Learning yoga is a life-long journey. We have been brought up in a very competitive environment and this carries over onto everything we do. We get impatient when we cannot do a posture as well as the teacher or other students in the class. One day an asana may come very easily while another day it may be a struggle to do this. Learn to enjoy the yoga practice session and focus on your body, mind and spirit. Be aware of where your muscles are stretching, working and compressing.

• Be enthusiastic. Do not be in a hurry.
• Listen to the teacher and follow the instructions
• Do not compare yourself with others, each body is different and each person is at a different stage in terms of their yoga practice.
• Body will adapt. Learn to listen to your body.
• While doing yoga, focus your mind on your body.
• If you feel pain, do not push the body. Do not be in a hurry, you can injure yourself if you push too hard.
• Practice regularly. Even if you cannot do a posture (asana), practice it every day as far as you can do it.
• Although initially it may appear that some postures are impossible for you, you will be amazed to see that over time, you will be able to do all the postures.
• Keep small attainable goals and think about these goals when postures become challenging. Able to do headstand in 6 months is a reasonable goal where as doing headstand in 3 weeks is not!