly the same way?

This is something I care deeply about in my yoga classes in Glasgow. I don't teach from a place of perfected poses because I don't believe there is one perfect pose. I'm much more interested in helping you find a version of the practice that makes sense for your body.

Maybe your Downward Dog looks completely different from mine. Maybe your knees need to stay bent. Maybe your hands don't reach the floor in a forward fold, so we bring the floor closer with a block. Maybe you discover that a particular shape doesn't feel good at all and we find something else instead.

That's yoga too.

This is also why I'm such a fan of props. I absolutely love a yoga prop. Blocks, bolsters, straps, blankets and myofascial release balls aren't there because you've somehow failed at yoga. They're tools that allow us to explore our bodies with more support and curiosity.

Your body doesn't have to fit the pose.

The practice can fit your body.

So, what kind of yoga should you actually try?

This is where things get a little more interesting because there isn't one type of yoga that is best for everyone. The class that's right for you really depends on what you're looking for from your practice.

Maybe you're looking for movement and energy. Maybe you've spent all day sitting at a desk in Glasgow city centre and your shoulders feel like they're somewhere around your ears. Perhaps you've been going to the gym and your body needs some recovery. Maybe your mind has been running at approximately 900 miles an hour and what you actually need is to lie down somewhere quiet for an hour.

All of those things are valid reasons to come to yoga.

If you're completely new and want to understand the foundations of the physical practice, a gentle or Hatha-inspired class can be a lovely place to begin. There's time to explore the postures, understand how your body moves and become familiar with using your breath alongside movement. Rather than feeling like you're being swept along, you have a little more opportunity to pause, ask questions and notice what you're doing. If you're searching for beginner yoga in Glasgow or a gentle introduction to yoga, this kind of class can be a great starting point.

If you're someone who enjoys movement and likes the feeling of getting your body warm, you might enjoy Vinyasa. Vinyasa links movement with breath, creating a flowing practice where one posture leads into another. But don't let the word Vinyasa make you think that you need to be an advanced yogi. Vinyasa doesn't have to mean a frantic sequence of planks, handstands and complicated shapes. A thoughtful Vinyasa practice can be broken down, repeated and adapted so that you can actually feel what you're doing rather than worrying about keeping up. If you're looking for Vinyasa yoga in Glasgow, it's worth finding a class where the teacher gives you options rather than expecting everyone in the room to move identically.

Then there's Yin, which is a completely different experience. Yin generally involves longer-held, passive postures where we use props to support the body and spend more time listening to sensation. It can be particularly lovely if you're somebody whose life is constantly full of doing. Sometimes the hardest thing we can do is stop.

That's one of the reasons I love teaching Yin yoga in Glasgow. We spend so much of our working lives rushing between places, answering messages and filling every spare moment that deliberately doing less can feel surprisingly radical. Yin gives you permission to slow down and notice what happens when you aren't constantly trying to get somewhere.

And that's something I find fascinating about Yin. You might assume that because we're not moving very much, it must be easy. But being still can bring its own challenges. When we're not busy moving from one thing to the next, we suddenly have space to notice our thoughts, our breathing and the sensations in our bodies. There's nowhere to rush off to, and sometimes that is exactly what we need.

Restorative Yoga takes this idea of support and rest even further. With the help of bolsters, blankets and blocks, the body is fully supported and allowed to settle into comfortable positions. There is no achievement involved. You're not trying to stretch further or get deeper into a pose. You're simply allowing yourself to be held.

And then there's Yoga Nidra, which is often described as yogic sleep. Rather than moving through lots of postures, you're guided through a meditation and deep relaxation practice while lying comfortably. I love this for people who tell me they're "terrible at meditation" because their minds won't stop. You don't have to empty your mind to meditate. Thoughts are allowed. You can simply notice them and come back to the practice.

Sometimes yoga is about moving your body.

Sometimes it's about learning how to be still.

What happens when you walk into your first yoga class?

I think this is one of the things people worry about more than they admit.

You arrive at the yoga studio, see people rolling out their mats and suddenly everyone looks like they know exactly what they're doing. Someone is already sitting cross-legged looking serene, while you're wondering whether you've put your mat down the wrong way around.

Please don't worry.

If you're coming to a yoga class in Glasgow for the first time, you don't need to know where anything goes. You don't need to know the names of the poses. You don't need to have watched ten YouTube videos beforehand. Your teacher should guide you through the practice and give you enough information that you can follow along.

My studio space is in the Old School building on Washington Street in Glasgow city centre, and one of the things I love about having a smaller studio space is the opportunity to create a welcoming environment where people can actually get to know one another. I want you to feel like you can arrive as you are rather than feeling like you've walked into a room where everyone else already knows the rules.

And if you don't understand something, ask.

I often use the Sanskrit names for postures because I love the history and stories behind yoga, but I'll always explain what we're doing. If I look around the room and realise something hasn't landed, we'll go back over it. There is no expectation that you arrive already knowing.

You are also allowed to stop.

This is something I think is incredibly important, particularly for anyone who is used to exercise being about pushing yourself. You can take a rest. You can come out of a pose. You can drink some water. You can sit down. You can choose the gentler option.

Child's Pose isn't a punishment, and Savasana isn't something you've earned because you managed to survive the difficult bit.

Rest is part of the practice.

Yoga is about much more than stretching

Although yoga is often marketed as a way to become more flexible, the physical postures are only one part of a much bigger practice.

For me, yoga has become a way of learning how to listen.

It has been there through burnout, anxiety, stress, pain and grief. It has given me a way to reconnect with my body when I've felt disconnected from it, and a way to create a little space around thoughts that otherwise felt very loud.

There is movement, of course. There is breath. There is meditation. There is relaxation. There is self-study and curiosity about the way we move through the world.

You don't have to approach yoga as a spiritual practice if that's not your thing. You can come because your hips are tight after sitting at a desk all day. You can come because you want to get stronger. You can come because you want an hour away from your phone.

You can come for the Savasana.

Whatever brings you through the door is enough.

And sometimes, without even really noticing it happening, you might discover that yoga starts to change the relationship you have with your body.

What if your body doesn't move like everyone else's?

This is one of the things I care about most when I teach.

There can be a lot of pressure in yoga to make your body look a particular way. Social media is full of beautiful photographs of incredibly flexible people balancing on one arm or folding themselves into shapes that seem almost impossible.

It's easy to look at those images and think, I'll never be able to do that, so yoga probably isn't for me.

But your yoga practice doesn't need to look like Instagram.

If you're living with an injury, returning to movement after time away, dealing with stiffness or simply have a body that doesn't move in the same way as someone else's, that doesn't make you less of a yogi.

It just means we adapt.

I'm a registered nurse, so naturally I love anatomy and understanding how the body works. I'm also a complete geek when it comes to fascia, connective tissue and the relationship between different parts of the body. The more I learn, the more fascinating I find our individuality.

There isn't a single alignment that will work perfectly for every person.

There isn't one magical variation that every body needs.

And there certainly isn't a prize for forcing yourself into a shape that doesn't feel right.

Yoga gives us an opportunity to become more curious about our bodies rather than more critical of them.

What if you're nervous about being the beginner?

Please know that being a beginner is not something you need to apologise for.

Everyone who is experienced at yoga was once the person who didn't know what Downward Dog was.

Everyone has fallen out of a balance.

Everyone has forgotten which leg they're supposed to move.

Everyone has looked around the room wondering whether they are the only person who has absolutely no idea what's happening.

That's part of learning.

And confidence doesn't always come before you try something. Sometimes confidence is what you build by trying.

You might wobble. You might laugh. You might get completely confused when I say left and you move right. You might discover that your body really doesn't fancy the thing I just asked it to do.

That's okay.

You don't have to perform yoga.

You get to experience it.

What if you're looking for yoga after work?

If you work in or around Glasgow city centre, one of the nicest things about having a yoga studio right in the heart of the city is that yoga can become part of your normal week rather than another journey you have to make.

You can finish work, put down the laptop and come and move.

Or perhaps your working day has left you completely frazzled and you need something slower.

Maybe you need gentle movement to loosen the body after sitting at a desk. Maybe you need a more energetic Vinyasa practice to shift the energy of the day. Maybe you need Yin, restorative yoga or Yoga Nidra because the last thing you want to do is anything remotely energetic.

There isn't a correct way to use yoga.

Sometimes the practice you need is the complete opposite of what you think you should be doing.

So how do you know which yoga class is right for you?

Instead of asking yourself, Which yoga class is the best?, I think it's much more useful to ask, What do I need right now?

If you're craving energy and movement, perhaps you need a flowing practice. If you're feeling stiff, a gentle class might feel wonderful. If you've been training hard in the gym, you might enjoy exploring myofascial release and giving your body some recovery time. If you've spent the whole week rushing around, maybe Yin is exactly what you need. If you're exhausted and your nervous system feels like it hasn't had a day off since 2019, perhaps Restorative Yoga and Yoga Nidra sound rather appealing.

And if you've had one of those weeks where your boundaries have been trampled all over and you're holding onto enough frustration to power a small village...

There's always Angry Vinyasa.

I love that yoga doesn't have to be one thing.

It can be strong and soft.

Energetic and still.

Playful and serious.

Physical and deeply restful.

It can happen in a yoga studio in Glasgow city centre, in your living room, or underneath the trees.

It can even involve hot custard in a hammock in the woods, which is a perfectly legitimate yoga-adjacent activity in my opinion.

You are allowed to begin exactly as you are

If you've been searching for yoga classes in Glasgow or yoga near Glasgow city centre, and you've been waiting until you're more flexible, fitter, less nervous, less busy or somehow more "ready" before you try yoga, I'd gently encourage you to stop waiting for that version of yourself.

You don't need to arrive already knowing what you're doing.

You don't need the perfect leggings or the perfect body.

You don't need to be able to touch your toes.

You don't need to be calm.

You don't need to be spiritual.

You don't even need to know if you'll like yoga yet.

You can simply be curious.

Come as you are. Bring the stiff hips, the busy mind, the wobbly balance and the complete lack of knowledge about Sanskrit. Bring whatever version of yourself exists that day.

That's the beauty of the practice.

It can change with you.

And perhaps that's what I love most about yoga. It's not asking us to become someone else. It's giving us a little time and space to remember who we already are.

So if you're looking for a welcoming yoga studio in Glasgow city centre, whether you're a complete beginner, returning to yoga after some time away or simply looking for a different kind of movement, you're very welcome here.

Roll out your mat.

Take a breath.

Have a wobble.

Rest when you need to.

And see what happens.

I'll meet you where you are.

On the mat, in the studio, or perhaps somewhere amongst the trees.

Steph x 🌿