
The knowledge of Yoga goes back 5000 years in India and is believed to have positive effects on the mind and body. To popularise this traditional system, International Yoga Day is celebrated every year on June 21. While the art is now more popular than ever, many still do not know that yoga has several aspects which are studied under modern sciences like engineering. Here is a list of unique courses on yoga you can pursue online.
Sounds True Presents: The Mystic flow – The Yoga of Awakening: This course is for anyone who wants to delve deeper into yoga and learn to use it to heal at physical, emotional, and energy levels. Built around techniques like Vinyasa flow yoga and Ujjayi pranayama, it will make you learn to release stress using yoga, strengthen the body and achieve a mind-body connect. This beginner’s level course is offered by Udemy and can be self-paced. The course includes 28 hours of on-demand video and one article and one downloadable resource. It also offers full lifetime access to resources and offers a certificate on completion. This course can be pursued on its own but it also has a prequel, which is offered by Seane Corn, a renowned yoga teacher and social activist and is available at a cost of Rs 1,600. Each sequence has four videos and two audio tracks. There are a total of seven sequences in the course.
Internationally accredited diploma in Yoga: It is a course designed for beginners who wish to pursue a career in yoga. It is offered at a cost of Rs 730 with a money-back guarantee at Udemy. Candidates will have to take a practice test and qualified candidates will get a certificate. Students will learn to master 59 asanas (yoga poses), principles of Patanjali’s Ashtanga, or eight limbs of traditional yoga teaching. The course is created by Akash Sehrawat, who is a teaching assistant. It is a one to four weeks-long course, which can be self-paced. Students will have to obtain at least 50 per cent marks in the test to get a certificate.
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Face Yoga for rejuvenation: The course is offered by Udemy at a cost of Rs 720. The course will teach the learner about facial exercises to lift and tone the face and neck muscles. It also teaches 30 face yoga pose and three corrective poses and three counter-poses for a healthy and presentable face. A total of nine lectures will be held under the course. It is a certificate-level course and offers 1.5-hour on-demand video content and a certificate on completion.
Engineering Health: Introduction to Yoga and Physiology: This 14-hour course is provided by New York University (NYU) and offered through Coursera. The course, claims Coursera, deals with physiological systems from the perspective of overall health and wellness. In particular, a focus on yoga, meditation, and mindfulness as a therapeutic intervention in chronic illness and long-term treatment. It is specially designed for yoga practitioners and teachers, as well as college students. It is a beginners’ level course and is available for free. It will also offer reading material including analysis of scientific studies on using yoga practice for the treatment of various illnesses including hypertension, stress, diabetes, insomnia, chronic pain, and PTSD. The course is 47 hours long and divided into weekly course assignments, which will include physiology lectures, a weekly yoga practice, suggested readings, and optional discussions for a total of 3-5 hours per week.
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The Science and Practice of Yoga: The course is offered by the University of Texas Arlington via EdX. It is a six-week-long course with 3-4 hours of work every week. While the course is free of cost, learners have to pay $49 for a certificate. It is an introductory-level course and does not require any prior knowledge. Apart from yoga poses, learners will learn about research findings on yoga, mediation, and breath awareness techniques and how to use yoga to find ‘balance in life’, as per the varsity.
Yoga Medicine’s Guide to Therapeutic Yoga: Learn to design your own healing yoga classes: The course is aimed at trainers, practitioners, and teachers of yoga. This is a certificate course and can help learners create customise courses on yoga poses to help their learners based on their needs and requirements. The course will teach the theoretical and practical part of yoga. Apart from 3.5 hours on-demand video, fulltime access, the course also offers one warm-up and two deep vinyasa yoga classes and an interview round. It is offered by Udemy at a course of Rs 700. It also comes with a money-back guarantee.
Several specific courses designed for a disease like back pain or sleeplessness or Yog Nidra (a traditional sleeping ritual), yoga to induce strength, detox routine yoga, deep relaxation yoga, poses to attain mindfulness and increase focus, among others are also some of the popular yoga-related courses available online.