It is a normal response to feel intimidated or anxious when going to a yoga class especially for the first time. There are many different reasons for this, I will unpack a few below:
1. The ego trying to keep you in familiar territory - feel the fear and do it anyway
When you do something for the first time outside of your comfort zone it can trigger a fear response. When we step outside of what is familiar to us into the unknown the ego may trigger fear in an attempt to keep us safe. The ego wants you to stay inside the familiar because it knows the familiar is predictable and therefore safe, whereas the unfamiliar is unpredictable and therefore classed as unsafe. If we live according to this fear we will never try something new or step outside our comfort zone. What we need to learn to do is feel the fear and do it anyway. We need to reframe letting fear control our decisions and instead embrace the discomfort and make conscious choices in our best interests. This way we are not letting fear dictate our lives, are living more fully and giving ourselves the opportunity for growth, healing and learning.
2. You have social anxiety or general anxiety – the greater the anxiety the more potential you have to benefit
Anxiety is often in the build-up to the event, it is likely that once you get into the class and start connecting with your breath and body, your anxiety will lesson. The breathing techniques in yoga literally activate the parasympathetic nervous system calming the stress response and anxiety, the focus on movement and posture also helps us find a more balanced and grounded state of mind and body. How many times have you feared something and then once you done it realised it was all in the anticipation of the thing you feared rather than the actual thing itself? If you have anxiety your potential to benefit from yoga is greater, please do not let it stop you.
Social anxiety is a big one because attending a yoga class means being in a group setting. I had extreme social anxiety making attending a group yoga class a trigger for me. But I was also determined not to let anxiety control my choices so I persevered and ironically yoga has been a key element in helping me heal from chronic anxiety. When you avoid the things you fear your fear will only grow, when you do the things you fear, your fear will lesson. It is in doing the things we fear that we give our brain and nervous system the opportunity to learn through experience that there is nothing to fear. This rewiring takes time and repetition, but exposing ourselves to our fears will lesson them over time.
3. The worry that you will not be good enough – there is no such thing
There is no such thing as not being good enough to do a yoga class. No one is too inflexible or not strong enough to do a beginners yoga class. In fact, advancing in yoga is much more to do with the state of your mind and body, rather than how you hold a yoga pose. Someone might be extremely flexible and able to do all the fancy yoga poses but completely in their head, disconnected from their body, not connected to their breath and feeling dysregulated within. Do not judge your practice of yoga by the physical, the physical part is just an aspect of yoga. Also, beginner yoga classes should be tailored to all bodies, with modifications and variations of each pose making it accessible for everyone.
I hope this post helps you feel more inspired in trying something new whether that is a yoga class or anything you have been thinking about doing but feeling some fear around. Life really does begin when you step outside your comfort zone and make a habit of doing so.
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