There are very few expectations on anyone who participates in a yoga class.There is nothing you need to prove to the teacher or anyone else in the room. There is nothing you are expected to know. The few things that I do expect from my students are all related to the practicality of practicing with a group of other people. Other then that, all you need is a willingness to observe yourself, and to come back into the present moment over and over again.
However, your ego might make you think otherwise. Thoughts like; you don't know enough, you are too slow getting what we are doing, not flexible enough or strong enough. Or you don't have the right pants... Or perhaps you think that the other people in the room are judging you and your practice. Please be aware that what you are hearing in that case is your ego, and that it's deceiving you. And that the whole purpose with the practice is to transcend the ego so to become one with the bigger consciousness.
When yoga teachers use hands-on adjustments during class we call those assists. Not corrections. We are not correcting something that is wrong, we are assisting you in exploring a different way of being, in your body, with your breath, and in your mind. It is moving you in a healthier direction towards balance and union. It's not about right or wrong, it's about seeing what is, and exploring our choices.
Please know, if you don't already, that no one else in the class really cares if you fall out of tree pose. That the teacher's job is to assist you over and over again, to offer you a different way of being. If we do our job well, we are mirrors for you to see yourself in, with more and more clarity, as you keep practicing. We will offer the same assist many times if needed. We don't expect you to get it the first time around. Or the tenth, or the 25th. We don't expect. We are looking to guide and help.
So I encourage you to watch your thoughts before, during and after class. And no matter if they are thoughts of praise or criticism, keep turning away from them while you are practicing. Allow yourself to be. Whatever you need to be, in each moment.
"Accept yourself as you are.
And that is the most difficult thing in the world, because it
goes against your training, education, your culture.
From the very beginning
you have been told how
you should be;
Nobody ever told you
that you are good as you are."
Osho
