I came across quite a few prospects who have no clue which type of class they should be jumping into between in-person classes and live online classes. To help you decide which class type best suits you, I will point out the difference and the pros and cons of each type.
In-Person Yoga Session
Let’s start with an in-person class. An in-person class is not my go-to type of class when I first started my yoga journey because of many reasons for instant the price per class is more expensive, I need to fix the time with the yoga teacher, and sometimes need to travel to the studio and have to fight with my laziness. Now, I regret not making an effort to take an in-person class.
I have been practicing yoga online for years and I could say that I like practicing yoga and can do quite a few basic yoga poses. Once, I met with my first in-person yoga teacher, I realized immediately that I don’t know how to practice yoga at all. I didn’t say that the yoga teacher on YouTube was not good. It was just not enough details to start correctly.
In-person yoga allows us to be adjusted, be pushed, to be touched by the yoga teacher and it gives us a deeper feeling of the pose. There is an interaction that allows us to communicate and get to know each other slowly. Communication helps the yoga teacher to understand our limitations and health issues which leads to better and safer yoga practice and we can build up a strong foundation from there.
Online Streaming Yoga Session
Online yoga session is very popular and very helpful during the pandemic in 2019-2021. It is easy to access and there are a lot of options. My first yoga journey was through online yoga, but I wasn’t felt in love with yoga right away. I took it as an easy workout and usually use it to cool down or to practice on a low-energy day.
I practice yoga online because it was convenient; I can start my session with one click, it was cheap to subscribe and most of the time it was free. I can skip the part that I don’t like or rewind to the part that I like or don’t understand. I can pause to pick up the phone or check my social network feeds and stop anytime. I don’t need to spend 30-60 minutes to travel to the session and I can choose to practice for 10-15 minutes instead of 60-90 minutes. I can quite right the way if I don’t like the yoga teacher’s voice.
In-Person
Pros:
- Allows in-hand adjustment
- Can ask questions if not understand
- Able to state self-limitation or health issue or concern
- Allows the yoga teacher to provide option poses that suitable for you
- Be more focused and devoted to the practice
- Low risk to get injured
Cons:
- Need to travel for both student and teacher
- The price per session is more expensive
- Take time and a lot of money to explore
Online Streaming
Pros:
- Don’t need to travel to the session or wait for the teacher
- A lot of options to try for free
- Can practice anytime and anywhere
- Don’t need to dress up
- Can skip, pause, stop, or rewind at any time
- Can choose how long you want to practice
- Cheap and most of the time it is free
Cons:
- The teaching is very broad and the explanation is very limited
- Can’t ask questions in real time
- No in-hand adjustment
- Can’t state the limitation, health issue, or concerns
- Risk to get injured if not careful or the demonstration is not clear enough
- Can’t be sure if we do the pose correctly
Let me conclude for you. As a yoga teacher, I recommend starting your yoga journey through an in-person session rather than an online streaming session. The cost per session might be more expensive but trust me it is worth it. This way you can start your journey right and able to build up a strong foundation for future yoga practice. You can always switch to online streaming sessions when you have more understanding and more confidence in practicing.
I hope this article will be helpful to you and that you can finally find the right class type that best suit you and one day you will be able to have yoga as your lifestyle.
If you’re new to yoga or just started your yoga journey, reach out to me either through the contact form or on my Instagram to connect. You can also signup for a trial in-person class with me if you’re in Paris, France or a private online class, if you are not in the area.
AMBER YOGA 