Arrive 15 minutes before your first class for a tour of the space. All props (blocks, blankets, bolsters) for class are provided for you. Bring your own yoga mat or buy a RUBBER (not plastic!) Magic Mat for $99 at the desk.

Bring a water (or buy for $3) and a sweat towel for hot classes (available for $10).

• Always check in with the desk before class (just tell them your name)

• No shoes in the studio

• No cell phones in the studio

• Silence your Apple or Garmin watch for class

• Check the door for a sign on whether talking is appropriate in the studio (spoiler: for meditative classes, it’s not!)
  

Foss Yoga offers 10 different class formats (try them all!) but here’s what to expect in a Flow class.

Set an intention: Mentally arrive on your mat by setting an intention, or sankalpa, for your practice. I am present with what is. I trust my body. I meet myself with compassion.

It can be as simple as Doing my best is enough.

Activation: Gentle movements to warm up your body and ease into practice—think cat-cow stretches, threading the needle for your shoulders, or seated hip openers. This is where you shake off the outside world and tune into yourself.

Sun A: A flowing sequence that links breath with movement, building heat and energy. You'll move through foundational poses like forward folds, plank, and upward-facing dog, repeating the sequence several times.

Sun B: Builds on Sun A by adding warrior poses and chair pose, creating more strength and stamina while maintaining the flowing rhythm.

Core Work: The good stuff! Targeted abdominal strengthening to build stability for the rest of practice and support your overall movement.

Peak Flow: The most dynamic part of class, either working toward a specific pose (like a balance or arm balance) or moving through a creative sequence that brings together everything you've practiced.

Cooldown: Release tension and settle into your center with easy, gentle movement, followed by final relaxation (savasana), giving your body time to integrate the practice and your mind to still.

Check in with your teacher after class with any questions that came up.

"Child's pose felt uncomfortable on my knees. I have a hard time kneeling in general-- what should I do in the next class?"

Kneeling discomfort is incredibly common and has nothing to do with your ability to practice yoga. Before your next class, let your teacher know so they can help you set up alternatives. You have several options: place a folded blanket under your knees for extra cushioning, use a bolster between your calves and thighs to reduce the knee angle, or skip kneeling poses altogether and rest in a seated forward fold or legs-up-the-wall against your mat instead. Child's pose is meant to be a resting position—if it's not restful for your body, it's not serving you. There's no badge of honor for suffering through it.

"It was hard to keep track of my breath. Do you have any tips for better connecting?"

This is completely normal—coordinating breath with movement is a skill that takes time to develop. Start simple: for your first few classes, just focus on breathing through your nose if you can, and don't worry about matching it perfectly to the movement. Once that feels natural, practice at home with just cat-cow—inhale as you arch, exhale as you round—so you can feel the rhythm without the complexity of a full class. In class, if you lose the breath pattern, just pause, take a few conscious breaths, and rejoin when you're ready. Everyone in that room lost the thread of their breath countless times when they were new. The fact that you noticed means you're already doing the practice.

"Some of the transitions in class felt a little awkward-- especially Warrior II to Skandasana. How can I get better at moving between poses?"

Transitions are where the real practice lives, and they're honestly harder than the poses themselves. That particular transition requires hip mobility, balance, and body awareness that develops over time—it's not a beginner-friendly movement, so please don't judge yourself by it. The best way to improve is to slow everything down. At home, practice moving between just two poses repeatedly, pausing to notice where your weight is, how your feet are positioned, and what your body needs to shift smoothly. In class, give yourself permission to take an extra breath or two in the transition while others flow through—you're building the neural pathways that make movement intuitive, and that requires repetition and patience, not perfection.

"I was trying so hard to empty my mind in savasana but I felt curious and kept opening my eyes to see if I was doing what everyone else was doing. Is that normal?"

Absolutely normal, and here's a secret: "emptying your mind" isn't actually the goal and is pretty much impossible anyway. Savasana is about conscious relaxation, not mental blankness. Your mind will wander, you'll hear sounds, you'll wonder what others are doing—that's just what minds do. The practice is noticing when you've drifted and gently guiding your attention back to your breath or body sensations without judgment. Think of it like training a puppy: you wouldn't scold the puppy for wandering off, you'd just kindly bring it back. As for peeking—every single person in that room has done it countless times. If it helps you settle, cover your eyes with a towel or eye pillow. Eventually your nervous system will learn that this is safe time to let go, but that trust takes repetition.

"How long does it take to start to feel like you know what you're doing? I'm not sure I'll ever be able to follow along like everyone else was!"

Most students start feeling oriented after 6-10 classes, but "knowing what you're doing" is a moving target that shifts as your practice deepens. Here's what I can promise: by your fifth class, you'll recognize the basic flow patterns. By your tenth, you'll stop thinking so hard about where your feet go. By your twentieth, you'll start to feel the poses in your body rather than just copying shapes. But here's the truth—I've been teaching for 20 years and I still have moments where I lose the thread or feel awkward in a transition. The students who look effortless? They're just further along in their own journey of confusion, and they've learned to be comfortable with not knowing. Show up consistently, be patient with yourself, and remember that yoga isn't about following along perfectly—it's about showing up authentically, exactly as you are.