Your first yoga class in Thailand: what to bring, what to expect

Most of the worry before a first yoga class is not about the postures. It is about the logistics: whether you are supposed to bring a mat, whether your clothes are wrong, whether everyone else will be able to fold in half. This article answers the logistics so the class itself can be the only thing you think about.

It is written for a first class in Thailand specifically, because two things here are different from a studio in a cooler country: the heat changes what you need, and a lot of the good classes happen outdoors or in a borrowed space rather than in a building with lockers.

The short list

• Water. One litre, not a 330 ml bottle. In Bangkok you will drink all of it.
• A small towel. Not for show. Laid across the front of your mat it stops your hands sliding in a forward fold once you start to sweat.
• Clothes you can bend in. A t-shirt that stays put when you tip upside down, and shorts or leggings that are not loose at the waist.
• A thin long-sleeve layer or socks for the last ten minutes. Your body temperature drops fast once you stop moving, even in a hot country, and especially in an air-conditioned room.
• Insect repellent if the class is outdoors in the late afternoon.
• Your phone, switched fully off. Vibration is louder than you think in a quiet room.

What you almost certainly do not need to bring is a mat. Nearly every class in Thailand, including outdoor ones, provides mats, and a KEO session always does. Ask once when you book, then travel light. If you would rather use your own because of the shared-mat question, say so and bring it; nobody will find that strange.

What to wear, in practice

Cotton feels nicer than synthetic until you sweat through it, at which point it gets heavy and cold. For a hot room or an outdoor class, a technical fabric is genuinely more comfortable. For a slow indoor class, wear whatever you own.

Three details that matter more than the fabric: no socks during practice, because socks on a mat are a slipping hazard; no belts, watches or bracelets that press into a wrist when you put weight on your hands; and if you have long hair, tie it low rather than in a top knot, because a high bun stops you lying flat on your back.

Nobody will look at your clothes. In Thailand the only genuine dress consideration is on the way in and out: if the class is in or next to a temple ground or a family garden, cover your shoulders and knees for the walk, then change nothing else about your plans.

Eating, drinking and timing

Leave two hours between a real meal and the class. One hour is enough after something small. The reason is simple and physical: a lot of the practice involves folding over your own stomach or twisting, and both are unpleasant on a full one.

Drink water through the day rather than all at once in the taxi. If the class is over an hour in Bangkok heat, add electrolytes to the bottle. Thai convenience stores sell them in sachets for a few baht, which is far cheaper than the sports drinks next to them and works better.

Arrive ten to fifteen minutes early. Not for etiquette, for your nervous system: a first class that begins with you still breathing hard from a rush across the city loses its first twenty minutes to catching up.

What the hour actually contains

Classes differ, but the shape of a good beginner-friendly class in Thailand is fairly consistent, and knowing it removes most of the unknown.

• Shoes off and a name. You will take your shoes off at the edge of the space. If the teacher is any good, they will ask your name and whether anything hurts. Answer the second question honestly, including old injuries and recent surgery. It changes what you will be offered, not whether you are welcome.
• Ten minutes of breathing and settling. Sitting or lying, hands somewhere comfortable, slow breathing through the nose. This is where pranayama enters a beginner class, usually without the word being used.
• Warming up. Slow spine movements, hips, shoulders. In a vinyasa class this will gradually link to the breath and speed up.
• The main part. Standing postures, balances, some floor work. You will be offered options. Taking the easier option is not failure; choosing the hard one with a locked jaw is the actual mistake.
• Stillness. Five to fifteen minutes lying on your back in savasana. In a session that includes sound, this is when the bowls start.
• Tea. Not everywhere, but at our sessions, yes. It is also when people ask the questions they did not want to ask in front of the group.

The things first-timers actually worry about

Flexibility is the big one. You do not need any. Flexibility is an outcome of practice, not a requirement for entry, and the people in the room who can fold flat mostly started where you are. A good teacher cares whether you can breathe steadily in a posture, not how far down you went.

Being the oldest or least fit person in the room is the second. In Thailand, morning park classes in particular tend to be a mix of ages far wider than a studio class in Europe. Nobody is auditioning.

Not knowing the words is the third. You will hear Sanskrit names, and you can ignore all of them for a year without consequence, because the teacher demonstrates everything. If you want to arrive already knowing the handful that come up most, the asana entry and its neighbours in our glossary cover them in a minute each.

One quiet rule worth knowing: if you need to leave a posture, leave it. Lying down for a minute in the middle of a class is completely normal and no teacher will read it as a problem.

If the class is outdoors

Add sunscreen that is not oily, because an oily palm on a mat slides. Expect uneven ground, which makes balance harder than it was in your living room, and expect to need more pauses than you would indoors. Bring a bag you do not mind putting on grass.

And expect the heat to set the pace. An outdoor class in Bangkok at seven in the morning is comfortable; the same class at ten is not, which is why almost nobody runs one at ten.

Come to one

Our sessions in Bangkok and Phichit are small, mats and props are provided, and first-timers turn up to nearly every one of them. You will be asked your name, told roughly what is coming, and left to do as much or as little of it as your body wants on the day. Prices and the number of places left are on each session page, with nothing to negotiate by message.

Pick a date that suits you on the upcoming sessions page and book one place. Bring the water and the towel; we will have the rest.