We Asked ChatGPT to Make a 60-Minute Yoga Practice. We Have Thoughts.

"AI tools like ChatGPT have become pretty much inescapable. The generative chatbots are designed for mental outsourcing, helping humans research, learn, ideate, and even create. As these tools gain in popularity, there's a question of discernment that seems to be haunting us all: what is AI useful for, and what undertakings should be reserved for humans alone? Having ChatGPT help craft an itinerary for an upcoming vacation, for example, is helpful; having it finish a song you've been writing is...less so."

"So what happens when you ask ChatGPT to make something that's directly toed to body and breath? Like, say, an hour-long yoga practice? We supplied ChatGPT with the following prompt: "Please make me a 60-minute vinyasa yoga sequence using Crow as a peak pose." Then we asked several yoga teachers, including YJ staffers, to try the resulting practice."

"After taking herself through the practice, yoga teacher Taylor Lorenz notes that ChatGPT clearly recognized the necessity of a warm-up. "It understood that the wrists needed to be warmed up, the heat needed to be built," she says. Lorenz also appreciated the time allotted to Savasana at the end of class (five whole minutes!), an essential step for integration that many yoga teachers skimp on. There were some additional surprises. "Pulsing in Goddess Pose is not something I would have thought of to help prep for Crow!" says Lorenz. "But it really warms up the inner thighs and really helps prep for the pose overall, and I loved discovering something new.""

ChatGPT generated a 60-minute vinyasa sequence with Crow as the peak pose after receiving a specific prompt. The sequence included considered elements such as wrist warm-ups, heat-building progressions, and a five-minute Savasana at the end. Several yoga teachers and Yoga Journal staff tested the resulting practice and identified useful, unexpected details like pulsing in Goddess Pose to prep for Crow. The exercise revealed both the potential usefulness of AI for structuring classes and the limitations of AI in fully embodied disciplines that still require human judgment, adaptation, and safety awareness.

Read at Yoga Journal