Social Workout

Anti-Social Workout

Downloading Dog

Yoga is moving online -- as in streaming audio and video classes. This was a recent discovery for us. We shouldn't have been surprised, as online yoga is clearly a good idea. Extremely practical for the times when you can't (or don't want) to make it to the gym or yoga studio. Cheaper than a DVD, and the selection is growing fast. Plus, you can play it from your laptop, and/or iPod or iPhone. Very flexible. The problem is finding the right site or class, and this is not a minor problem. The ecosystem of yoga download sites has something of the fragmented, low-budget feel of the online porn world. Not that we'd know. There are the full range of competing business models, and suffice to say that the video or audio quality varies greatly. Soundtracks tend to the new agey and flute-centric, and the instruction, under the glare of the camera lens, often seems to slow down and get extra cloying. Still, there is quality out there, and we aim to plumb the depths of this trove over time so you don't have to. Last week we blogged that many studios have started posting video classes (to mixed reviews). Here are three sites with solid offerings -- where online yoga is the main event...