Every study and deep dive requires us to create space and to honor certain rules—or as we know them in Yoga, yamas and niyamas. If you ever attended a Yoga/Ayurveda training online or you plan to, you will appreciate these tips.

In every possible scenario, maintain your conduct as if you are attending an in-person session. These 10 recommendations, suggestions, and expectations are only focused on one goal: Make the online study a pleasant, beneficial, and impactful experience for each of the participants. Each of these is based on Yama and Niyama laid out in Patanjali Yoga Sutras to help us understand their purpose.

1. Time: Log in using the link (sent to you by the host) 10 minutes prior to the start time. This will allow space and time for gaining comfort with the media and easing into the study gracefully. This also allows you to respect each others' time. This helps honor Aparigraha and Ahimsa.
2. Chit-Chat: Avoid chitchatting prior to the start of the workshop. Consider this online training similar to in-person, where 10 minutes prior to the session, we must maintain mauna (silence). Also, keep your microphone off until and unless you are asked to say something. This will help honor Ahimsa, Tapa, and Swadhyaya.
3. Space: Keep the space around you—especially what is captured by your camera and seen by others—free of clutter. Just like you would keep your mat space and space around you clear in an in-person training. This honors the Niyama of Saucha.
4. Attire: Please wear comfortable clothing, that which allows you to move when you practice asanas and lets you to stay comfortable and alert as you go through the theory. This honors Santosha.
5. Family Cooperation: If you live with others under the same roof (family, roommates, other beings), please communicate to them about the break timings and that your study will require a quiet environment. If for any reason, your fur baby, a family member, or another being enters your camera space, it's best to turn off your camera and request the space needed for you to stay one-pointed and focused. If you have a child that needs your attention, please switch off the camera and offer the attention needed. This will keep the sacredness of the classroom and continued focus on the subject. This honors Swadhyaya, Saucha, and Ahimsa.
6. Snacks and Meals: There is always proper break time offered to you for snack, meals, etc. during longer trainings. Please avoid eating, munching, and snacking during training hours. This maintains the Tapa and Ahimsa.
7. Queries: If you have any questions, keep making notes of them and when the timing arises for Q and A, use the Raise Hand feature to ask your question or at that point, type it in the chat window. Queries at other times (except when cued by the teacher) may not be entertained. Every effort will be made to attend to your query by the teacher. This is the honoring of Ishwara Pranidhana, Swadhyaya, Ahimsa, and Santosha.
8. Focus of Queries: Keep your queries limited to the current subject and avoid brining personal or health-related questions into the training time. This honors Ahimsa, Asteya, and Aparigraha.
9. Tools: Have a Yoga mat, props that you generally use, the required books, water/tea, pen and journaling book, tissues, and any other recommended tools handy. The rule of thumb is anything that you would have brought to your in-person training must be gathered in advance. This honors Asteya and Ahimsa.
10. Communicate: During a virtual training, I do my best to observe your nonverbal cues (smile, confusion, thumbs up, nod, yeah/nay, etc.) to gather information and go deeper, step back a bit, or repeat the most recent discussion in order to serve you the best. Please participate in this nonverbal communication. This will help us honor Satya.

+1. Read Seth Godin’s tips on Zoom/skype calls.

Upcoming Virtual trainings:

Pranayama Training, Starting Sept 22, 2023