Online Yoga

Yoga may be part of an ancient Hindu philosophy, but it has evolved tremendously over the last few decades - much to the dislike of many yoga purists. One recent development is the creation of several great online yoga websites, clubs and communities where those who are more interested in the health and fitness aspect of yoga can practice from the comfort and privacy of their own home while still learning from experts and conversing with peers.

Below are a few online yoga resources that have done a great job of blending an ancient discipline with the latest technology, as well as a few who got it all wrong.

Getting Online Yoga RIGHT

Yogamates Yoga Community
This website has plenty to offer in the way of training, but their main focus is on building a community of yoga practitioners. Whether you’re looking for a “yoga mate” or just a yoga pal, there are thousands of members from all over the world interacting on this website every day. What they did right most of all, however, is to tap into a huge new market - Yoga Dating.

Gaiam’s Online Yoga Club
This site is a subscription-based ($5 per month) yoga program that includes downloadable yoga videos, community message boards and instant chat with teachers Rodney Yee and Coleen Saidman Yee. Created by the same people who brought us Gaiam yoga gear, it is both a full-featured training program and online community. One thing they did right that other sites should pay attention to is tying their brand to talent. Notice the large images of Rodney Yee and his wife Colleen Saidman on the home page and throughout the website. This is THE husband and wife team of yoga and that alone is going to be a huge reason for someone to choose this site over another.

MyYogaOnline
My Yoga Online is a three-part site including a wellness newsletter, wellness community and yoga downloads for your iPod. Subscriptions are about $10.00 per month and include full access to the site and all of the features mentioned above.

The Yoga Learning Center
Why pay $20 or more for a yoga DVD when you could have access to a growing library of yoga videos online for only $9 per month? That is the value proposition offered by this website and it is a good one. So good, in fact, that they should move it up to the top of the page. In terms of “community” and customized learning, this site leaves a lot to be desired, but if you’re looking for access to yoga classes on video it might be worth checking out the free week trial offered on the site.

YogaDownload.com
Have video iPod, will download. If podcasts are your game, YogaDownload is the name. They have hundreds of downloads including quick 20-minute yoga classes to full online yoga courses. Prices vary since you pay as you go, although there are unlimited download memberships available for about $20 per month. Compared to some of the prices above, that’s a little steep but this is a great example of an online yoga website that got it right - unlike the site below.

Getting Online Yoga WRONG

YogaClass.com
These people really hit the nail on the head in terms of a domain name, but that’s about where the compliments stop. The design is terrible and the site seems to be built for the purpose of getting you to click on adsense ads. There’s nothing wrong with that, but with such a great domain I hate to see it go to waste on that form of monetization. There is some content on this website, but we couldn’t figure out what it had to do with “online yoga classes” other than to bring in search engine traffic for the term.

Yoga Yak
Unlike the site above, the folks at Yoga Yak seem to be trying. But a Droopal template and a few yoga videos hardly qualifies as an online yoga community or learning center worth the $15 per month fee to join. Where they got it wrong: The price. Either lower the price or create a better site would be my recommendation.

Total Yoga Practice
Where this website got it wrong was by combining a yoga ebook store with a free yoga information website with streaming yoga video downloads with an online yoga community. They are trying to do too much on one website and it becomes confusing. What is this site for? What is it about? What do they offer over the other sites? Unlike YogaDownload.com there is no clear value proposition for the visitor. Combine that with a plain design and a price higher than some of the better sites above ($10) and it doesn’t seem like this website is going to make the grade.