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When I was a grad student, I spent a lot of time slouching. Over my notebook at school and in front of computers at both of my part-time jobs. Slumping at my steering wheel in between, I fantasized about un-shrimping my spine. One day I’d learn to sit up straight, I told myself—that and reach my toes, a goal I’d dreamed about since my high school days as a competitive athlete.
I thought yoga would be the perfect way to address all my concerns, but my biggest obstacle was time. In-person classes typically ran an hour, plus time to drive back and forth. Would it be better to pick a studio closer to school, work, or home? In the meantime, I’d stick with running, I decided. I could do that anywhere.
After I graduated, I still couldn’t find the time to get to a yoga class as I was still juggling jobs. Even more disappointing was the fact that I developed pain in my knee. No matter what I did, it ached by early afternoon. I suspected tight hamstrings. Eventually, my knee hurt so badly that I could no longer run.
Just when I thought I’d run out of options, my insurance company notified me that I had access to something called Yoga in Our City, a repository of (free!) pre-recorded videos. Yoga in my living room didn’t sound as legitimate as yoga in a studio—where I imagined other students, a teacher, mats, blocks, a certain something in the air—but I was in enough pain to try.
Trying Home Yoga for the First Time
My first yoga session–ever!–was online. It was an introductory chair yoga class I practiced on my lunch break. A 60-minute practice perfect for those with injuries, the description promised.
To her credit, the instructor was easy to follow. She was gentle and offered adaptations to poses, which surprised me. I had only interacted with experienced yoga students in real life, the kind who did headstands between night classes at the university simply because they could. I had expected from yoga teachers more of a Miranda Priestly “Please bore someone else with your questions” vibe. (Maybe that was yet another part of what kept me away from yoga —thinking I had to be good at it before I even started.)
Immediately after that first class, I was energized. I felt capable as I moved through each pose and especially enjoyed the twisting movements, which felt like much needed relief for my spine. I headed back to my home office feeling triumphant, at least until I had to sit down again. Then I felt something closer to disappointment: I’d just spent the past hour sitting during yoga; my knee was already starting to hurt. And then it was right back to the usual afternoon grind? I realized chair yoga wasn’t the solution for me.
The beauty of online yoga classes, however, is that there is no shortage of variety in both styles of yoga and the amount of time you spend practicing. I didn’t always get an hour break from work for lunch (not to mention I also needed to eat during that time). So it was a game-changer when a friend recommended I check out yoga practices on YouTube. Maybe I couldn’t swing 60 minutes of yoga, but 15? That was doable. I’d stand or lie down in the living room, right on the rug, and follow along.
The best online practices offered adaptations and encouragement, such as Yoga with Adriene’s “Be Kind” yoga class—which ends with the very encouraging words, “You’re amazing, you’re doing your best.” Others, such as a Yogabody short on hamstring stretches and a Yoga with Kassandra “Power Yoga Flow”, suggested the use of non-yoga props, if needed—a canvas belt as a yoga strap, a couch pillow or a book as a block. “Life is busy,” these types of videos seemed to say. “Don’t let ‘improper’ props stop you.”
I didn’t. I went from dabbling in the occasional online class to practicing along to videos three or four days a week.
Over the course of the next few months, my knee pain dissipated. I kept up yoga as a preventative measure and, one day when I did a Standing Forward Bend before a run, I found that I could easily reach my toes for the first time. And it wasn’t just the tips of my fingers, either—I could almost put both palms on the floor!
Yoga is, of course, more than just learning to touch your toes, but that increase in flexibility, combined with that knee pain disappearing, was enough to convince me to stick with a home practice permanently.
Benefits of Practicing Yoga at Home
Research suggests that most students aren’t falling for that same studio yoga > home yoga hierarchy that trapped me. There were 38 million people practicing yoga in the U.S. in 2022, according to Yoga Alliance. NPR reported more recently that it could be as high as one in six adult Americans.
Although many studies address the fact that many people practice yoga, there is less data on how they’re practicing. Judging by the massive followings of some of the most popular online yoga channels, however, apparently many of them are practicing online.
Some of the most popular Youtube yoga channels include Yoga with Kassandra, with 2.8 million subscribers, SaraBeth Yoga with 1.7 million subscribers, and Yoga with Adriene with 13 million subscribers. That’s a lot of people—and a testament to the power and convenience of the internet and a home yoga practice.
You Don’t Have to Struggle to Find a Studio
Author, psychologist, and yoga therapist educator, Gail Parker, Ph.D., C-IAYT, E-RYT 500 remembers the difficulty of finding a yoga studio when she first began practicing in the 1960s. “Developing a home practice was foundational for me,” she says.
Now, she highlights the “flexibility, privacy, and autonomy” offered by at-home yoga, meaning following along with a video or creating your own practice.
Clinical psychologist and yoga teacher Lauren Tober, DPsyc, highlights the practicality of an at-home practice without relying on a studio schedule. “We can do it at any time that works for us and in our kind of family dynamics and how we live,” she says.
You Can Better Understand Your Own Needs
Tober also believes at-home yoga can be empowering because it allows you “to take charge of your own practice.”
“You start to really inquire, ‘Well, what works for me?’ and ‘How can I design a practice that suits me in this moment?’” she says. Asking these questions strengthens your svadhyaya, or self-study, a key component of yoga beyond the physical practice.
“Practicing at home can deepen your internal awareness, allowing for a stronger connection to breath, body, mind, and spirit,” adds Dr. Parker. “It also fosters discipline and self-trust, as you take full ownership of your experience.”
“For some people, going to a class and a studio will be the way that works for them,” she said. For others, staying home will be best. “What’s important when we’re practicing yoga is that we find a way of practicing that works for us.”
You Choose the Length of Practice
Another benefit of at-home yoga is your ability to start small. If you sign up for a course at a studio that runs for an hour, you’ll get sixty minutes of programming—which is great if you’re ready for that. If you’re not, the internet offers videos and articles in all lengths.
“We often think that we need to do a 60-minute or a 90-minute practice for it to be yoga,” Dr. Tober said. “Actually, we can do a two-minute practice.”
When Studio Yoga Might Be Right for You
Even with a dedicated home yoga practice, there are still opportunities a yoga studio can offer that one can’t experience alone.
Dr. Tober sees three specific benefits to studio yoga. One, she finds it helpful for learning more about yoga, especially for those new to the practice. Two, she also finds showing up in-person to be beneficial for motivation; it’s easy to check out halfway through a yoga video, when you’re home alone. And you may feel more motivated to stick it out for an in-person entire class—in part because you’re in community, which is benefit number three.
“In yoga, there’s this idea of sangha, or community,” she said. “I think the community aspect can be really great, and that’s the part that we often miss when we’re practicing at home alone, either on our own practice or watching a video.”
Parker echoed the same point. Citing former surgeon general Vivek Murthy’s campaign against loneliness, she noted that “Exclusively practicing at home, whether through asana or meditation, may mean missing the energy, support, and inspiration that arise from shared practice.”
Be Open to Trying New Ways of Practicing
You don’t necessarily have to choose between practicing at home or in a studio—what’s best for you may lie somewhere in the middle. The important thing is keeping an open mind.
“Try different styles and teachers,” Dr. Parker suggests, “until you find what feels right.” Learning what you don’t like is just as important as finding what you do enjoy. Both are equally important in that they help you better understand yourself.
In short: No one type of yoga is inherently best.
As for me, I’ve adopted a new mentality toward yoga and life: Starting is better than not starting. It’s the advice I wish I could give to my younger self, who had assumed that studio yoga was the only way to pursue the practice. Opting for that kind of perfectionism didn’t help me feel better in my body; choosing to start did. As it turned out, living room yoga was just as real as studio yoga.
