Do Virtual Yoga Classes Have the Same Social and Energetic Benefits as In-Person Sessions?
Wellness centres have closed their doors due to COVID-19 but many are adapting quickly to a locked-down society by offering virtual yoga classes. Those struggling with long days sitting on the couch can get their daily exercise via digital yoga, pilates and meditation classes.
There’s no shortage of studies that show how social connection helps us live longer and battle diseases. One landmark study suggests that loneliness can be as deadly as obesity and smoking. It’s also no secret that many people discover a yoga practice to address emotional wounds, and that the social connection of a studio can be deeply healing.
Emma Seppälä, PhD, is the science director of Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, and co-director of the Yale College Emotional Intelligence Project at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. “People who feel more connected to others have lower rates of anxiety and depression,” she says. “Moreover, studies show they also have higher self-esteem, are more empathetic to others, more trusting and cooperative and, as a consequence, others are more open to trusting and cooperating with them.”
Further, she says, “yoga puts you in a parasympathetic mode. It alleviates stress. As such, you can naturally feel a greater sense of belonging, compassion, and connection. As you feel better, your sense of belonging also increases.”
The fact that virtual connection creates the same biological response as the in-person connection could be due to the presence of “mirror neurons” in our brains. According to a Scientific American piece written by a professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA Marco Iacoboni, MD PhD, mirror neurons are what allow us to “feel” what another person experiences. We wince, for example, when someone else stubs their toe. We subconsciously smile when someone smiles at us.
But the mental health benefits of being in the community aren’t limited to in-person experiences. “A sense of connection is internal,” says Seppälä. “Researchers agree that the benefits of connection are actually linked to your subjective sense of connection. In other words, if you feel connected on the inside, she says, you reap the same benefits, regardless of whether that is in a yoga studio or in a Zoom class.
Virtual yoga seems here to stay—and that is fantastic news for businesses that are opting for a low cost strategy to enhance the connection and engagement of their employees.
Today, as we begin the Spring season, let’s remind ourselves that it’s a beautiful time to set intentions for a positive shift and new wellbeing goals in our lives. If you wish to learn more, please email us directly about a complimentary yoga session in your office. We also have some exciting workshops coming up for this month of September. Email us!
Reference:
Lisette Cheresson: The Yoga Almanac: 52 Practices to Stay Grounded Through the Astrological Seasons