If you want to practice yoga at home, you can stream a class on YouTube or download a dedicated app like Alo Moves. These can be a great alternative to in-person classes and mean you can practice when you have a spare moment.
But even the best workout apps have a potential flaw; the videos and demonstrations on your phone screen make it hard to see small posture changes that can make a big difference to your training, especially in yoga.
Alo Moves think it may have found a way around this problem for at-home classes with the launch of Alo Moves XR, a mixed-reality yoga app for Meta Quest headsets. The new app is available from today (Oct 10) and costs $9.99 per month.
There are 32 yoga classes and meditations created in partnership with the virtual reality studio Magnopus. You can either immersive yourself in one of the class locations, or drop the instructor into your home for a mixed-reality experience.
Of course, if you practice regularly, 32 sessions isn't a lot, especially compared to the over 3,000 currently available on the standard Alo Moves app. Fortunately, Alo aims to add at least four sessions per month to build up its library.
The brand actually announced the app earlier in the year, with several months of beta testing to tweak the experience. But Alo also makes the quite bold claim that the experience is "like IRL, but better" so I wanted to put that to the test.
I tried virtual reality yoga — here's what happened
My colleague Kate Kozuch tried a demo of the Alo Moves XR app back in May and liked how there were multiple versions of the instructor in your field of view so that you could see the pose or flow no matter where you're looking.
So I had a vague idea of what to expect when I strapped on one of the best VR headsets. But having practiced yoga at least three times a week at a local studio before the pandemic, I was curious how it'd compare to the real-world experience.
The current library has classes from 5 to 20 minutes, so I went for a 10-minute session. The app maps out your room so that it can overlay the immersive class with enough space for you to practice without bumping into things.
You don't need the Quest's controllers either, as the app uses Meta's hand-tracking tech instead. I chose the immersive version of the classes so I could be 'transported' to a more aspirational space than my office room.
I was a bit skeptical but found that I eased into it pretty quickly, despite the unusual feeling of a headset attached to my face. I'm sure it'd get easier over time, but I found I'd occasionally hit the Quest on the floor during moves like downward dog.
The class was well-led, as I've always found Alo Moves' classes to be, and it felt good to get some movement into my day when I'm often sitting working at my desk. But did it really live up to Alo's claim that it's better than real-world classes?
It was certainly different, and it was a lot easier to follow the instructor's demonstrations than when streaming a class on your phone. But the 'immersive' experience actually seemed counter to the way I'd practiced before.
To me, yoga is an extension of mindfulness, helping you connect with your body and focus on the present moment. Pretending you're somewhere other than where you are made me constantly aware that it was all a digital construction.
But from a technical perspective, it's impressive. The videos are high-quality, though there's a slight 'unrealness' about the instructor's avatar as if they're being beamed into your room. And being able to see the poses from any angle was really helpful.
Based on my initial impressions, I think Alo Moves XR can help augment your practice, and if you find that drifting into a pleasing digital environment works for you, great! But it won't be for everyone, and I still prefer real-life classes.
Technology is great, but to me, yoga, or any physical activity, is about more than just ticking a task off your to-do list. And building community, learning to be present and developing an awareness of your body are the essentials for me.
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