Introduction to yoga through an interactive module

Abstract

Abstract: The concept of yoga has changed from being a path to spiritual enlightenment to a more aerobic activity since its arrival from India to the United States in the early 1970's. Instead of practicing one on one with a yogi, participants now attend large classes with people of varying levels of experience and ability. When the poses are performed correctly, yoga can have many health benefits. However, when poses are done incorrectly over a period of time it can result in pain and long-term injuries. These large classes can often be intimidating and yogis often do not have time to cover background information and safety information. This module fills the gaps by providing, via the Internet, an interactive multimedia instructional module covering those specific topics. The purpose of this instructional design project was to develop and evaluate an interactive multimedia instructional module for teaching adults with varied levels of yoga experience basic background and safety information that would aid in the comfort and safety of a person attending their first yoga class. Volunteer participants evaluated the module and data was collected by surveys to measure attitude towards the module as well as knowledge gained by participating. Overall the participants found the module to be a valuable resource in learning yoga.