Yoga is America’s fastest growing form of exercise. Around 15 million people practice, a 225 percent increase since 2001, and they spend nearly $6 billion a year on classes and products.

According to studies done by Yoga Journal, the country’s largest-circulation yoga magazine, spending has nearly doubled in the last few years.

The increase is great but has led to crowded studios with minimal individual instruction, leaving it up to each yogi to practice correctly.

My own practice started a few years ago when I walked into a “hot yoga” class with the room heated to a toasty 100 degrees. I barely made it through the 90-minute class and after, collapsed against a wall right outside the studio. Right then and there, addiction began.

I tried out several studios and practiced as often as money and time would permit, trying to be the best yogi I could.

Two years passed, and I signed up for an instructive four-week class. The first day, we didn’t do a single pose. My instructor gathered the students in a circle and explained the Yamas and Niyamas of yoga.

“The what?!” I thought. The observances and restraints of the yoga philosophy, basically yoga’s 10 commandments, my instructor explained.

How had I been to multiple studios and never heard about yoga’s 10 commandments?
The next day, while warming up in Downward Dog, one of yoga’s most well-known poses, my instructor corrected me. Grateful the small tweak made a huge difference, I was also a little mad I had gone years, spending hundreds of dollars without anyone else correcting my pose.

By the end of the four weeks, I learned a lot. The most important thing I realized was how little I actually knew about yoga.

With limited regulation and crowded studios, it’s sometimes difficult to find quality instruction, especially for a beginner. All of what I learned came from following fellow classmates, many of whom probably knew little more than I did.

This is fine, until things start to get more advanced. Without proper knowledge, it’s easy to harm your body. Take it from someone whose first headstand resulted in strained neck muscles leaving her without full range of motion for weeks. You need someone to explain how to do each pose.

Take advantage of the introductory rates most studios offer to find one that caters to a beginning student. Shell out the extra cash for a few private lessons. Or at least read a book before diving into yoga head first.

While some snooty yogis turn their noses up at the yoga trend because people are practicing for the wrong reasons, I say the more the merrier. My practice helped keep me sane during particularly hectic times of my life. I think the decreased stress levels alone are something from which everyone can benefit.

So roll out your mats and start practicing, but don’t take my lead. Learn something first.