In a world where yoga dvds seem to be as plentiful and easy to find as bottled water or $3 cups of coffee, they seem to play some part in the practice of most yoga practitioners.

It seems, in my experience and that of many of my friends, that yoga begins as a live in-person experience. A friend convinces you to try a class, or after months or years of curiosity you walk into a yoga studio and try it on your own. And that's when some people catch the bug, the buzz, the benign addiction to yoga. You become a regular at the studio closest to your home or office, you discover that you resonate with some teachers and not others, you buy your own mat, clothes and even props...Then you realize how much your new yoga habit is costing you. (Not that it isn't a good habit. And of course its vastly better for us than a pint-of-ice-cream- or bottle-of-wine-a-night habit or worse. But most of us have to live within some kind of budget.)

That's when some people start buying yoga dvds. They're available on-line, in big-box stores, and even in the big chain bookstores. And most of them are priced at about the same price of a single class at a studio. So it seems logical. For the price of a live class, here's a recorded yoga class that you can watch and practice along with as many times as you like. In addition, the dvd can be played at any time that fits into your schedule and its portable. If you can only practice early in the morning on weekdays, it can be hard to find a class at a studio or gym early enough to make it to work on time, but the yoga dvd fits into your schedule. Likewise, if you're traveling, you can't always find a studio where your visiting, but the dvd can come with you and be played on your laptop computer.

Now all of us that have used yoga dvds to practice know that its not the same as having a live teacher providing personalized guidance and the sense of security that comes with knowing that an experienced teacher is watching. Over time, doing the same practice over and over again with the same exact cues and directions can get boring. And just like live classes, how well you like and respond to the teacher is still important. If you like the instructor and his/her style you can watch that dvd dozens of times, but if you don't, you might send it to Goodwill after using it once or twice it.

Nonetheless, yoga dvds can play an important part in your yoga practice. If you find an instructor or instructors whose dvds you enjoy, you may collect all of their work over time, so that you have a selection of recorded classes to practice. You can mix and match a few classes on dvd and a few live classes at your favorite studio to round out your week and give you the yoga practice you want within your budget.