Hello all,
Does anyone have any experience with yoga home-study courses of any kind? I have come across a few:
The 30-Day Yoga Journey by Florian Yoga (30dayyogajourney.com)
The Yoga Tutor (theyogatutor.com)
The Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali
Home Study and Correspondence Programs (discover-yoga-online.com)
Does anyone have any experience with or knowledge of these programs? Do you know of any other types of systems? Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.
Many Blessings,
Katie
I dont think practising yoga through reading books will be more effective than by learning Yoga with masters. Only Masters can teach certain aspects of yoga. You may try attending introduction session of various masters.
yeah you are right and i agree with you
The word “master” leaves a bad taste in my mouth, because of my experience with a so called “master”. Yoga means re-union, the union of the individual soul with the cosmic soul. There are Masters out there who claim only through them, through following their instructions, through doing Karma Yoga (selfless service), etc, will you achieve the ultimate aim of Yoga.
If you want a more flexible body I can’t see the harm in practising with a DVD for beginners. Just be careful and don’t hurt yourself. acharyasyoga.com.au has a beautiful DVD for sale. I used to study with him, it is very good and for beginners.
If you want to read and use your intellect, then get some books and read about Yoga.
If you want to experience something deeper, than Meditation would be good, I started out reading a book called “Mindfulness in plain english”. It teaches you Vipassana, a Buddhist Meditation, and I taught myself, at home, and it was very helpful.
After a while you might want to go to some classes, and learn with a teacher. But beware of Masters and Gurus. They try and tell you that for the higher aspects of Yoga (in the spiritual realm) you need them.
Buddha sat under the tree and achieved enlightenment all by himself, and apparently he said we can all do the same.
I have only been practicing for about a year now but I 100% agree with Elisabeth, Yoga is something you find within yourself and learning about your bodymind,you can only reach true Samadhi in your own space and time, but also it is good to do a course as from this you will be taught many things and more importantly be watched by people much more experienced than yourself in terms how your form is in your Asanas. Just be careful where you go.
Namaste
I have been practicing for a while now myself, and I wholly understand where you come from with the personal experience with a master. However, I am not really seeking out one of these programs with the physical asanas in mind, but moreso for the guided study. I find myself jumping around from book to book, taking in what I can. I also find that there is only so much I can get from a book in regards to where I am in my practice. For this reason I seek more of a structured learning process, whereby I might take things a little more step by step, instead of jumping forward and back time and again to cover my bases and cover them well… because after all, retention and comprehension - not to mention application - are all very important in my pursuit of a yogic life.
Thanks 
Katie
Hi Katie,
I am completely unfamiliar with home study programs AND I’m not aware of any home programs that have the parameters you outline. They may of course exist.
The bigger question to me is not so much a “where do I find this home guide?” but rather “In what way(s) can I find a mindful yogic pathway which will guide me with consistency and focus?”.
Many yoga classes are, unfortunately, just asana in the same way many yoga teachers are not well trained or fully qualified. So the finding is incredibly challenging and more than occasionally frustrating.
Finding a practice that resonates with you (at the living level) and a staff that can convey it is the most beneficial way to proceed. I was very fortunate to stumble upon Aadil after only three years of “wandering from this to that”. I believe a home program is a nice way to cultivate the discipline of yoga practice but lacking in developing that practice. It is still a fine decision to make as long as one makes it mindfully (consciously) with acceptance of the possible outcomes.
gordon
Dear Katie
I am still not sure what exactly you want to study at home. Do you want to learn Yoga philosophy, or do you want to learn about Hatha Yoga (certain purification methods), do you want to learn how to control your breath using pranayama, do you want to learn Yoga Kriyas? You see, trying to learn it all and trying to get “there” fast, (wherever or whatever that might be) will do your head in!!
I bought a book many years ago, and incredibly HUGE and incredibly comprehensive Yoga “Course”. It is by the Bihar School of Yoga in India, (Swami Satyananda) and called “A systhematic course in the ancient tantric techniques of Yoga and Kriya”. It’s the most comprehensive text ever published on Yoga. I bought it because I was very, very upset about Swamiji giving people a kriya technique, and I still wasn’t “ready” to receive kriya from him (possibly due to my love of wine). So in my ignorance I thought, well, bugger him, I buy a book on Kriyas, and I’ll just practise.
But - it did my head in. That book IS a structured course, but it is so comprehensive and so time consuming to follow, you would probably just end up frustrated. And it still lacks certain aspects, mainly the philosophy.
You know, there is also a path of Yoga called Bhakti Yoga, you probably know that, too. Maybe we should all just love more, it’ll be a lot simpler, and less headache. Hey? All the best!
katie – I wonder if there isn’t a Professor of Classics who teaches Sanskrit out there somewhere, such that you could find a syllabus for a 200-level class or so online. (I fear that by looking for a “yoga” course, you’ll have to wade through what can be marketed to people who don’t know what they’re looking for.)
Thank you all for you responses and recommendations. I have decided to take my education into my own hands, one (or five) books at a time, based upon recs from friends in my life and on this forum. I have been practicing yoga for about three years now, seriously for about a year and a half. I grow ever more grateful each day for the wonder yoga has opened me to in my life.
I will probably be moving to the hills of Alabama in less than a year where there unfortunately is no current yoga community. There are a couple of clubs with basic classes, but the town could really use a yoga center. I have a dream to make that thought into a reality. The fact that there are a couple of classes there (meaning there are a couple of teachers there) gives me hope in finding fellow yogis to share this dream.
I have been dancing with the thought of being trained in the Amrit method this spring. I feel the style would be a good place for me to start off teaching and for many people of the town to first be introduced to yoga. The Amrit method employs a very meditative approach with is welcoming to all, yet still offers challenges to practitioners. This is the style my boyfriend first started with and he agrees that it is a good avenue to take for both introductory and intermediate measures.
Hopefully I can make this dream a reality. I will.