Consider the following scenario:

Its 15 minutes until the start of your regular yoga class, and as usual, youre struggling to get there. Harried and quickly reaching the apex of your stress limit, you realize this is the exact opposite feeling of that which yoga should encourage. Youre actually ramping up anxiety and worry in an attempt to join an activity meant, among other things, to decrease such feelings. Whats the point?

Yoga practitioners have all been there. There are myriad reasons why it can be difficult to get to the studio on timelong workdays, traffic, forgetting your gear at homeand all of them can be very discouraging when trying to establish a regular practice.

Enter services like YogaGlo, an online studio that allows anyone to practice, anytime they want, in the comfort of their own home. Membership is downright cheapafter a 15-day free trial, full access to the site, which includes unlimited classes and special lectures, is $18 per month.

Established in 2007, founder Derik Mills describes YogaGlo as, a global community that offers the opportunity for people, from around the world, to participate in actual yoga classes with other students, whenever they want, at an affordable price.

The Classes

YogaGlo offers videos on Anusara, Ashtanga, Hatha, Kundalini, Vinyasa Flow and Yin, plus basics, meditation, pre/post natal and restorative. Complete novices should first pay a visit to the beginner center, which includes a series of instructional videos on each style. Taking them in turn will get you up to speed and ready to move on to more advanced classes, or, start the series over again in a different style.

If youve already got some experience under your belt, you can choose classes by difficulty level or duration. This is especially handy for yogis pressed for timeYogaGlo offers classes ranging from 10 minutes to an hour and a half. You can also choose classes based on which instructor best floats your boateach has a biography describing their backgrounds and links to all their featured videos on the site. Theres also a handy search function that allows the use of several filters, so you can hone in on exactly the type of class youre looking for.

Tracking Your Progress

Once signed in, head to My Dashboard, where you can schedule future classes and take a look at the progress youve made. The My Classes tab gives a detailed overview of what classes youve added to your queue, which have been completed and any youve marked as favorites, so you can return to them later. Perhaps most useful is the Track Practice tabthere, you can see exactly which days youve practiced and for how long. If you participated in a studio class, you can add that time as well, so your records stay as accurate and up-to-date as possible. Especially motivating is YogaGlos cute lotus flower progress chartit allows you to set goals for each week and, as you approach achieving them, it becomes more ornate and turns a brilliant salmon color. Its a visually appealing motivator for those days when getting on the mat can be a challenge.

See the rest here:
Yoga On and Offline: Put Your Mat Where It Suits You Best