Online yoga & it's positive impact on society

Hey lovely friends,

Yoga for a long time has been a somewhat "elite" or more "exclusive" form of exercise and spiritual experience (at least in the western world). This luxurious form of exercise is mostly afforded by higher income families and individuals. Truth be told, most fitness studios can be pretty expensive for the average consumer. An "in person" yoga studio montly memberships can range anywhere from 100$ to 800$ in fancier facilities with drop in classes ranging around 15-50$/class. For a vast majority, these prices are beyond what can be afforded in terms of fitness.

Contrastingly, in person studios also offer a deeply beneficial space for society. They are places where people can come together under the same roof, hold space for each other and cultivate an atmosphere of warmth, love and community. A lot of studios also offer special aid for students who would like to attend an in-person yoga studio but may not have all the funds to pay for such fees. You'll also see programs at studios which offer energy exchange programs. With these programs, students will help the function of the studio by offering their time to help check students into class, clean the studio after sessions and offer additional services in order to receive a compensation on their monthly membership fees. These are all fantastic options which help to make yoga and fitness more accessible for the average consumer. Another way that the yoga and fitness landscape has been shifting is through Online Yoga and Fitness memberships.

An online yoga or fitness memberships can range anywhere from 10$-100$ per month making this more affordable for the average consumer. These online memberships also work by supporting smaller businesses and individual teachers. You see, in my eyes, this is a win win for society and here's why.

Benefits of more affordable yoga memberships through virtual classes:

• Yoga is both a fitness and mindfulness practice. When we attend regular yoga classes we not only gaining strength, flexibility, mobility, and health in our physical body but we also gain wisdom, deeper connection with ourselves, and experience an increased sense of mindfulness, peace and tranquility. This is due to the nature of a yoga class which bridges the breath, mindfulness and movement. A yoga practice is the practice of inner observation and helps to facilitate deeper inner awareness as a result. With more affordable classes these benefits can be offered more widely to the public which help to increase the overall health and well-being of society.

• A sense of community can also be experienced through virtual yoga classes and membership programs. Online yoga memberships like Yoga On DEMAND (which I offer here on Renelleb.com) offer LIVE yoga classes as well as community forums. Knowing that you are attending a live class with other students from around the world, can help individuals feel a deeper sense of connection. This is something that a lot of people have struggled with over the past two years given the global landscape. Community Forums are also a place where people can discuss topics of interest, get to know other individuals who like similar things and find a sense of community which may be harder to find at this time. These forums also have the potential of connecting individuals of like minded interests from around the world, who otherwise, may have never had the opportunity to connect in the first place. Learn more about Yoga On DEMAND HERE & my Community Forum HERE

• Made to fit your schedule. Yoga On DEMAND also offers unlimited class replays with five new classes added each week. Although we meet LIVE for classes five days a week starting at 9AM EST, you also will gain full access to over 90+ classes in our Yoga On DEMAND Archive (with the addition of new weekly classes) which you can enjoy anytime-anywhere. This makes accessing yoga much easier for busy people who are often on the run.

• Made for every body. My yoga classes are also suitable for all yoga levels. Wether you are a beginner or advanced student you will have room to grow and expand your practice with safe adjustments offered in every class. I will always meet you where you're at.

• Yoga also has the power of helping reduce stress, anxiety and mental illness by gently working with the interrelationship of mind, body and spirit. Stress, anxiety and mental illness can often be linked to an over active mind. When our minds run wild, we can experience increased disruptions in our mental and emotional body. Yoga offers the space to feel into the body, mind and emotions in a safe environment, which gently help to draw inner peace into these inner spaces. As a result, we can help to bring more balance into our lives and reduce overall stress.

• Yoga can also help to release deep seated trauma lingering in the physical body. This is observed in Yin Yoga and Yoga for PTSD. In these styles of yoga, certain poses are held for longer periods of time, upwards to 5-15 minutes at a time. With the help of yoga blocks and bolsters that support the physical body in certain poses, the student is given the opportunity to experience deep physical releases of tension. As the body softens, it naturally will release deep seated tension held in the muscular structure of the physical body. As we learnt earlier, this tension is often also associated with certain emotional and mental traumas. This is due to the interconnection of the physical, mental, spiritual and physical body. As the physical body softens so does the mental and emotional body, thus creating a perfect environment for the release of traumas held in the body within this physical tension. Tension is often a manifestation of mental and emotional tension- release one and the other will fall away. Yoga works wonders when it is approached with love and care and can be a beneficial aspect of healing when combined with additional mental and emotional support such as therapy and energy healing.

• An increased connection with the Higher Self & Spirit. In my personal opinion, I believe that a large portion of problems we face in society can be linked towards an over attachment to the material aspects of life and a disconnection between individuals and their soul. I can speak to a wide range of individuals, and more commonly than ever before, do people argue that the Soul does not exist. This fundamentally creates a split in someones consciousness by over simplifying the truth of their own Being. This split creates a sense of disconnection, disassociation, and will draw an emptiness in someones life, which will more often then not, be attempted to be filled by external materiality (wether it be money, fame, cars, houses, a partner, a dog, cat, likes on instagram, praise, whatever). This occurs because something inside is missing which then attempts to be filled from aspects outside of the Self. I believe that we fundamentally are spiritual beings living a material existence for a short time in space. From this perspective, a deeper sense of purpose and interconnection with the whole of life comes into play, which, is instantly cut off when an individual looses their sense of Soul. Yoga is a perfect place to start re-intergrating this aspect of ourselves. By slowly tuning our awareness inwards we naturally unfold the truths about our reality through conscious experience. This is extremely powerful in healing the Self and thus, healing societal issues.

• Non-dogmatic. Yoga can also offer a non-dogmatic approach to spirituality. It can obviously also be approached dogmatically as all other religions can be too, so I guess this really depends on the teacher. The age has come where individuals can learn to tune into their emotional, physical, mental and spiritual body on their own. We are now loosing this need for the "guru". A good spiritual teacher will lead students towards developing and strengthening their own sovereign individuality. A good teacher will also encourage the purification of the heart which as a result strengthens an individuals ability to discern truth, information and energy correctly on their own, without the need of a teacher or external opinions. The student learns to think for themselves through a deeper connection with the heart. As we move more into the direction of strengthening the Inner Self which simultaneously understand that the Self is also a part of the Whole- the heart will inevitably rise forward in the whole of society. No dogmatic approach or guru can force change on the collective. Sovereign choice is the only way towards lasting change. As individuals develop this inner connection and strengthen their own spiritual practice the need for higher rule will slowly subside and the individual Sovereign Self will become more important in society. Change happens from within.

• Save Money. By practicing yoga online you will not only save money on the price of your yoga membership but, you'll also be saving money by not having get yourself to a yoga studio. This obviously doesn't apply to you if you already walk and bike to get from place to place but this does however greatly impact you if you commute to and from yoga via public transportation or by car. We all know the price of gas have been increasing over the past few months. Not to mention paying for public parking once you arrive. All in all, online yoga saves you a ton of money!

I hope this article has inspired you to look at yoga through a new lense. If you seek connection and would like to develop your own yoga practice then I'd like to extend an invitation your way to try Yoga On DEMAND. I offer a FREE 7-day trial on my Monthly Yoga On DEMAND Membership. If you like the flow of our classes wonderful- if not- you are welcome to cancel at any time. My objective with this yoga platform and community forum is to bring like minded individuals together. Also note that I offer a variety of plans for everyone. If yoga is not your thing then consider joining my members only Community Forum. Here you will gain access to a community of like minded individuals, discuss topics of spirituality, health and wellness, participate in Quarterly Challenges and gain access to a series of Guided Audio Meditations. NOTE: the community forum is free and automatically linked when you join Yoga On DEMAND. Check out my membership plans HERE and welcome to the Community!

Sending you Love and Light,

Renelle B