10 Yoga Hacks to Enjoy ANY Yoga Class

It’s called Ujjayi Breath and it sounds like … well, Darth Vader! Or, if you prefer, the sound of ocean waves in a shell. Inhale and exhale through the nose with a slight hug in the throat like you are fogging a mirror or whispering.

There are sooooo many benefits to ujjayi that will help you enjoy yourself more. Like:

• The sound gives your mind something to focus on, helping you stay in your own yoga bubble. It’s like a mantra.
• When you get in a rhythm you can slip into delicious trance states.
• You are getting more nourishment, breathing more completely.
• Your audible breath may remind someone next to you to breathe deeply and how cool is that to help someone just by taking care of yourself?
• Full disclosure: Ujjayi breath may trigger you and people around you. Think of it as a next-level yogi challenge and when in doubt, take a DEEPER breath … (and see Hack #6).

If the teacher is not skilled at working with your pain, it will at least cue them to leave you alone and not pressure you into anything. When I go to Bikram classes, there are some poses I know from experience do not work for my body the way they are taught. Before class I let the teacher know that I will be modifying the poses so in the middle of class they don’t feel disrespected or even worried for me doing it “incorrectly”. I take responsibility for myself and give them a heads up.

If the teacher is skilled at working with injuries, this is a great opportunity to have their eyes on you and to maybe get some insights into how you can approach your pain in a new way.

Does your back hurt when you’re lying on your back? Does it hurt to put your knee on the floor? Is your boob (or your nuts) squished painfully in that pose? These are unnecessary pains, not nudges toward enlightenment. Pad up your bones, move your tender bits out of the way, etc.

I also like to apply my mother’s fashion advice here: Just because it fits doesn’t mean you should wear it -OR- just because you can get into that pose doesn’t mean you should do it [that way]. I live with a permanently wonky left sacroiliac joint due to years of flinging myself into deep back bends with ABsolutely no core engaged. I really impressed people, and who frickin’ cares?

Sure, there are those peak moments in class when you feel like you will dissolve into the light, but in the mean time notice how a little wobble of your hips in a forward fold does it for you, or how your heart tingles when you spread your fingers brightly, or how the air feels on your sweaty skin. What does it feel like to smile at the shakiest point in a deep lunge? How about the catharsis of a good cry in pigeon pose?

Collect these sensations and treasure them. Breathe into them and watch your practice and your life lean toward orgasmic.

Train yourself to get really excited about your triggers. Why? Because those are your blocks coming up to be released and are your tickets to FREEDOM.

Let yourself FEEL the trigger, watch the insane story going on in your head and BREATHE. Your body may need to release by shaking, crying or, heck, you may need to roar! (Lion’s Breath: it’s a yoga thing, you can do it!) Focus on yourself and get yours.

Did you know physiologically there is no difference between fear and excitement? Maybe you are just really excited and all this time you thought it was fear! Or this it could be old fear coming up, so you can let it go.

Flip your perspective and enjoy the benefits.

This is also helpful to have compassion for others in class when they get triggered to let them have their experience and come back to yourself.

I give you permission to modify and go at your own pace. Now give it to yourself. You may not always know what to do, but if you apply the other hacks in this post you will have some great resources to help you discover custom-made modifications.

My greatest yoga teacher is my own body, and I am sure, that can be the case for anyone willing to listen to his or her own body. In addition, you have a trained yoga teacher in your presence. Make use of that resource. If you can’t figure it out in class, do your best, and after (or before) ask the teacher for some suggestions. Even with a teacher’s suggestions, you want to first run them by your body and make sure they actually work for you.

Rather than quitting, find something similar to what’s being taught that you can do, and know that change will come!

You can hire a professional yoga teacher, who has seen many bodies, has a wealth of information, and is potentially a Jedi at seeing you and helping you find your way.

Yoga teachers are maybe the most educated and underpaid people out there. Hence, they’re an incredible untapped resource. Most of them are tragically undercharging. Don’t let that fact fool you to think they will not rock your world. Of course, choose someone with whom you resonate and has the skill set for what you need.

Whatever you’re spinning about in your head about your yoga practice, there are sooo many professionals who, maybe in as little as an hour, could help you step into clarity.

Are you new to yoga? Get a private and learn how to modify poses for yourself. Have the teacher explain what the basic poses are and how to do them. Learn how to BREATHE.

Are you intermediate or advanced? What pose do you dream of doing? Floating into a handstand? Getting your ankle behind your head? Splits? What are your weak spots? Do you breathe deeply through the whole class or do you space out and hold your breath while doing fancy poses?

The more experience you have, the more you listen to your body, the more times you get triggered and come out the other side smiling like a fool with tears in your eyes, the sweeter and sweeter yoga gets.

Sure, there are ups and downs. This is a process, a path and it will teach you – you will teach yourself – to navigate your path in an intelligent, connected way, if you so desire.

It’s not all rainbows and unicorns AND you can learn to love the richness of the swampy, humbling, shaky-leg zones for the blessed contrast and sacred lessons they offer.

Don’t segregate what you do and learn to a yoga classroom, or even to yoga poses. Apply the breath, alignment and mindset to your life.

When I find myself swirling in intense emotion or sensations for whatever reason, you will often see me sneaking off to hang and breathe in a forward fold, or I will pop into a handstand; those are my favs.  Is it a little freaky?  Yeah, and fun!  Find yours and make a habit of using them.