Last night I took my very first yoga class over at Downtown Yoga in Pleasanton. It was the Gentle Yoga class, which said beginners were welcome. Which was good. Since the only yoga I have done before was the couple of videos that Carrie and I did in my living room. I wasn't overly impressed with those tapes. The poses seemed rushed, and I felt that I got more just doing my post-walking stretches from TNT.
The class was really neat though. There were only about 8 of us there, plus the instructor. She was very good (Kate, the director of the studio). She took the time to show us how to do each of the poses, and then would walk around to each of us and tell us what we needed to lift or rotate to get into the correct posture. She seemed to understand that everyone had a different stretching ability and there was never any pressure to do more than your body was able. She spent time helping us focus on our breathing as well as to try to feel certain places in our bodies (lift your outer sit bones).
I found the whole thing very relaxing and enjoyable. I think that I am definitely going to go again. I would also like to take the Beginner's Yoga class, but I'm not sure how the scheduling will work. It seems you don't have to sign up for the classes - you just show up and pay as you go (or can pre-pay and get a punch card, which saves some $$).
