The science behind what makes virtual one-on-one yoga so effective
Yoga is the Sanskrit word meaning “to join” or “to unite.” Yoga is about the connection between the mind and body, between the body and the breath, and between the people and the world around us. The new reality of social distancing has made it impossible to connect with each other physically, and as a result, many yoga instructors moved online in order to maintain their connection with students.
This new way of connecting felt weird at first, but initial skepticism quickly began to disappear following the positive experiences reported by both teachers and students.
In order to understand what is it about remote yoga that makes it effective, we need to dig deeper into the science behind this new trend of live-stream yoga.
The research in that specific domain of online communication is still in its infancy, however, the few studies that exist are quite illuminating. In 2015, researchers from Simon Fraser University in Canada conducted a study in which participants
completed one-on-one yoga and meditation sessions over live two-way video chat, followed by an interview about their experience.
The research revealed that participants found that the video chat experience enabled them to feel the presence of their yoga partner in two different ways: It was both the video and audio that allowed yoga partners to feel a sense of connection despite distance separation. Interestingly, each of those elements had a different effect and a different role in creating that special sense of togetherness.
Knowing without seeing
The video stream allowed participants to feel like they were part of their partner’s environment. Surprisingly, the video-stream played an important role simply because it existed. Not all participants even looked at the video window regularly, and some not at all. Simply knowing that their teacher is there, and knowing that they could look up to see them if they needed, was enough to create a sense of togetherness.
One student who was skeptical of the experience before the session said she was pleasantly surprised to find out that the video chat system actually helped create a strong feeling of presence with her remote partner:
“It did sort of transcend internet-ness… I thought it was going to feel like I was meditating, and she was meditating, and we just had this silly computer thing in between us. But actually, there was an element of being next to someone.”
Another student also reported feeling a connection, even though they did not look at their laptop most of the time:
“It’s just like if someone is in the room with you. Even though you’re both meditating, you’re not looking at each other, you can feel each other.”
The power of listening and being heard
The audio played a critical role in supporting feelings of presence. It enabled participants to talk without having to look at the screen. The sense of presence came from the shared conversation, which was often only comprised of short comments rather than long exchanges. Subtle audio cues such as the sound of breathing or body movements were also highly valued as a means to feel present with the remote person.
“When you’re in certain poses you can’t actually see what the teacher was doing. But we could talk and I could hear, and I could hear the cues… It felt like we were doing yoga together even though we weren’t physically right next to each other”.
Another student said:
“There are moments when a teacher says something in just the right way or just give you the proper adjustment and then your whole mind is blown. And you’re like, wow, I just figured it out! Some teachers, everything they say is gold. It’s just good.”
Virtual imitates life
The teachers who participated in the research said that their normal teaching did not usually involve practicing yoga with the students and they would not perform the yoga poses themselves while teaching. Instead, they focused on instructing, adjusting, and demonstrating.
Teachers followed this practice also when using video chat. They were using verbal instructions and visual aids to explain the poses and guide the students:
“I found that I taught the same way as when I teach a live class. I talk through it, demo, and then, when if I were in a live class I would walk around and adjust, that’s when I would watch [my student] and give her verbal cues.”
The students enjoyed receiving personal feedback from their teacher, and they could make any necessary adjustments by listening to them:
“My teacher was responding to me, so it definitely felt personal. Whereas if I am doing a yoga video, it has more of an exercise feel to it no matter the instructor, just because it’s for everyone. This was one-on-one. It felt specialized.”
This ability to provide personalized yoga classes over live video and the multiple benefits this type of practice brings to people all over the world is exactly why we started Fitmytime — to enable anyone to practice with a personal instructor they feel connected to, regardless of where they live. At the same time, we wanted to help teachers expand their influence as well as their work opportunities.
What is your experience with virtual yoga? Please share in the comments!
