All about Yoga

Online learning has exploded over the last 5 years and is now a widely recognized and accredited way to learn just about anything – from woodwork, to car repair, to massage and yoga is no exception. Recent video technology makes it simple for anyone with a computer and a camera to put their teachings on the worldwide web.

Online learning offers students an opportunity to learn at their own pace and at the times of day that are most convenient to them. For instance, a working mother of three children may only be able to do yoga after the kids go to bed, and there aren’t many studios offering late-night classes, so using an online yoga studio is a great, convenient option.

Online yoga offers many benefits to people who want to maintain a consistent yoga practice but may lack money for a monthly studio membership and are bored with their yoga DVD collection, or may have moved beyond it. Let’s face it – in many communities, yoga studios are too expensive for the yogi on a budget so online yoga is perfect – the cost of a membership is less than the cost of a single drop-in class at many studios, and there are no transportation costs.

Online learning has benefits that live learning simply cannot offer due to time and location constraints. Online yoga communities offer free forums where yogis can chat with their peers and instructors and gain learning from a wider variety of sources and disciplines. And because the Internet never closes, you can take as much time as you like asking or answering questions.

Online yoga websites are convenient and offer a wide variety of practices to chose from; there aren’t many online yoga learning sites, but these online communities are an excellent place to learn yoga, communicate with other yogis, and instructors of all yogic disciplines.

Yoga classes online are also a great way to keep your practice with you when you are not near a computer – most yoga community sites have downloadable audio and video practices suitable for any portable media device, such as Ipod, or any mp3 player (many of them are free too!). So take your practice to the park, to the seaside, to the mountaintop, or just to a friend’s house.

There is no question that live yoga instruction is the best way to ensure proper posture and alignment, but online yoga classes offer a complementary way to continue your practice at home, on the road, or any time you cannot get to your regular yoga class.