After unfurling my blue yoga mat and looking around, I wished I were not in a room surrounded by mirrors. I did my best to avoid my own gaze.

But that was the only thing uncomfortable about my first Hatha yoga class.

Hatha is a general term used to describe several gentle, physical practices focusing on the body, breath and meditation. Other types of yoga include Bikram, Ashtanga and Vinyasa. The movements and instructor were both gentle and I felt welcome among of group of about 20 or so women and men, most of whom were also new to yoga.

The instructor began the class by having everyone lie on their back, hands resting gently by their sides. I think this restful pose is described as corpse pose! Or, in Sanskrit, Savasana.

While soft music played in the background, the instructor guided us to release tension and bring happiness and peace into our lives. I experienced a little Zen moment when I was lying down. I felt I was looking down on myself from above. Then I felt that I was inside the shell of my body. I even thought to myself “I am in here.” And finally, I felt and thought, “I’m here.” I had a very good feeling of satisfaction and wholeness.

Then the hard work began. I have to admit I’m out of shape so I was worried about the level of intensity of the class. Turns out some of the other students felt the same as me.

We spent about an hour learning poses like Triangle, Warrior, Sapling and Tree. The last two poses consist of first resting both feet on the ground, rooting them, hands in prayer on the chest, and then lifting one foot and placing it against the ankle on the other leg. If you feel rooted enough, you can grow into a tree by moving the left foot up to the calf of the right leg and extending your arms and hands overhead to form the canopy of a tree.

My shoulders were just a tinge sore this morning and I’m trying to stand taller and take deeper breaths. We’ll see how my sapling yoga practice grows next week.