If you’re getting tired of trying to convince your family and friends to try yoga then perhaps your last recommendation should be to check out one of the many mobile applications for beginners to yoga.  In this post we’ll look at a number of popular yoga apps that are great for newbies.

Yoga apps are a great way to get started with yoga because not only do they fit around your life, they remove the fear of judgement and the potential embarrassment that comes from being the new person in class comparing themselves to those practicing for years; meaning, yoga apps are a great place for beginners to build confidence in their yoga practice.

iYoga

iYoga offers some of the very best content available in a yoga app and combined this with advanced technology that shows the muscles being used.  It contains hundred of videos that have been designed to be used as a pick n’ mix selection that can be dragged into a timeline and played back as a seamless movie.  You can practice each pose, in isolation, choose a preset program, or personalize a workout to your specific individual needs.

Pocket Yoga Teacher

Pocket Yoga Teacher allows you to create a custom yoga sequence in an easy to use format.  In addition to selecting your desired poses, you can then add music and set the tempo of the practice. Whilst you can choose from a library of over 200 poses, this app might be better suited for people with some existing knowledge of yoga, rather than the complete beginner as the nature of the app feels like one would need some experience of the basics to get the most out of the app-based practice.

Yoga International

Yoga International offers a wide range of streaming yoga classes, guided meditations, tutorials and workshops.  The instructors are world class and new content is added every day.  With access to classes in multiple styles included kundalini, hatha, vinyasa, and yin taught by over 500 of the world’s most established yoga teachers – this is a robust app.  You can take themed workshops such as “yoga to soothe sciatica” and it’s particularly good for beginners as it included as “beginner’s guide to yoga” workshop that covers the basics.

The class lengths are between 5 and 60 minutes, which offers some flexibility, but unlike the other apps that enable you to dynamically create a bespoke class of your own, these classes are instructor led akin to the experience you would have in a live class environment.

Universal Breathing

Universal Breathing is one of the most popular breathing apps in the world and is recommended by leading medical doctors.  Whilst, not technically a full yoga app, as this app focuses solely on breathing techniques, it has been included in this list because a lot of beginners feel yoga is merely about somatic stretching with less regard for mental focus and breath work.  The app suggests that if you practice slow breathing for just 15 minutes a day it will reduce stress and stress-related illnesses.

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