I am forming opinions on a topic, I admit, I am still learning about. So, let this be an open and educational discussion for all of us. And let me share my concerns with the digital yoga world. When I was first learning yoga, I took one class. I memorized the routines and I did it on my own after the class had ended. This was good. I think it is important to have a personal yoga practice. Your yoga practice can be very spiritual and restorative in a quiet setting between you and God.
Yet, I wanted to learn more and I felt that picking up a book and trying poses would be sufficient. I was trying headstands, shoulder stands, and other inversions as well as other postures with which I thought were the correct way of doing things. Yet all I really did was make myself sore. When I got to the hotyoga studio here in Newport News, I realized how little I knew about yoga. I could have very easily hurt myself with a lifetime of incorrect body alignments or just fallen on my head in crazy positions without anyone professional nearby to stop me.
This makes me skeptical of what yoga has become in our modern world of technology.
We are taught as teachers to not just speak instructions and demonstrate, but we have a hands-on responsibility to the bodies in our care.
I feel that the digital yoga world is sacrificing quality and safety for convenience. No longer do we have to go to class and pay someone to teach. We can be our own professionals. Yoga is on the Wii. It is on DVD. It is even on our phones. But if you have never done yoga before can you really be your own professional?
What do you think? Do you prefer hands-on instruction or DVDs? What are the pros and cons to each?
