I have been teaching yoga online for over 12 years. From online teacher development programs to webinars, asana classes on subscription channels like Yogaglo, then my own channel, and now Yoga International,  as well as  Youtube offerings, I have explored a fairly wide range of ways to connect people with the teachings via the internet.

As yoga teachers and studio owners all over the globe are scrambling to move their classes online, I am getting at least three emails/text messages/DM’s a day asking for help. The weird thing is that in all the time I have been teaching online, I have never done any live-streaming other than webinars. All of my experience teaching asana online is with pre-recorded classes.

However, I do have some thoughts about online yoga. ​

First of all, do not let the perfect get in the way of “good enough.”  The first online program I ever did I filmed in 3-4 minute clips with Kelly holding a point-and-shoot digital camera. No external microphone, no tripod. We posted the information on a blog and I did Q&A in the comments section  It wasn’t fancy, but it was effective.

Years later, when I had my own subscription channel,  students would occasionally be upset that there were not different camera angles  during the classes. While I understood the frustration of not being able to see everything, and the expectation of high production standards, there was no viable way for me to provide that kind of polished online experience. If you see multiple camera angles and the  sound has no hisses, clips, or dogs barking,  you need to recognize that there is a production team behind the scenes scrubbing the sound, mixing the camera angles artistically, and creating your pristine, online experience.  One company I work with told me that there are nine  production hours behind ever hour of published content. If you are like me, you don’t have that kind of time or money. (And if I did, I’d hustle a whole lot less as a yoga teacher. But I digress.)

So— get clear on what you want your online content to provide. Some of us prioritize the  information about asana while others are  hoping to recreate the feel of a warm welcome, the chance to be in real-time together, and still others are just praying they can fill the gap long enough to keep their business open to have something to return to.

At any rate, remember what you are up to, evaluate your offering in terms  of your aim and remember,  good enough is good enough. ​

Secondly, there are pros and cons to online yoga. These days, criticism abounds online about well, online yoga. From long diatribes about how “people” will just get lulled into believing that they can get their yoga needs met online and will no longer feel the need to gather in real time, to long-winded opinion pieces about how online yoga is yet another thing that is not “real yoga," criticism is everywhere.   

Without spending too much time on the cons, let’s be clear, they are there. For instance, I can’t see you online. We are not all in the same room. Some kind of group energy is compromised. The list goes on. As far as I am concerned we can all stop apologizing for the limitations and  just focus on the benefits, which are numerous.

For instance:

• We can be together in some way, while on quarantine.

• Students can still have access to their teachers, the teachings, and continue to practice and learn. IN a time of upheaval and uncertainty, familiarity and routine is golden. 

• Studios can hope to bridge the time between closure and reopening without losing their leases. 

• Students can learn the discipline of practicing at home in the midst of distractions by taking an online class. We start to see that even though the studio is  a  valuable sanctuary away from dishes, chores, children, mates, emails, and dust bunnies, we can still do down dog in the midst of life, not distanced from it.

• Recorded classes give us a chance to practice when our life has an opening, not just when the studio is offering a class. Convenience is not always a bad thing. 

• We do not have to compare ourselves, our outfits, our flexibility and strength to anyone in the room because, well, it is just us. I think this freedom can go a long way toward helping students gain autonomy and agency in practice.

• No one is going to give anyone a dicey hands-on adjustment online.

• No time in the car. Good for saving fossil fuels, reducing  carbon emissions, and minimizing contact with the person you become in traffic jams. 

• I could go on and on because there are many, practical benefits with online yoga.

It is obvious to me, from  my time teaching online over the years, that  students can learn a lot. In my opinion, what a yoga student seems able to learn over the years has more to do with the student than it does with the teaching platform. Case in point, my sister and I have been meeting up on FaceTime to work through these sequences an Iyengar teacher shared on her blog from her time in Pune. It is weird, quirky, clunky,  kinda slow and yet, we gain insight, share a-hah moments and see interesting connections in every session.  It is a geek-fest of a very high order, but still, we are learning. No recording, no live-streaming, no teacher other than a blog entry and our interest in learning applied.

I have students who study primarily with me online. When I meet them, they have good poses, they have reflected deeply on the teachings, and report to me that the online offerings  have benefitted them in  meaningful  ways. I do not worry at all that online yoga will replace live yoga classes because my experience has been that time online generally makes someone more likely to seek out a live experience, not  less.

That being said, if someone only studied online and never wanted to meet me in person— maybe it was impossible due to geography, finances, etc— or perhaps they felt like their needs were met in the online forum, I figure that is really not my business. I long ago stopped policing people’s interests and studentship. There are simply too many variables present to be able to prescribe one type of protocol for everyone. ​

Thirdly— when teaching online, be yourself, not some fancier  or stilted version of you. If you are funny in really life, then your students would probably  like to hear your stupid jokes, puns, and perspectives online . Don’t start talking in a weird voice or anything like that. Be you.

That being said, even if you have taught yoga in person for over a decade, don't expect to be entirely comfortable teaching online. You are a new online teacher, even if you are not a new teacher. This is a great opportunity to be generous and compassionate with yourself and your initial clumsiness or discomfort. 

Fourthly— remember there are real people on the other side of the screen.  You know some of those people. Some of them you will never meet. Regardless, they have families, they are worried about their finances, they have insecurities, doubts, talents, and beauty in abundance. Inside each student there is a living, breathing essence of Greatness in a body that is both strong and fragile.  You connect them to the practice— online or in person--  and the practice connects them to this essential Self. The rest is up to Grace. 

Online or in-person, trusting in the process of practice to do its job  and grace to carry the rest is a primary premise. 

Some technical stuff....

Okay— now, for some technical sharing, since so many people have asked. Keep in mind, I have spent 30 years studying yoga, not how to produce online content.  But lucky for me my husband has some sound expertise and some willingness to figure things out.

I really do not even know where to get any of this equipment,  how much it costs, or whether or not something is better for you. I am sharing pictures so you can search Google yourself. 

For all my recorded asana classes, we use this Sony video camera.

Then the sound— I wear this fancy headset like Mariah Carey and Brittany Spears. (I am kidding. Sort of. Kelly told me it is that fancy so I believe him.) ​

There is a battery pack that is a hassle and the headset sometimes moves and gets caught in my hair, etc. Like I said, nothing is perfect. There are also lapel pin type microphones, but I like the headset better. 

Anyone who practices with me online has seen me fiddle with this apparatus more than once. 

The microphone transmits  into the receiver. ​

Then the next box does something that helps us run that sound through my computer when I am using the computer to film. It is not necessary when I am pre-recording a class. ​

My guess is this would help a lot of you, but really I know NOTHING about any of this because Kelly does all this for me. 

I also wear headphones when I am recording conversations online so as to minimize the feedback, but I don't have a picture of them and I don't wear them in asana because that is pretty much a one-sided conversation. 

I am going to offer a few live-streaming events in April.

I am offering a 4-week Asana Junkies Group Practice and a 4-day All-levels Asana Intensive. Both are live-streaming and recorded so live attendance is not required. And my nifty webinar platform makes both audio and video recordings so I will send those to the participants. 

​ I will use my Any Meeting webinar platform, not because it is the best option but because it is the one I know and the one I already pay for. There are lots of good web platforms and if you haven't heard of Zoom by now, well, you clearly are not paying attention. 

​ So, the view— not perfect, but good enough. ​

Also, the picture quality is made better with these fancy lights.  I have three of them that Kelly mounted in the room, pointing at the area I use for  filming.   In the past we have had the lights  on gigantic tripod-type light stands, but I am enjoying having them mounted, since this is a smaller space than my former filming area. 

Oh, and Kelly hooked them up on remote control so that is also handy since I am too short to reach the on/off switches. 

Final Disclaimer-- I hesitated in writing a blog entry like this because I don't really know much about how to tell anyone else what to do. Like I said, my expertise is in practice and teaching, not technology. However, since so many people were asking me what I do, I thought I might as well put it down in one place.

My  hope is that you use these ideas as a creative springboard for your own problem-solving. There are great tools out for using with iPhones, iPads, and they are cheaper and probably more user-friendly than some of this stuff I pictured.   

​Additionally, I hope that these reflections encourage you to trust in the value of your offering as teachers and to stay connected to learning as practitioners. 

And, I  just launched a special episode of the Live the Light of Yoga podcast on Monday. Check it out.