Review: YOGA MASTER for Nintendo Switch
As I have a few years of experience with yoga and got trained in personal lessons by qualified yoga trainer but also on another level by Tibetan Buddhist masters I was very curious to check out “YOGA MASTER” by My World, a “game” for Nintendo Switch.
First of all, of course it is not a “game” but rather a virtual Yoga teaching, training and coaching application. So I had some doubts how this can work, as I had some not so good experiences with similar Apps for Apple iOS. But one result of my evaluation upfront, the connection with the TV and use of the Joy-Con makes YOGA MASTER much more useful and practical compared to Apps on a Tablet or a video trainig on YouTube.
But now lets check out YOGA MASTER step by step.
During the execution of the exercise it is important to breathe calmly and not to force anything.
Do the exercises only as far as you can, that is the starting point.
When starting the “game” there will be some short slides with basic explanations about Yoga, what to pay attention to and what to focus on.
After this basic introduction the use of the Joy-Con is explained and the Joy-Con is getting configured. To use the Joy-Con is highly recommend and makes a lot of sense, to control the “game” while doing the exercise (Asana) and even more important it controls to a degree how well you do the Asana.
In a next step you can choose a Trainer (Avatar), right now you have a choice between three different Yoga teacher. But I could not find if this is just a choice of personal taste or if these trainer teach different kind of Yoga schools and traditions. By the way, as we publicly have a lot of discussions about gender equality, it would have been great to have the opportunity to choose also a male Yoga teacher, as for a quiet a while this is not a female domain anymore.
After deciding for a Yoga Teacher the choice is huge for different training environments like a classical Yoga studio, on the terrace or in the nature to name just a few examples. Same is the choice for backgrounds, music and sound effects. And no need to worry, all this configuration we make in the beginning including the choice of the Yoga Teacher can be changed any time during we proceed in the configuration of the “game”.
When we finished the basic configuration we move on to the main part of the “game”. Here we can choose between poses (Asanas) or a complete program. Lets check out the poses (Asanas) first.
The “game” offers up to 150 poses (Asanas) in three Level (easy, medium and advanced or difficult). Through this menu it is possible to choose just one Asana and start straight away practicing this one.
After choosing one Asana, some little configuration can be done, like how many repetitions of this Asana we want to make. It shows then the required time for this and besides this one can choose which music shall be played during the exercise. In the next step the practice and sweating begins.
Together with the Yoga Teacher on the screen we make the Asana, in a very understandable way the Avatar shows the correct movements which we follow along but this in connection with a clear and very good understandable voice output. Come close to the feeling to have a teacher in front, doing the Asana together.
During the Asana a voice tells us when to breath in and when to breath out, supported by a graphic showing how many seconds we have to hold a certain position. The “game” interface offers a excellent overview and it is easy to catch what to do and how to follow allong.
After completing and even during parts of the Asana we get an immediate feedback how well we did and where to improve. And this is based on the smart use of the Joy-Cons through this “game”. This is the reason why I personally think that YOGA MASTER for Nintendo Switch comes much close to the experience with a real life Yoga Teacher compared to YouTube videos or Apps I tried out on Tablets. And especially when learning or practicing Yoga the feedback from a Yoga Teacher on breathing techniques and the procedure of the exercise is of vital importance.
Besides just working on certain Asanas it is also possible to choose from 111 different programs, meaning they consist of a circle of different Asanas and here again categorized in three Levels (simple, medium and advanced / difficult).
In a diary all exercises are recorded and can be evaluated by pose, hours and results.
Also it is possible to adjust the volume of music, voice output an sound effects. I recommend to turn the voice output a little louder than then music, so that the voice and instructions can be understood clearly during the Yoga practice. In the configuration it is possible to change the trainer and to view a tutorial.
Another really nice feature is the create a automatic individual training, through the input of age, weight, lifestyle but also what the goal of the practice shall be and how often during the practice a Asana shall be repeated.
Based on this input the “game” give recommendations for a personal training program which can be started straight away.
Conclusion
YOGA MASTER for Nintendo Switch is a excellent tool for the daily or frequent Yoga practice at home, much better than any other Apps or Video tutorials and it comes closer to a real life Yoga practice in a studio or with a teacher than anything else I tried before. Especially in the current situation of the Corona pandemic in which are studios closed and in which we taught to avoid indoor sport or exercise it is a great tool to keep up with the Yoga practice and to stay physically and mentally fit in Home Office or while being not able to practice in a group. The discovery of YOGA MASTER for Nintendo Switch was a positive surprise. It will help and motivate me to start my daily Yoga routine in the morning again. Only those who have no Yoga experience at all I personally would recommend to start Yoga first with a real life teacher before jumping into YOGA MASTER, even if the “game” is from its levels suitable for beginners I personally think that some basics as a foundation taught by a real life teacher will be helpful.
