to be seen

1) Yoga mat placement – Set up your yoga mat near a wall space, so that you’ll be viewable when we do poses at the wall, too.

2) Camera placement – Place your device so that the camera includes your full image whether you’re performing standing or sitting poses. If you set it up so that the edge of your mat is near the bottom of the camera image, this should work for almost everything.

3) Camera vs. Screen priority – Strike a balance between being able to see the device screen to follow along in class vs. positioning the device so that the camera can see you. Since the best location to place the camera isn’t necessarily the best place for you to be able to see the screen, you’ll have to figure out a compromise. Some people can listen and follow along, occasionally checking the screen between poses, allowing them to walk over to their device to see. Some people prefer to stay on their mat and view teacher instructions without having to move.

4) Tripod – Consider a tripod with a special mount for your device. Some students find that the optimal height, distance and angle for their camera setup is most easily and reliably configured via an adjustable tripod, using a tri-pod mount to hold their device in place.

5) Lighting – Check out the resulting camera feed in the zoom settings. If your feed is mostly dark, then the teacher will not be able to see you. Turn on ceiling lights, table lamps, open curtains, and discover how you can light up the subject. At the same time, if there’s a lot of light coming through a window behind you, your camera might not be able to adjust for this, and your form will be difficult to see.

6) Zoom app vs. browser extension – Use the Zoom application for your device, instead of using the browser based version. There is more functionality, better image quality, and more options to improve your experience.

7) Zoom configuration – Configure your video settings on zoom before you enter a meeting. You can do this at any time. You don’t have to have a join-in link and be in a meeting to configure your camera.

a) open up the Zoom app
b) sign-in
c) click on your profile image in the upper right-hand corner
d) choose settings from the drop-down menu
e) click on ‘video’
f) now you can see what your camera will display to the teacher
g) adjust mat placement, camera location and angle, lighting, etc.
h) click the ‘x’ in the upper right hand corner of the settings window when finished

8) Enable your outgoing camera feed – Yoga classes are configured to start with everyone’s camera turned off. This is to ensure privacy for everyone entering the space. Once you have your video feed configured and you’re logged into a meeting, then look in the lower left-hand-corner of your screen. Click on the video camera icon to remove the red line through it. This will enable your camera feed.

when to turn your camera feed off

When your device is set up to display the teacher’s image, resulting in your camera pointing up at the ceiling fan, or otherwise not showing you in a pose, then please turn off your video feed. If the lighting in the room is such that it leaves your form undiscernible, then please turn off the video feed. This helps to improve the image being broadcast by the teacher. Zoom allows a certain bandwidth to be used for video sharing, so if your pose isn’t in frame, or is in darkness, by turning off your camera, you allow that bandwidth to be used to clarify other images.

to better see the teacher

1) Place your device in your room so that you can easily see the screen whether you’re doing standing, seated or wall poses.

2) Zoom app priority – Download and use the Zoom application for your device, instead of using the browser based version. There is more functionality, better image quality, and more options to improve your experience.

3) Speaker view – Near the upper right-hand corner of your screen, you’ll see either [Speaker View] or [Gallery View]. You can toggle back and forth to see the difference between them. Leave it on the setting that displays the teacher’s image as the largest image on your screen.

4) Pin video – Click the image with the teacher. This will give it a yellow highlight. In the upper-right hand corner of this highlight, three dots will appear. Click them to reveal menu options. Choose ‘pin video’ This will keep the teacher’s image steady in case another student’s microphone turns on.

5) Full screen mode – In the upper right hand corner of the zoom window, you’ll find an option to switch to full screen mode. Enable this so that you have the largest image available for viewing.