I've been given access to the Gaiam Yoga Club with Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman. I guess, in return, I'm supposed to give feedback about my experience and perhaps write about it here.

The program of videos, podcasts and print media runs for 12 weeks, and is meant for the beginner who is practicing at home. My first impression is that it's a really polished product, with high production values on the handful of videos that I've seen so far. There's a lot of material to be absorbed, even when you're not starting from scratch. Normally, this online service costs $5 a week, billed quarterly (every 13 weeks). So I am being offered the equivalent of $60 to participate, assuming that the invitation was for the whole program. I just wanted to get that out front from the beginning.

What surprised me the most is that given the high profiles of Yee and Saidman on the yoga scene, the backing of a major retailer in the lifestyle business, like Gaiam, and the strong investment already made in the product, I'm surprised that I had not heard about this service before. It was launched in May, but I have not seen much promotion for it, and I do get a fair share of yoga-related e-mails for products, retreats, and other matters. For instance, I was trying to find a graphic, a banner ad or something like that to illustrate this blog posting, and I google the web for the one displayed here. There was no spot on their website that offered graphics or a media kit.