Can you still have a deep practice using online yoga classes?

The yoga community may be divided here, but this is one of those topics, like so many, where the answer is only within you. While others may have many reasons they think one way or the other, those reasons are theirs, and not necessarily yours. All I can offer is my story, which made a certain way of practicing perfect for me.

I came to yoga in a pure trauma state. When I look back I think of it almost as animalistic - pure physical taking over everything.  I had a need, and I wasn’t even sure yoga would fulfill it.  I just needed something to help.  My body had mysteriously started to fail, and I was in a great deal of pain.  I could hardly sleep, I couldn’t eat much, and I had lost too much weight.  I visited many doctors, none of whom could figure out what was wrong with me, and they actually gave up on me - they threw up their hands, sending me away with a guess and a prescription.  It was insulting, the implication being that it was in my head.  Admittedly, them writing me off as likely hysterical, got in a little, and I thought maybe I really was just losing my mind.  Deep down, I knew it was my body, and that there must be a way to ease both. I wanted a holistic solution, so I kept searching. 

Going in and through the body, we cool the mind - it’s why yoga is such a lifeline for some, and way of life for so many.  The ancient yogis tapped into one of the most valuable resources ever discovered - the ability of the body to heal the mind.  The link between the two, when tended to like a garden, plants little self-care seeds, and lets grow embodied peace, creativity, wisdom, and joy.

I knew precisely none of that back then.  I just thought I should put my body in a relaxed state as much as possible.  I had done very little yoga at that point, and didn’t really know much about it.  But even though I was so very weak and tired, I thought I would give it a try to see if it would at least calm my nervous system enough to help me sleep.

I found a platform that offered online yoga classes, with many teachers.  Almost immediately I lucked out and found a Yin Yoga teacher, Bernie Clark.  I landed on Yin Yoga, because it is the slowest of the slow yoga.  I had literally Googled, “what is the slowest, most relaxing yoga”.  Yin, as Bernie says, is the “other half” of your yoga practice.  You’ve heard of yin/yang, right?  Yin and Yang represent the concept of duality in ancient Chinese philosophy, signifying two opposite but interconnected forces that exist in harmony and complement each other.  Yin is soft, allowing, still, passive, slow, cooling, yielding, and introspective.  Conversely, yang is associated with words like active, bright, warm, light, heaven, and the sun.  Sometimes other types of yoga, like Vinyasa, are referred to as more Yang yoga.

Yin is not to be confused with Restorative Yoga - which is also relaxing, often taught with candlelight and soft music, and deeply sedative.  I also sought out online yoga classes like these, but Bernie’s scientific approach to Yin and the deep opening of the body’s tissues resonated with me more often.

Yin Yoga was exactly what I needed and I started practicing every day, sometimes twice a day.  I decided to set up the spare room as a place to do yoga, as I settled into a daily practice.  I painted the walls a light green color, and kept the decor minimal - trying to calm my nervous system in every way possible.  The online yoga classes were long and slow, as we held each pose between 3-5 minutes each. And they are all done on the floor - there are no standing poses in Yin Yoga.  The long hold is to help us get into the connective tissues.  Whereas more Yang forms of yoga work the muscles, Yin works on your connective tissues - so you need long, static poses to work into them.  And during those long poses, Bernie would talk.  To keep our minds from wandering too far, he would tell us the science behind the poses, and how we were breathing deep not just to open the body, but to activate the parasympathetic nervous system.

It started to work - I felt myself begin to feel some relief, if not yet heal.  At the very least, I knew I wasn’t alone, that some of what I was going through was certainly common.  And when I later discovered dietary habits that allowed my symptoms to begin to retreat, my yoga practice became ever deeper.  As the physical pain and fatigue started to subside, I found myself wanting to know more about why yoga was so helpful, and how I could go even deeper - beyond the physical, and begin to heal my heart and worried mind.  For I still didn’t know what was “wrong” with me. I was seeking wisdom and hope.

Over time, those online yoga classes, taken once or twice a day, were a key part of my healing journey. That, along with dietary changes, and eventually a writing practice, pulled me back from the edge and returned me to health. I’ve attended many in-person yoga classes as well, but online yoga classes will always be the core of my practice - their availability is the only way for me to have a daily practice.

Now that I teach, sometimes I do my own flows, sometimes I’m writing a class, but several times a week, I return to my favorite platform and those online yoga classes. My yoga room is my retreat from the world. Since I practice alone, it allows me to go deeper within, to really drop into the present moment.

Live, in-person classes also have their benefits, don’t get me wrong. The community we join when attending a class is extremely valuable and beneficial to our mental health. Also, the personal guidance and connection with the teacher cannot be replaced with online yoga classes. So, in-person participation is critical to a well rounded practice. But for deep exploration, the inner work, and a daily sanctuary, online yoga classes are absolutely how I established and maintain a deep and meaningful yoga practice.

I hope that helps you. Set up your space, get present, and go inside.

Namaste,

-LC