Asana Courses

• Integrative Yoga Therapy offers a Yoga Home Study program that focuses on the therapetic dimension, but it also covers Ayurveda, physiology and asana practice. Completion of this course gives the student 65 hours toward yoga certification (see Resources).
  
  Stonebridge Associated Colleges in the UK offers an online Yoga in Health course that covers asana (postures) and pranyayma (breathing exercises).
  
  

Yogic Philosophy

• Traditional Yoga Studies offers four correspondence courses: The Yoga Tradition, Patanjali's Classical Yoga, The Foundations of Yoga and The Bhagavad-Gita. The courses were written and are presented by Georg Feuerstein, PhD, author of "The Yoga Tradition" and a yoga teacher since the 1960s.
  
  The American Institute of Vedic Studies (see Resources) offers an Advanced Yoga and Ayurveda course, after which the student would be certified as a Yoga and Ayurveda Health Educator. Students can send in all of the study questions and exercises and they will be graded and receive comments and telephone support for an additional fee.
  
  Yama Studio in Baltimore, Maryland (yamastudio.com) offers distance learning programs in Yoga Therapy, Yoga Philosophy/Scripture, Meditation training and Ayurvedic Wellness principles. These programs are designed to provide students with the opportunity to deepen their personal practice, and yoga teachers can advance their teaching skills.
  
  

Teacher Traning

• Aura Yoga (see Resources) offers a Yoga Teacher Training Camp-in-a-Box program for home study leading to a yoga teacher certification. Students can specialize in Restorative, Kid's Yoga Teacher, Chair Yoga, Pre- and Postnatal, Vinyasa, Meditation and Yoga Anatomy.
  
  The Chicago Temple of Kriya Yoga (yogakriya.org) offers a Hatha Yoga Teacher Training and Certification Home Study Program. This is an extensive, 12-month training program with 250 hours of instruction in yoga teaching skills, anatomy and physiology and yoga philosophy. The fee includes a 4-day retreat, which is required for certification.
  
  

Benefits

• When you study yoga at home you can fit it into your busy lifestyle. Whether you have a home yoga studio set up or you simply move aside the coffee table in your living room and use that space, practicing yoga at home is an intimate, satisfying experience. You are alone with the asana and not trying to compete with your freakishly flexible neighbor. You can focus right in on perfecting each asana with limited distraction.
  
  Studying yoga at home also saves you money, as distance learning programs are usually much less expensive than if you were to take the same course from a teacher in person.
  
  

Certification

• If you are taking distance learning courses because you want to become a certified yoga instructor, you should visit the Yoga Alliance website at yogaalliance.org to learn about their various certification levels. They also maintain a database of yoga schools that are registered with the alliance, so courses that you take from them will count toward your certification.