Yoga Journal Review

What You Should Know

Yoga Journal is both a print magazine and website dedicated to the principles of yoga and related natural health. Yoga Journal Magazine is issued nine times per year. Two free trial copies are offered with every subscription to allow the customer to review the magazine before being billed for the subscription. Yoga Journal Magazine subscriptions come with two gifts: Poses for a Headache, and Poses for Stress- two charts outlining yoga poses for the two ailments.

The Yoga Journal website is broken into several sections including Poses, Basics, Wisdom, Practice, Health, Lifestyle, and Teachers. There is also a Community Forums section and Blogs.

Product Features

The website is high quality and contains articles, videos, quizzes and online registration for upcoming workshops and seminars. The video section is quite extensive and includes interviews, seminars, and step-by-step training videos. All of these are available without a subscription to the magazine. In order to participate in the community forums, readers must sign up on the website, but registration is free. The Lifestyle section includes dozens of healthy vegetarian recipes and food articles on vegetarianism and food preparation and full color photographs.

The Teachers section of the website is specifically targeted to practicing yoga instructors. It contains sections on setting up and running a yoga class, handling the finances and the business end, and dealing with special teaching situations. Yoga Journal also offers insurance to practicing yoga teachers. A search feature allows teachers to find other practitioners close by as well as those experience yoga instructors willing to be mentors.

The articles on Yoga Journal are informative and easy to read. The articles detail many facets of healthy living, not just yoga. However, it is not always clear what the credentials are of the articles’ authors. We find that those interested in health and nutrition topics like to be able to assess for themselves the credibility of the presenters or to know that the articles are being edited by a health or fitness professional.

Advantages

• Extensive collection of articles and videos.
• All information on the Yoga Journal website is free of charge.
• Website includes instructional videos.

Disadvantages

• The credentials of the authors are not always made clear
• The free website contains far more information than the paid magazine

Conclusion

The Yoga Journal website is a well-designed and extremely useful resource both for those new to yoga and those who have practiced for years. It also contains interesting content for those simply interested in healthy living. Many of the articles in Yoga Journal magazine are reproduced on the website so users may not feel the need to subscribe to the magazine. The rich multi-media content of the website may be all one needs.