Preparing for Class

September 2003
by Linda McGrath

Some days, you get a great practice. You have enough energy to take over the world, your muscles are doing what you actually want them to do, and you feel like you can balance forever. The next day, you come back and wonder what happened – nothing works, you can’t balance to save your life and it takes stoic determination to go through the motions and make it through the end. What happened? Nobody has all the answers but there are things that I have noticed from my experience that I think help increase the odds of having a good class.

Preparing for class can go as far back as the night before. Yoga is unlike any other sport – it is very intense in more than one dimension, and as a result, yoga will make you sleep much deeper. But you, in turn, also have to allow your body the sufficient amount of time to snooze. Avoid caffeine and alcohol and all the stuff you already know about. If you really want a glass of wine, drink plenty of water with it before you go to bed. More than three glasses of wine, and I think you’re making the decision for yourself that practice is not going to be that great, especially if you’re practicing in the morning.

Another thing to think about is food, as early as two meals earlier (dinner if your practice is in the morning, or breakfast or lunch if you practice in the afternoon or evening). You want wholesome nutrients to fuel your body with energy, and fiber to make for a satisfying trip to the loo. You want the food to be “clean” of any hydrogenated fats and all the processed junk that seems like a good idea until you have it, but the second you swallow it, you feel like you gained a thousand pounds.

There are two schools of thought on eating before practicing: the empty stomach (nothing 3 to 4 hours prior) and the light snack about an hour before. See which works for you. The light snack can be a banana, or some nuts, or toast with peanut butter. Personally, I like ice cream in the afternoon, but that’s probably destroying my image of healthy guru so just disregard that. Whatever you do, skip the beans.

If you’re practicing in the morning, or if you’ve been out in cold weather, taking a warm shower will help loosen up your muscles. Coming to class a little early and absorbing the heat is also a good idea. If you don’t have the time for that, turn your seat warmers in your car on. Showing up earlier is also good to get your favorite spot. If the class is already full when you arrive and you have to squeeze in wherever you can, do not be shy to ask your neighbors to move a little bit, and you in turn, be mindful of them. If your neighbor is uncomfortable, that will affect your practice too.

One last very important thing: put your practice in perspective mentally to help set your expectations. You may not have slept much and had a stressful day at work and had to curse your way through traffic to get to class. Or maybe you have an injury. Or maybe you’ve been practicing every day of this week and that’s still too much for your body. It’s ok. Just take these things into consideration and tell yourself that even though today may not be the day you’re going to get into the balancing splits, you’re still going to take it easy and make the best out of it. The days you say that to yourself, you’ll still walk out feeling like a million bucks.