The isolating effects of a Covid-19 triggered lockdown can be unwelcomed for some. Lockdowns have several psychosocial implications affecting the general health and mental health of the greater population. The break of one’s life momentum can be difficult to adjust to. Indeed, daily and weekly routines are among the most difficult changes to deal with as they often form part of regular daily or weekly milestones. Exercise and movement is one such healthy habit.
Compared to other physical activity and exercise modalities such as aerobics, walking and group fitness classes, yoga is believed to have more holistic impact on older adult health and wellbeing (Östh et al., 2019). Hence, being forced to curtail participation in regular yoga classes can have a disruptive effect on regular practitioners as well as those seeking to form a new routine. Such interruptions to yoga classes can be a trigger for malaise and lead to one separating from regular exercise altogether.
Home based yoga practice via online access is therefore growing in popularity and for some are a necessary compromise in a Covid-induced lock-down. While home-based yoga may not match the studio experience, recent research suggests that a home-based online yoga practice can be highly beneficial during a pandemic when studio access is unavailable. Furthermore, older adult women who participated in the daily online yoga lessons in this research reported being less fearful of COVID-19 (Pandya, 2021).