The Vulnerability of Being a Beginner

The Vulnerability of Being a Beginner

(And why it can be one of the most powerful places to start)

There is a particular vulnerability that comes with being a beginner.

Not just in yoga - but in life.

And often, it’s the people who appear the most capable on the outside who feel this vulnerability the deepest.

Many women grew up being naturally good at things. They picked things up quickly as children. They did well at school, received praise for achieving, and learned early that being “good” was rewarded - with attention, approval, and a sense of safety.

This woman often becomes the over-thinker, the over-doer, the over-worker. She is high-functioning on the outside, capable and reliable, while carrying a quiet anxiety on the inside. She knows how to hold things together. She knows how to perform. She knows how to succeed.

And this is often the woman who struggles the most when it comes to being a beginner.

Because being a beginner asks something very specific of us:
It asks us to do something we’ve never done before - in front of other people. It asks us to live out our learning process publicly.

For those who grew up naturally good at things, there often wasn’t a need to learn how to regulate the nervous system through failure, discomfort, or not knowing. There wasn’t practice in being seen while learning, fumbling, or not being good yet.

So instead, a pattern forms.

• Only doing the things we know we’re good at.
• Avoiding new experiences, especially ones where we might not excel.
• Trying something once, and if it doesn’t meet our own internal standard of “perfect,” never returning to it again.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with doing what feels natural to us. But there is so much life that we miss out on when we don’t allow ourselves to be in the learning curve.

Because learning how to stay with ourselves in that curve (learning how to regulate our nervous system while we’re uncomfortable, uncertain, or imperfect) is what actually expands our capacity.

It expands what we can hold.

It expands what we can do.

It expands how fully we can live.

Being a Beginner in Yoga

When it comes to yoga, this vulnerability can show up in many layers.

Sometimes it starts before you even arrive - Coming to a new place, figuring out where to park, knowing what to do when you first walk into the room.

Please know - I don’t take this lightly. I hold so much awareness around what it takes to put yourself in a new situation like this.

Then there’s the class itself.

You may be guided to breathe in ways you haven’t before.

You’re asked to make unfamiliar shapes with your body.

You’re learning the rhythm, the structure, the language of a class - noticing how it’s similar to or different from things you’ve done in the past.

Being a beginner can be daunting.

It invites you into a level of vulnerability you may not be comfortable with yet.

And that’s okay.

Softening the Discomfort of Vulnerability

There are a few things that can help ease this discomfort.

First: notice the assumptions you’re making about others.
There may be people in the room attending their very first class too.
There may be people who’ve been coming for years and still feel like beginners.
There may be more experienced or advanced students as well.

Every single person in the room is on their own path.

Second: no one is really watching you.
Everyone is being guided into their own experience. Yes, the teacher is watching, but to support and guide you, not to judge you. Others may glance around from time to time, but everyone is largely immersed in their own body, their own breath, their own inner world.

Third: in yoga, there is nothing to achieve and nothing to attain.
This is a big one to shift within your way of thinking. 

A core part of the practice is learning to soften the pressure you place on yourself, the need to be good, to do it “right,” to perform.

There isn’t one right way.

There aren’t wrong bodies or wrong breaths.

There are simply different ways of experiencing the practice.

Over time, you find steadiness within yourself.

Within your body.

Within your breath.

Within the way you show up.

And that steadiness develops not by getting it perfect, but by staying.

By letting yourself remain in the practice.

By finding your own rhythm.

By allowing the practice to meet you where you are.

Yoga as Practice, Not Performance

We call yoga a practice for a reason.

It’s not something we ever perfect.

There’s no score at the end of class.

There’s no grade.

No award for the best downward facing dog.

There may be layers you move through.

Moments of insight.

Seasons of challenge or ease.

But at its heart, yoga is about how you find union within yourself (and then the world), again and again.

If you’re feeling drawn to yoga, it’s usually for a reason.

Maybe you want to live a more enriching life.

Maybe you want a calmer mind, with more space between your thoughts.

Maybe you want to feel more at ease in your body.

Maybe you’re seeking a deeper spiritual connection.

Or maybe it’s simply curiosity. Intuition. A quiet inner nudge.

Whatever the reason - let yourself play with it.

Let coming to class be something you practice, not something you perform.

An Invitation

Complete Beginner classes start in Feb for a 4 week term - those who feel called to begin this journey in a supportive, spacious way please reach out for the details. 

If you’re reading this after February, Gentle Hatha classes are also a beautiful place to start and I will be running more Complete Beginner short terms through the year. 

And if you’re unsure, please reach out. I’m always happy to talk with you about what might be the best starting point for your yoga journey - based on your intention, energy, mobility, and where you’re at in your life.

Being a beginner isn’t a weakness.

It’s a doorway.

And often, it’s the doorway that leads us back to ourselves.

Big Love,
Rachel

xxx