What is Zoom yoga like?
While I’ve been offering Zoom private sessions for years now, if you’d told me 2 years ago that my group classes were going to be mainly on Zoom, I would not have believed you, and I wouldn’t have believed it was a good idea, either.
I actually resisted putting my classes on Zoom throughout the pandemic, so I’m really slow to the party! I thought that teaching classes would be too awkward, isolating, and low-quality.
I’ve now completely changed my mind. Here are a few of the reasons why …
The best yoga is the kind that suits you.
We live in a rural area and some of my regulars have been driving a long way to get to class, because they want slow, breath-based yoga. It’s the kind of yoga that suits them. If someone living close by wants Power Yoga, or fast-paced vinyasa, my classes are not going to suit them at all, even though I might be conveniently just down the road. I have private session students in various places from Dubai to Melbourne, because we share a common love for breath-based, slow, mindful practice, or for yoga nidra, and now I have the same opportunity with my classes.
One of my favourite things about Zoom yoga access has been welcoming back members of my community who have moved across states or countries.
The best practice is the practice you can show up for.
One Monday recently I had a flurry of messages saying that people couldn’t come to class because they had family who were ill, or because a partner wasn’t getting home in time to look after the kids, or they had transport problems (anyone who runs group events will tell you how everything seems to happen to everyone all on the same day!). In previous times, this would have meant a lot of people missing out on their practice. This time, no one had to miss out because they could join in on Zoom.
I used to worry that Zoom would keep everyone one step removed and that over time, people would drift out of the practice, but the opposite has been true.
With the added flexibility of Zoom and recordings, people are getting their practice more consistently, even if they sometimes need to catch up at a different time during the week with the video recording.
I can see in my own yoga community how accessing the practice via Zoom or recordings is giving back the opportunity for responsibility for the practice to the student. While I’m as available as ever for guidance and to answer questions, the responsibility for the practice is sitting more in the students’ hands, and there’s a self-agency to that which I believe is fostering greater commitment, not less.
Zoom provides a gentle welcome when entering a room full of new people is daunting.
Zoom access has blessed us with the presence of some new yogis who would have felt overwhelmed walking into a group of strangers doing something they’ve never tried before. While I make every effort to make my classes welcoming, friendly, and accessible, sometimes it’s still really hard for someone who is worried about getting up and down off the floor, or taking chair options, in front of others for the first time. Zoom access has encouraged people to attend who have been putting it off for years. What a shame it would have been for them and for us, if they had never attended!
What works, and what doesn’t work
One of the best things about Zoom yoga is the furry family members joining in!
It has certainly taken me a while to feel my way through the hybrid in-person/Zoom classes. I’ve decided to cap the Zoom numbers, as I do the in-person numbers, so that there’s time to personally say hello to everyone and ask them how they are.
I’m online early and I never rush to disconnect, so people can also talk to me and to each other before and after class on Zoom if they wish, which is lovely for people who know each other or are interested in making yoga friends. Others prefer to keep to themselves and quietly sign off in a yoga-induced cloud of deep peace, which is also perfect!
I think one of the reasons I was hesitant about Zoom was that I saw so many dark, blurry Zoom classes with nearly inaudible sound. So I’ve invested in an excellent quality microphone and I have a wide angle webcam (soon to be upgraded to a very good video camera) so that I know I can provide an excellent experience. This is why I charge the same fees for Zoom attendance as I do for in-person attendance - just as much care, attention to detail, thought, and years of teaching experience goes into it, plus some expensive gear and extra set-up time, to provide something that is every bit as effective as an in-person class.
I’ll still continue to offer in-person attendance, because for some people, especially for those who have retired from work, or live alone, or who don’t have decent internet speeds, the group experience is a bigger part of the benefits of the class.
But I’m beginning to realise that my old way of providing yoga and meditation only suited a half my community. I’m really glad I started offering Zoom access because for introverts, or people who work long hours with many people, or people who already have to drive a lot, or people with young families, this option has made all the difference.
There are a few questions I commonly get asked …
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What about when people have questions about the practice?
Questions about the practice generally work the same as they did before. No one really likes interrupting the quietly focused feeling of the practice with a question, so I’ve always found that people tend to ask their questions afterward anyway, in the class or via email. (In my classes everyone is always welcome not to do any practice that is not working for them at the time, and sometimes someone will look or wave at me for an alternative - this is all still perfectly doable over Zoom).
What about extra noise from the homes of people on Zoom?
After the initial meet and greet, I “mute” everyone on Zoom. People can always un-mute themselves to ask about an issue or a challenge, but in the meantime, we can’t hear their dog barking or their children bouncing around!
Aren’t people in the room uncomfortable about being watched over Zoom? Or vice versa?
I teach in a long room, and I position my screen as if it was one of the participants. From Zoom, all people can see is the very front corner of the mat either side - not the person on the mat (unless they wander in front of the camera at the end of the practice to say hello to a zoom friend!).
While I encourage people on Zoom to have their video on so that I can see and assist them with the practice if needed, I also teach in a non-judgmental, trauma-sensitive way and I respect their decision to have their video off if they choose. On Zoom you can also choose a background; you can be practising in a messy bedroom but on the screen, be in front of the aurora borealis, or on a palm tree lined beach (we’ve had some fun with this!).
What about “hands-on adjustments”?
I don’t do them in-person, so there’s nothing to miss over Zoom. I prefer to verbally communicate as clearly as possible the ways to find ease and stability in the practice, and have people find the way that works best for their own bodies, because I believe that provides more useful, empowering, and sustainable learning. The most pleasant surprise of all for me has been that Zoom attendance lends itself well to the trauma-sensitive way I teach. It facilitates free choice, gentle self-awareness, and self-empowerment, and you can set up your own space in the way that is most relaxing for you (you can have all the lights on or off, music on or off, whatever helps you feel safe and focused).
Join me on Zoom from my little Yoga Cabin in Southern Tasmania as part of the Gentle Practices for Natural Calm program.
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