Yoga at Home ? stepping out of the classroom

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Namaste Divine Friends,

It’s my first post here, and so I wanted to start by telling you all a bit about myself, how I learned yoga, and how I came to be such a proponent of yoga online.

Teaching people how to practice yoga at home has become a fundamental part of what I now do.

Options for learning yoga at home were pretty scarce way back when I first started yoga. There were a few videos and books available, but nothing that could really teach you step by step what yoga was all about.

Me? I spent years travelling India, and spent much of that time in traditional Yoga Ashrams. Yet a real profound sense of what yoga was all about still seemed to elude me somehow.

But then I came across Swami Gitananda’s “Yoga Step by Step.” I had never seen a yoga book like it before, and I still have yet to see anything like it again today. A real comprehensive yoga correspondence course, it changed my way of looking at yoga instruction forever.

But what I really got from it was an awareness of how much is missing from yoga in the modern yoga class approach, and how, when done skilfully, so much more about yoga can be taught on paper and with visuals. Now with the video capabilities of the internet, we can leap even further.

I’ve been working on that for the past few years … trying to figure out how to effectively teach yoga online without compromising the integrity of yoga. There have been many ups and downs along the way, and now, based on the feedback I get, I’d say that I’m doing a fairly good job … at least compared to what else is available online so far.

There’s no substitute to yoga instruction live and in person, which is why I will always teach yoga classes. But I know that there are also many limitations to this modern way of teaching, which is why I have created more comprehensive yoga training programs online.

The internet is an important tool for the future of yoga, one that only a very few teachers have realized so far. The zillion yoga websites out there today haven’t gotten it yet. But some yoga teachers are honing their web development skills and recognizing the power that cyberspace has for spreading the transformative power of yoga around the globe.

When more enlightened folks start to clue in to this potential, the future of yoga online, to me, looks very enlightening indeed.

#2

I totally agree with you on what you have said about “contemporary yoga approach”. I’m a opponent of that “gym style yoga” (a style ended (
It is sad thought that core and essence of yoga is getting lost inside the glamorous corridors of mass media and commerce. But I think that it is still very good, since people can learn to be healthier and happier (or they think so, which is equally important).
Actually, many programs do offer more comprehensive yoga knowledge. Most of them, thought, can give one a yoga instructor license/certificate in one week! Which is scary…. One just have to read yoga manual about 30 pages long, and answer some “examination question” than mail it to SCW fitness education (just one example), and one is GOOD TO GO TO BE A YOGA TEACHER……
I would like to stop it, since it is at least dangerous to the mankind and detrimental to unique philosophy of Yoga and cultural heritage of the East.
Om
CityMonk

#3

I agree CityMonk. I’m not opposed at all to these teacher training programs, even the one or two week ones. I feel a lot about yoga can be learned in them. But as you say, giving people a designation that implies they are able to teach yoga afterward is a huge disservice to yoga. I’m in favour of these programs if they change the name (maybe “yoga learning course” instead of “yoga teacher training course”) and lose the certificates! Unfortunately, their classes would not be nearly as full if they did that … and the “yoga teacher training industry” probably would not be very quick to make such changes. It is an industry more than anything, after all.

#4

Michael!
Nice to meet you!
I really like your description.

I am also travelling India regularly since many years and learnt Yoga and Meditation under, one very experienced Meditation Guru. His name is Unity. I wonder if you know him because he lives in one ashram at Himalaya entire year. The experience of learning Yoga from Unity was excellent.

Though I learnt Yoga from him but now I am not in touch with him due to very busy schedule.

Recently I started looking for a teacher who can teach me various asana. I feel that you are right person for me to continue my journey with Yoga.

#5

Nice to meet you as well Yoga and Unity!

I haven’t heard of of your yoga guru. Wonderful that you have had the opportunity to travel often to India. In many ways I think that spending time in India is so valuable for truly understanding yoga and the culture with which it is so intimately tied. I’d be happy to do what I can to help you on your journey. Please feel free to contact me via my main website “discover-yoga-online.com”

Yours in Yoga,
Yogacharya

#6

Anyone who is very busy and new to Yoga and want to try out Yoga at home should follow these tips.

> A suitable day(s) and time:
Just as you follow a scheduled at yoga center that you can’t miss, set up a class schedule at home also. Start off with once or twice a week, because you don’t need to be feel like forced, and then gradually add a day or more when you’re ready.

> Search for calm spot:
Find a spot in your home that is clean, free of clutter, free of distractions (like TV, pets, etc…), and a place that makes you feels calm.

> Don’t stretch too much:
Initially you need to follow reasonable schedule, like 15-20 minutes, and as you get used to doing yoga at home, your body will automatically follow a longer practice schedule.

> Practicing with a friend or in a group:
It’s not necessary a home practice needs to be solo. You can practice with your partner, roommate, best friend, or some neighbors down the street. The energy and breath of others does wonders with inspiring you to keep moving.

> Listen to some classical music:
If you are not getting enough silence due to your neighbor practicing their tuba solo, or your kids are playing video games in the next room. There’s so much to choose from soothing chimes and tabla beats, to loud and rhythmic chanting and it can help increase your energy, as it will inspire you to practice longer session.