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Learn Yoga Online: Day Zero | Yoga Product Reviews
Learn Yoga Online: Day Zero
Last night I signed up to take an online 21-day course in yoga. I will review it on this site, day by day over the next three weeks.
Let me state from the outset that this is not a paid review — the opinions are wholly my own. The links to the online yoga learning product will be affiliate links, however, so if something I say interests you enough that you buy the online yoga lessons, I will get a portion of the sale.
I needed to state that from the outset, staying within my satya so I can sleep at night.
So, moving right along. Here’s what interested me in the product, called Learn Yoga Online: When I was reading the sales letter, several things caught my eye, especially the claim that…
“You can’t learn yoga in a yoga class!”
This is a rather bold statement. Actually, the whole letter is rather confronting, as a good sales letter should be.
Here are the main points:
- Yoga is much more than a stretching exercise.
- Yoga teachers often don’t teach the other aspects of yoga because they can’t, they don’t even know about them!
- Even if a teacher has the knowledge, a one-hour a week class isn’t enough to really teach anything.
- To learn yoga, you must learn in a step-by-step way, starting at the beginning — NOT just drop into a class from time to time for your stretch-and-savasana fix.
- Many yoga enthusiasts have developed a dependency on attending yoga class because they don’t have the knowledge to practice yoga on their own, they may not even have an idea of what yoga really is.
- If you’re not learning how to really practice yoga yet you’re dependent on going to yoga class for some semblance of sanity, you’ve been wasting a lot of money, and maybe for years.
So those are the “problems” the sales letter presents. Here is the stated solution:
“You want to improve your health. You want to be successful. You want to change your life… You want to learn yoga. That’s why we’re here. Our yoga training material helps frustrated yoga enthusiasts to finally learn what this great science of yoga is all about… and we’ll help you to do it in a practical, effective, and affordable way.”
These are the benefits of the program, according to the sales piece:
- Decrease stress
- Improve health
- Organize & simplify life
- Harmonize relationships
- Be successful
- Improve breathing
- Enhance diet
- Cultivate a healthier, more harmonious life
- Learn to practice yoga… ON YOUR OWN!
The yoga course is taught in 21 lessons, available by download, for the price of $79.50.
I’m doing it, and here’s why. I agree with most every statement in the letter — and I’m a yoga teacher!
My Kripalu Yoga teacher training was extremely transformative, I feel like I got a great foundation in the practice and teaching of yoga. But over time, I’m seeing how much more there is to know — more than can be learned in a lifetime or two…
And very little of it has to do with the postures. Yes, asana is important. It’s the outward form, but what’s going on inside — and more importantly, how are you living your life after class?
I love a vigorous yoga class, but I’m a bit disgusted by how yoga in America is being deliberately and systematically stripped of its spiritual essence. Yoga is meant to be a spiritual science, the science of liberation from ego and union with the higher Self or Divine!
Also, my love is teaching private lessons. One-to-one yoga instruction is the best, because you can speak directly to the student’s needs. And though I’ve been great at teaching asana, pranayama, mantra, and meditation — and even though I go into the yamas and niyamas at length, which many teachers only give lip service to if they talk about them at all — a major component is missing.
That component is how to motivate not only group class participants but also private students to cultivate a personal practice.
The other thing is, I regularly teach a beginner yoga series, and I feel I have a fairly systematic approach to teaching the major spiritual and philosophical points of yoga as well as the techniques of the yoga poses, breathing, and meditation. Here’s the thing, though: my beginner’s series lasts 6 weeks, but it only meets once a week for 90 minutes.
That’s only 9 hours to give an introduction to yoga, while this program lasts 21 days. I’m interested to see their approach, not just out of idle curiosity, but to enrich my own yoga practice so I can be a more effective teacher.
I’m very interested to hear your reaction to all of this. In fact I’d love it if you would join me so we can take the program at the same time and have a little conversation in the comments section.
Please comment below.
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Thank you for the invitation. I have taught yoga at a local university for 7 years and watched young yoga teachers who become certified on a weekend, come and go. Someone will always take your money if you want to become “certified”. There is no substitute for a committed, home practice when it comes to being a good teacher. Georg Feurenstein’s book, “The Deeper Dimensions Of Yoga” should be mandatory reading for anyone wanting to teach yoga. Georg, a Sanskrit scholar, also has an intensive course offered online that would be perfect for someone who has the physical aspects of yoga down but wants to learn about the psychological/philosophical background. One is definitely in the minority teaching yoga if one is well-educated in this side of yoga. The only way to be a good teacher is to practice, practice, practice. No way around it. If you are too busy to practice, then do something else because you’re missing the point and yoga is not for you.
rockwater´s last blog post..Sound
@rockwater: Thanks for stopping in. I’m a big fan of Feuerstein, my copy of the Yoga Tradition is getting rather battered. Seems I’m always looking up something.
Here’s the url for his program if anyone wants to check it out: http://www.traditionalyogastudies.com
Would it be possible for you to teach us some yoga online in your blog that doesn’t cost? I learned yoga mostly from library books and free web sites, since I don’t have $$$ for classes. I’d love to be able to apply yoga specifically to bipolar, like what should I do differently during mania and depression practices, for example?
Eager to Learn is referring to this site: http://www.yogaforbipolar.com, which just won an award.
Thank you for the suggestion, that was the original intent, I’ve managed to get sidetracked.
Sounds like an interesting program. Let us know how it goes. This yoga teacher sounds like a great markerter, or has a good copywriter, I’d be interested to know the content of the course, or is it all just a hypey sales letter.
Eager to learn, the best place to go for free yoga is yogatoday.com. Hands down. Great teachers. Right now they are attempting to upgrade their video delivery. Unless you are tethered to a hard line, getting through the lessons streaming wirelessly can be a bit trying. I’m told that end of November they’ll move to another service.
Until then, if you’re not tethered to a hard wire connection than just use the Audio classes. They stream just fine.
Enjoy