I’m holding a Warrior II pose at the edge of a cliff, overlooking a gorgeous vista of sky and sea. My yoga instructor stands directly in front of me, guiding me through the transition to Triangle pose. Only, from this angle, I can’t see her – so I take my thumb and forefinger and lift her in the air, then place her back in view. We move through a few more poses, then close with savasana, and I take in the expanse of sky before I shut my eyes. After a few minutes of peace, I come to a seated position, then reach around my head to remove the virtual reality (VR) headset that’s wrapped tightly around my face.
I blink a few times and take in the scene around me: I’m not breathing in fresh air on a cliffside paradise in Hawaii, I’m in the middle of an event space, testing out Meta XR’s Alo Yoga program. As my mind hurdles me back to reality, I can’t help but think to myself: is all this new fitness technology making our lives healthier, or just causing even more disconnect with our bodies?
Experts Featured in This Article:
Anthony Crouchelli is a trainer and VP of Talent and Content at Litesport.
Ashley Galvin is a yoga instructor for Alo Moves
