Joining a new yoga class is fun and exciting. However, if it’s your first time or just your first time in a while, it can feel overwhelming. A great way to help manage your nerves is to know what is essential to bring to a yoga class.

Luckily, there are only a few things that you need for a successful class experience: the basic equipment, a healthy and hydrated body, a good attitude, and a desire to deepen your practice.

Let’s jump in and see how these things help ensure that you have an enjoyable and fulfilling yoga session.

The Yoga Basics

As far as equipment goes, keep it simple. You will need to have a yoga mat. Today, you can find yoga mats almost everywhere from big box stores to specialty yoga stores.

While any mat will do, it’s best to invest in a decent mat that will last you and provides comfort, grip, and the level of cushion that feels best for you. Choosing a yoga mat that is ethically made or eco friendly is a great option and investment.

You’ll also want to ensure that you have comfortable yoga attire that you can easily move in. If you practice inversions, tucking a loose shirt or wearing a tighter top is recommended.

Yoga mats are designed for safety, but even the best of them can get slick with sweat. Bringing your own towel to help wipe down the mat or your hand and feet is recommended. Doing this ensures safety and comfort for both you and others around you.

Almost all studios will provide you with blocks or straps if you ask. However, carrying your own is ideal. You understand how these items work, what they feel like, and how to work with them. If you are someone who uses props regularly, it’s a good idea to bring your own just in case the studio doesn’t have any or has already given them out to other students.

Hydration and Nutrition

Eating well and drinking plenty of water isn’t just part of being ready for yoga class, but an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. But, providing your body with a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, proteins, and carbs is extra important before going into a yoga class for multiple reasons.

When you are hungry or thirsty, your brain and body focus more on the discomfort than what you are doing. Before entering your yoga class, enjoy a light snack of nuts, fruit, vegetables, nut butter on crackers, or a homemade smoothie. While you want to ensure that you ward off hunger, you don’t want to be too full to ensure you can comfortably get into and out of all the asanas. It’s best to eat and finish your snack 30 minutes before your class is scheduled to begin.

Healthy fats and carbs are great before class, but after class, it’s best to choose a snack high in hydration, electrolytes, and protein. Watermelon, berries, or a banana are all simple and easy to reach for post-yoga snacks. If you are planning a meal after your class, a crisp salad topped with chickpeas or other protein is a great way to help give your body that post-yoga nutrient boost it’s craving.

Before you reach for your snacks, you’ll want to drink some water. If you are looking for an extra boost of hydration after a yoga class, drink some organic coconut water.

A Good Attitude

While basic yoga equipment and properly preparing your body are an important part of preparing for a yoga session, your mind is just as important. Many of us carry the stressors from our jobs, family, and social life with us everywhere we go whether we realize it or not.

Being able to enter our yoga sessions with a calm and peaceful mindset is important. We hope to achieve a still mind and live in the moment. A simple way to help get into the proper mindset is to recite mindful intentions. You can collect your favorite mindfulness or peaceful mindset quotes to recall before your session or whenever you are feeling a bit frazzled.

Somedays are harder than others and will require much more than a few mantras to get us out of our heads and into our bodies. It’s during these hard times that we need to remember the importance of gratitude. Stating things we are grateful for can even alter our brain into being happier with less helping reduce additional stress and tension in our lives both on and off our mats.

A Desire to Deepen Your Learning

Part of being a yogi is wanting to understand and deepen our practice. While many people especially in the western world only know yoga for its asanas and meditation, yogis know that there is much more under the surface. In fact, the physical postures are just one of the eight limbs of Yogic Philosophy.

Today, many yogis are taking their sessions and implementing yoga into other areas of their lives, which is beneficial in work, family, and social situations. Perhaps one of the most popular topics people are diving into is breathwork.

Not only can breathwork help lower stress, it has numerous other health benefits that both yoga practitioners and yoga teachers are seeing and implementing into their lives. Luckily, along with the increased interest in breathork, many people are becoming certified as a breathwork facilitator.

Breathwork and pranayama classes are inclusive and can be taught both in person and remote, making them easily accessible to anyone and everyone regardless of location, physical health, and free time. It’s no wonder these classes are filling up at studios around the world.

Conclusion

It’s no secret that a good yoga session can turn your day, week, or even life around and being adequately prepared for the class makes all the difference.

It doesn’t take much to be ready for class. In fact, less is often more. Ensuring that you have the proper equipment, keeping your body healthy and hydrated, getting in the right mindset, and having the desire to deepen your practice with other techniques can all lead to a fulfilling and restorative class experience.