In-person v Livestreamed v On-demand: Which is right for me?
As studios re-open, students now have a greater range of options for their practice than ever before. Yogaloft’s writer at large takes a deep dive into how they compare to help you navigate the new reality.
Covid 19 has brought huge changes to the way we live. Over the past year we’ve all had to adapt and shift our approach to many facets of our existence. Yoga and pilates are no different. There are now many more ways to access instruction than just attending your local class with a teacher.
Online classes have burgeoned, and now all you need to do a class is a mobile phone or computer and a reasonable internet connection. As happened to retailers with the advent of the internet, yoga and pilates studios have had to adapt their offering to stay relevant and desirable to their students.
As normal life resumes post-pandemic, many of the habits developed over the last 12 months will remain, and students will be given the option of doing their practice in-person, livestreamed and/or on-demand. Below, we take a more detailed look at the pros and cons of each of these options, to help you navigate the choices ahead of you.
In-Person Classes
For over 2000 years, the practice of yoga has been passed from teacher to student. For almost all of that time, learning has been done through oral, visual and hands-on practical experience. When yoga and pilates became popular in the West during the mid-20th century, it might have been possible to find some classes on VHS but a vast majority of practice was done in person with a certified teacher. This began to change when the internet arrived, and Covid 19 has had the effect of strongly accelerating that development.
Key Pros
The atmosphere of being in a live class is completely different to the experience of doing a class on-demand or even livestreamed. For most people, this atmosphere is a large part of why they practise.
In person, the teacher can see you clearly and close up, and correct you with accuracy and precision.
Doing a live class means going to a dedicated space for your practice, where you can remove yourself from the stresses of the rest of your life and focus solely on your practice.
Practising with a like-minded community and sharing an embodied experience provides connection benefits well beyond the practice itself.
Key Cons
Practising in person requires more time, if only for the travel to and from the studio.
Live classes require you to adapt your schedule to the studio’s timetable, which isn’t always easy or convenient.
There is a risk that other students might be inconsiderate, noisy, smelly and/or annoying. (We obviously do our best to prevent this happening at Yogaloft…)
Livestreamed Classes
This was the first adaptation many studios made to combat the Covid shutdown. Yogaloft set up its livestream offering in under 48 hours thanks to technical wizardry of our founder Susannah! In this short time, the whole timetable was moved online and teachers scrambled to create decent, home-teaching setups. Over the last 12 months, this interim solution has evolved as people have become more familiar with teaching – and practising – via Zoom. We’ve also heard from many students that the ongoing provision of classes has proved a real life-saver for them during this very challenging time.
Key Pros
You can have access to your favourite teacher or class, without having to leave the comfort of your home.
Your practice will take up less of your time since is no travelling involved.
Livestreamed classes generally cost less.
You are still able to receive personalised verbal guidance and adjustments from the teacher.
Key Cons
Space – both mental and physical – is harder to come by at home. Most students don’t have a dedicated space to practise, so end up shifting carpets and furniture around so that they can see and be seen by the teacher.
Interruptions are commonplace. Pets, children, partners and house mates can all interrupt your practice, even if they don’t actually enter the space where you’re practising.
Most students don’t have the necessary props at home, so have to make do with an array of cushions, chairs and cookbooks.
While teachers are able to make verbal adjustments, these are much harder to do accurately via a Zoom screen. This means the students commonly do not get the full benefit of the work – particularly if they are less experienced and need a teacher to make major corrections.
Imperfect connectivity can interrupt your focus and flow, whether it’s your own, your teacher’s or that of any of the other students.
Even though you don’t have to leave your home, you still have to turn up on time for the scheduled class.
On-Demand Classes
These seem likely to be the future of online health and wellness. Studios are setting set up more studios – but this time of the photographic kind. They are filming teachers teaching sequences to the camera which are then saved to be replayed by students at a time that suits them. A bit like Netflix, but better for your health. Students pay a subscription, select whatever they want to work on via a variety of filters and away they go.
Key Pros
Classes are available anywhere and anytime you want them. As long as you have an internet connection they’re yours. In some cases, you can even download and keep classes.
On-demand classes generally work out to be much cheaper than scheduled classes.
In most cases, the on-demand offerings now involve high quality production, clear videos with good sound and easy-to-follow visuals.
Key Cons
Students are not being observed by a teacher and therefore can’t know if they’re doing something correctly or wandering down the path of bad habits. This is particularly risky for students who aren’t experienced practitioners.
There’s no class vibe. Some on-demand classes were filmed with students in the class, but watching those is no replacement for actually being in a class with other people
Committing to a scheduled class with a certain teacher can act as motivation to follow through with that practice and make it a habit. That motivation to develop a regular habit is less in evidence when it’s just you and your laptop.
You are at risk of choosing a type and/or level of class that is ill-suited to your needs and abilities. This increases the risk of injury.
Since there is no interaction with either a teacher or your fellow students, it’s a much more isolated experience.
There is likely to always be a role for in-person classes, since the alternatives don’t get close to replicating all of the benefits of that experience. But the convenience and affordability of on-demand and livestreamed classes means that both will continue to play a role in the new reality. The most likely outcome is a blend of in-person and on-demand classes which allow students to practise at their convenience but still benefit from the expert guidance of a teacher and the feeling of connection that comes from practising with others. As long as it encourages more people to practise regularly, we’re fine with that.