Truth be told, I haven’t ever attended a live Yoga class. DYWM, specifically the 30 day Transform your Life challenge, has been my first foray into Yoga. What a great introduction to yoga!
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I’ve debated taking classes at a studio. I imagine I will one day and perhaps occasionally after that. Unfortunately, my first experience with a studio was through Instagram. An instructor from a local studio decided to critique all of the yoga photos I posted. Nothing nice was said. I found it abrasive and inappropriate. Even if the critiques were right, social media is not the ideal setting for such uninvited feedback. However, I do think points from an instructor and connection with other students would be the primary pros.
I am managing a mental illness. For myself and others managing such conditions, sometimes we need to be in our own space until we work through certain things. Being able to practice at home gives us this opportunity so we can still reap the benefits of practice.
I prefer practicing at home more because I get to play and learn on my own. I’ve always preferred to learn this way. Yes, it can take longer, but I’m okay with that as it pertains to Yoga. I’m not in a rush to get anywhere and that’s a nice feeling. Sometimes I pause the DYWM videos and pout. Sometimes I cry. Other times, I’m laughing. I see it all as part of the PRACTICE, the wanderlust.
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I love how positive you are and how you want rise above it all. Keep it up Percival, you rock!!
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I came to yoga last year whilst hiking on Ibiza where my wife led me throught my first asanas. Back at home she introduced me to this website and we did some classes together. In November I found Fijis 14-day-challenge and followed that up as of 2nd of January with the 30-day-challenge. I have practised yoga every day since and have progressed a lot just due to the awesome instructors on this site. I have been to a studio twice and have just come back from a short yoga retreat on Scicily. I believe every one of these options has it’s benefits and going to a studio or a retreat will offer social interaction and tips from fellow yogis and instructors as well as backround information (which is great) but I could have never progressed as fast without the option of daily online classes from DYWM. My special thanks go out to Fiji, Tracey and Christa 
Jan
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I landed on DYWM while travelling once to Bethesda and came out very dejected from a local Om Yoga studio. I had promised myself on that trip that I would be diligent in doing yoga everyday. Finding DYWM has transformed my practice. Now I practice almost 4-6 times/week, if not everyday, even if it is for 20 minutes/day. All I need is my yoga mat and a wi-fi connection. I have introduced it to countless people, including many of my patients. I suppose, one needs to find what connects them to this ancient practice of mind and body, but no matter which one works for you, keep it in your life. As a practicing endocrinologist, I can not stress enough, how trans-formative yoga can be. Thanks to all at DYWM for creating this amazing community. Thanks to all the instructors for their dedication and time. One day, when I’m travelling to Vancouver BC, I’ll show up in your studios. Until then, Namaste!
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Greetings, All! I am so grateful for this yoga site! I am 70 years old (almost 71!) and have done yoga on and off since the mid-eighties. I have not been doing much yoga for the past ten years, as I just could not find a class that “fit” me, could not afford a personal yoga teacher, and could not get myself to practice on my own. When I discovered Do Yoga With Me this past summer, I decided to start from scratch as a complete newbie. It was the correct choice, as I did need a brush-up course in the basics and started with David’s beginner program. Thank you, David, and all the teachers I have found on your site since completing that program. I have never had a class that was so detailed as those that I am enjoying. I know that I better understand a lot of the details because of my previous in-person training, but have never been able to take the time to focus so closely on each important aspect of breath, mind, and body. It is like having many personal trainers! I do prefer being guided to doing yoga on my own, and Do Yoga With Me has kept me practicing at least three times a week for the past few months, with absolutely no desire to discontinue my practice as I have always been wont to do! Tahnk you! Thank you!
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I love DYWM. I have practiced yoga on and off pretty diligently since I was young (my mom was a teacher when I was a very young child), but mostly did it on my own with video tapes, then DVDs, none of which were highly satisfying to me. I have never had the money to have a regular, 3-5 days a week of classes at a studio, so when I discovered this site, I was elated. I have enjoyed every class I have done, and the nice thing is I can choose that morning what kind of yoga I want or feel like I have the energy for. At this point, I can honestly say if I had the money for studio classes, I would stick with DYWM. 
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Pros/cons of online vs studio normally one might think that we lose the element of personal touch or being with a group of like minded people when doing an online yoga class. However, I must say that because of the high level of quality instruction from the yoga instructors here it truly is a gift that this website was created for the love of Yoga. I’ve recommended this site to many friends. Some think they don’t know if they would do yoga at home, but I tell them it’s worth a shot!
I’m so impressed with the classes I’ve taken. In the past, I’ve had the pleasure of having top notch yoga instruction from a yoga studio that I attended 3x per week for 2 years. I can say I truly miss that environment. Yet, now going into the local yoga studios near my current home are not satisfying my craving for quality yoga classes.
DoYogaWithMe has 100% better instruction than from the newer ‘fitness’ type yoga studios I’ve encountered.
I’ve taken classes from Fiji, David, Tracey, Rachel and so many others, and yet have been disappointed. Every time I take a new class from DoYogaWithMe I hear so many of the wonderful cues that I was once taught. I personally feel are so key to have a fulfilling class.
There are plenty of good studios available, I just haven’t run into too many in my current area. Thank you for your wonderful site!
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My wife and I tried studio yoga but didn’t really enjoy it. S
ince we found DYWM we practice daily, I feel like a yogi and I have no doubt we are learning far more and becoming far stronger than studio would give us unless we were there every day and probably paying a fortune in fees and personal time. as parents of an overactive 5 year old with autism and running a business time is tight. we absolutely love this site and because we do it in a converted studio at home our son is doing yoga with us and it really calms him down so I will argue the fact all day long that not only is home yoga better but DYWM is without a shadow of a doubt the best website for yoga out there and as it is so cost effective I have been promoting it to everyone. so a massive thank you to the team and please never take this site down as it is awesome xx
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Well you have to bear in mind that a teacher has to tailor the class for several different levels of ability. If you are selecting a video just for you then you are able to step it up if things are a bit tame after a few minutes. Next a class has to run for about 90 minutes to 2 hours for people to feel as if they have had their money’s worth. Two hours of not so tame yoga can be rather taxing for the typical middle aged, overweight students that sit at a desk all day.
I tend to do quite easy stuff in classes and keep the more challenging asanas for when I am by myself. It is safer and I always invite students to explore yoga in their own time and bring anything to me that they would like to try and I will be happy to demonstrate. I have limited teaching the various kriyas and have never taught vasti or nauli - candle gazing is more than enough for the average person to take on board!
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These classes on DYWM are certainly very good. For anyone who hasn’t been trained as a yoga instructor they might miss some proper alignment. I am a certified instructor and occasionally take classes here. If I didn’t understand alignment as well as I do then I believe I would easily not be doing all the poses properly and for my body’s needs. There are so many body types and cues that it’s impossible to address them all in a general online class. What I recommend for anyone who wants to practice yoga online is to either A. have some private classes with a qualified instructor to get to know your body better and to understand it’s tendencies as well as to get helpful feedback and modifications, and/or B. take the time to start at the beginning and do all the individual beginners poses on this site and really feel/see them in your body. A mirror is helpful. You may not realize, for example, that your back is rounding in Down Dog or that you need to modify a lunge because of hyperlordosis in the low back. When I assist students they are not aware that they are not properly holding the pose. Also, I don’t recommend Vinyasana without being very proficient in all basic poses. I hope this helps.
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My husband and I are both in our 60’s. We live at least a 30 min. drive from any yoga studio. While sessions with an instructor are helpful when we need a little guidance or advice, we mostly practice at home with DYWM. The variety of sessions and styles are simply wonderful. I am always amazed at how good I feel after practice.
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My journey has been an interesting one. I first did yoga as part of a DVD series, P90X. It was a 90 minute vinyasa flow that was tough but helped me fall in love with yoga. After doing this series through 5 times I was done with the whole thing. Except for yoga. So I went from there to a small studio which I loved. However at that time I traveled lots and so in search of a way to
do yoga while traveling I found DYWM. It has been great. I still love my yoga studio and the comraderie I have with fellow yogis. But… with a studio I usually follow the same teachers. And they do vary their flows lots. However, the breadth of styles & classes available on DYWM is so awesome that I manage to fit in a few classes per week from the site. One adavantage of the site is that you can stop and pause a vid to try and catch the idea whereas in a class if you miss it you miss it. The site also has individual asanas available to be worked on. This would cost you bigbucks in a private lesson situation.
So I love my studio for being amongst other yogis. I love DYWM because I learn much more about yoga and all the asanas here and this has helped me advance in my practice. Cheers.
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I would only recommend online yoga if you are experienced enough to auto-correct your posture in an asana… the instructions are not always detailed enough & teaching styles are many & varied. I recall from classes I used to attend with a particular teacher a few years ago now, how she would encourage the use of a small pillow to "relieve pressure on the brain in relaxation poses & this made things a lot more comfortable for many of us in her classes, regardless of age ir ability, yet I’ve never heard this from anyone else online or in other classes since. I also believe online classes expect you to know your level of ability & to work within that range… there’s no safety net in the form of an actual instructor to catch or support you, should you wish to take that slightly risky but possibly very necessary next step to progress in your practice.
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After reading many of the comments here I count myself lucky to have found a yoga studio I love in the small city where I live. The instructors are excellent, the environment is supportive and welcoming, and my fellow yogis are all levels, shapes, sizes, and ages. The feeling I get after a group session gives me a greater sense of well being and satisfaction than my home workouts.
I started out doing yoga at my local YMCA to help with a running injury. It helped immensely but classes were limited and basic. So I checked around online and found dywm! It kept me involved in yoga for over a year, it expanded my practice and it gave me a great foundation, but I just didn’t wasn’t as motivated to head to my home workout space. The teachers are excellent, favourites of mine are Fiji, Tracey, and Melissa, and even now I find myself remembering tips and adjustments I picked up from their online instruction.
I still use dywm when travelling and will occasionally refer back to tutorial classes to brush up or improve upon specific poses or flows.
And I recommend dywm classes to everyone interested in trying out yoga for themselves!
And just FYI, when I started attending classes at my local studio I was asked where I had been practicing before as they could see I was starting out with excellent foundations. So thank you dywm, you’re providing a wealth of fabulous yoga inspiration.
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Pros of online practice are that I can do it at anytime and don’t have to worry about missing a class if I am not up to it or other things get in the way, I don’t lose time getting to and from class and I don’t have to worry about how I look (sad but true). I also love that there’s always enough space! The other thing that I really love about DYWM is that the quality of the teachers is so high! I’ve taken classes lots of places and have been consistently impressed by the teachers here - I think the ethos and competence of DYWM’s teachers is extraordinary. I feel really fortunate to have access to this site and think that David and team have created something of great value to the world here.
The cons are not having the accountability and company of a community. I’m old school. I love warm bodies around me and the regular interaction with people you come to know over the course of time in a class. And there’s also no one to correct your posture if it’s off, but I find that the teachers in the videos usually do a good job of proactively recommending modifications or suggesting ways to feel if we’re in allgnment or not and what to do to correct.
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I love the online format and the choice of styles, instructors and length of classes. I had ‘lapsed’ with my yoga for nearly a year but find that by having so many options I can fit a class in every day and choose one which fits how I feel or works on an area of my body which I feel needs attention. The luxury of such choice is not available in formal classes.
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I love yoga, I haven’t done it for years because there are only 3 classes in my area a week- that don’t suit a working professional. So today instead of feeling frustrated about it i decided to officially subscribe to DYWM- I’ve followed it for a while. I’m going to try the 30 day challenge, but will not be too worried about doing it each day- it might take me 60 days
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I went to a studio for 2.5 years faithfully twice a week. Jan 2017 I decided to start using DYWM at home and practiced about 5 days a week. For 2018 I decided to practice every day which went well for 4 months then the weather got warmer and I’m back to 5-6 days a week on average. I’ve gone through all the 1-20 minute videos and am now on the 21-40 minute videos. Love love love online vs studio yoga practice. It’s nice to wake up, go downstairs and do yoga with bad breath and bed hair…Fiji and Tracey don’t care! Online is so convenient for me.
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I’m a little late to this session but nevertheless I wanted to echo what some of the other people have mentioned; DYWM is really the main reason I’ve reconnected with my practice. I found studios very expensive and never felt as supported, welcomed and well instructed as I do at home on my mat with the teachers on DYWM. Having a home practice is very different I find, too; you have to focus a lot more on the alignment yourself because there’s no teacher. This is a good thing! You also must have respect for the process at home - slowly does it. There’s no rushing into advanced postures. This also helps you learn trust in yourself, confidence, persistence, when to pull back and when to step outside of your comfort zone. It’s an incredibly intimate process with yourself. This (to me) is what yoga’s all about, and I’d be hard pressed to be able to explore this much in a group setting. And like others have said, if some days I get on my mat and there are tears, I can be at peace with that at home
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