When you were growing up, do you remember that commercial for Brylcreem – the hair styling product for men – that said “a little dab’ll do ya!“? The point being that you didn’t need a whole big glob of the product to make a big difference – just a little bit would do the trick.

I feel the same way about yoga! Even just a little bit of yoga makes a huge positive difference! Let’s face it – some yoga demonstrations and classes can be quite intimidating. But, just starting with very easy do-able stuff like learning to breathe better, learning better posture, learning even a few poses, and giving yourself permission to relax will bring about changes you cannot even imagine right now!

It’s so cool when people come to my class saying, “I really don’t think I can do yoga.” and when class is over, they say, “That wasn’t hard and I feel SO much better!” Yep, a little dab’ll do ya!

Of course, once you taste the goodness of yoga and start feeling it’s benefits, you will want to do more and you will know that you can.

Here are a few tips as you begin exploring yoga:

• Start simply and honor your limits. Don’t dive into the deep end and over-do by trying hard stuff you aren’t ready for! Listen to your body – and find the right class and teacher that will honor where you are.
• Focus on what you can do.  Don’t worry about what you can’t do.  You’ll get so many benefits from practicing what you can do, that the rest won’t really matter.
• Be patient and keep practicing. Don’t expect all your problems to go away after a couple of classes. You didn’t get this way overnight and yoga won’t correct everything overnight, but keep practicing and the benefits keep coming!
• Build up gradually. To grow, we must challenge ourselves. In yoga, we want a gentle challenge and to stretch our limits – but never pain, strain or ignoring limits. Take your time – there’s no clock you are racing against.

There’s so much to be gained from a good yoga practice, but you’ve gotta start! So, give yoga a try! Even a little dab’ll do ya!

Copyright 2012, Cheri Harvey, Yoga For Real, LLC., www.yogaforreal.com.