Gaia is a streaming media network that provides original TV series, films, and documentaries as well as yoga and fitness classes. Much of Gaia’s media content is evidence-based and focused on mindful living, but some subjects are unscientific and may be considered controversial. Gaia costs $11.99 monthly or $99.99 annually, with both subscription options coming with a seven-day free trial.
Pros & Cons of Gaia Yoga App
The Gaia app offers a variety of yoga styles, guided meditations, and other fitness classes like pilates and HIIT (high-intensity interval training). You’ll also find world-renowned teachers that are popular in the yoga community. However, it’s important to note that Gaia is primarily a streaming TV service that also provides yoga classes. Yoga is a notable subcategory of Gaia, but it is not the main feature. In addition, some of Gaia’s subject matter contains unproven theories and controversial topics.
How to Sign Up for the Gaia Yoga App
You can sign up for yoga on Gaia through the Gaia website, the Apple App Store, or the Google Play Store. You can also install Gaia on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, and Apple TV.
What is Gaia?
Gaia is a streaming media network that includes yoga classes, guided meditation, and conscious living content. You can find everything from inspiring lectures on spiritual growth to original TV series on ancient civilizations. Gaia is user-friendly and can be accessed through your smartphone, tablet, laptop, or TV. A Gaia membership costs $11.99 monthly or $99.99 annually and includes a free seven-day trial.
Gaia’s easy-to-use app provides a variety of yoga styles (Ashtanga, Hatha, Kundalini), guided meditations, breathwork, and other fitness classes like pilates, qigong (coordinated movement meditation), and HIIT. There is a great beginners’ series for those trying out yoga for the first time, and classes that cater to more seasoned yogis. The yoga, meditation, and fitness teachers provide clear instructions, with all classes recorded in clean, bright, and beautiful spaces. Gaia’s experienced yoga instructors are trained in a wide range of disciplines.
A great perk to Gaia is that every day, your dashboard will display recommended yoga classes, guided meditations, featured entertainment, and newly added videos. However, you’re unable to personalize your dashboard to only display your preferences. There is a playlist section where you can save your favorite videos, classes you’d like to try in the future, and classes you want to download to watch offline. Gaia features a filter tool that allows you to narrow your search by duration, teacher, experience level, style, or area of focus.
Media Focusing on Conscious Living
Gaia encourages users to go beyond mainstream media and explore their conscious living content. In addition to yoga classes, Gaia provides over 8,000 ad-free titles, including original TV series, films, documentaries, and even cooking shows. You can find mindfulness media that covers topics like spiritual growth, expanding consciousness, alternative healing, and personal development. There’s also debatable topics, like crop circles and magic, that some may find interesting, but are not evidence-based.
Additional Events+ Plan
For $299.99 a year, you can purchase Gaia Events+ Plan. This includes all the content you get with an annual or monthly membership plus the ability to stream live events and workshops. Unfortunately, there are no live yoga classes at this time. Examples of upcoming events include talks on “The Science of Resilience” and an Ancient Civilization Conference with scholarly speakers. Gaia Events+ does not offer a free trial.
Who is the Gaia Yoga App Right For?
A Gaia membership offers an incredible amount of content that includes much more than yoga. The content included in a subscription makes Gaia perfect for anyone who wants to explore a yogic lifestyle through things like mindfulness training and lectures on spiritual growth. It’s also a great option for anyone who enjoys thought-provoking entertainment.
You Want to Explore a Yogic Lifestyle
Adapting a yogic lifestyle isn’t just about building a yoga practice. It involves learning to be mindful and act with intention in your daily routines. Gaia provides a massive catalog of content that promotes a yogic lifestyle through personal development, spiritual growth, healthy eating, and sustainability. You can learn everything you need to know about conscious living with a Gaia membership.
You Enjoy Thought-Provoking Entertainment
Gaia’s original TV series and movies include both fiction and non-fiction titles that are educational and inspirational. Gaia wants to gear users towards a unique form of entertainment that you can’t find on cable or other streaming services, making it a great choice for anyone looking for thought-provoking content.
Who May Want an Alternative to Gaia?
Gaia provides a world of entertaining and educational content along with yoga classes. However, not everyone is interested in more TV options, they just want yoga instruction. Gaia may not be a good fit for those who want to focus on fitness, participate in live classes, or personalize their yoga routine.
You Want Live Yoga Classes
For some, an at-home practice is significantly enhanced by having access to live yoga classes. Live classes can make you feel more connected to teachers and the yoga community as a whole. The Glo app would be a great alternative for those interested in participating in live yoga and fitness instruction.
You Don’t Want All the Extra Content
If your primary goal is to build a yoga practice, Gaia’s streaming media network may seem unnecessary. Users who want to lose weight, build strength, and focus on fitness should try out the Asana Rebel app. Asana Rebel is geared toward getting in shape and building a fitness routine.
You Want a Personalized Experience
Gaia does not offer a personalized experience as other yoga apps do. The home screen will continue to promote their TV shows and films along with recommended yoga and meditation classes, but it does not help you reach goals or track progress. If you’re hoping to customize your yoga practice, you may want to try the Find What Feels Good app. FWFG has monthly and weekly accountability series to help you focus on personal goals and stay committed.
What Users Are Saying About the Gaia App
The Gaia yoga app has 4.8 stars from 97.8K reviews on the Apple App Store, 4.7 stars from 28.4K reviews on the Google Play Store, and 4.3 stars from 8.7K reviews on Trustpilot.
Love the Conscious Living Content
A lot of users praised the amount of educational, compelling, and inspirational content on Gaia. Many reviewers noted that they often find themselves discussing topics from Gaia’s film and TV series with friends and family. I had a chance to view a few videos on promoting natural health and longevity through diet, and I found the information incredibly helpful and scientifically sound.
Great Yoga and Meditation Classes
Most of the Gaia reviewers applauded the yoga and meditation classes. Many users mentioned the great teachers and the variety of yoga styles available. I was also impressed with the yoga and meditation classes, teachers, and quality of the videos.
Problems with Videos Not Loading
Many Gaia reviewers using both iPhones and Androids reported having problems with videos loading, freezing, and misaligned audio. I didn’t have any problems with yoga or meditation videos loading or freezing, but it appears to be an issue for several users.
Poor Customer Service
There were a significant number of complaints about customer service, especially on Trustpilot’s rating platform. Many users had problems with canceling their subscriptions and connecting with a representative when they had tech issues.
Initially, I found the subscription price confusing because I was being advertised a monthly plan of $11.99 on social media, but the monthly plan didn’t appear when I tried to sign up. I contacted customer service about it, and it took a representative seven days to respond. The issue was eventually resolved, but I thought a week was not an efficient response time.
Beware of Conspiracy Theories
While many of the reviewers reported their fascination with the conscious living media, several others warned viewers of conspiracy theories and biased content. There were a lot of research-backed videos covering healthy eating, the power of mindfulness, and yoga’s physical and mental benefits. However, they also have a buffet of TV shows and films under the category Secrets & Cover Ups that feature topics like aliens, secret space programs, and magic.
How Much Does Gaia Cost?
Gaia costs $11.99 monthly and $99.99 annually, there is also a premium version called Gaia Events+ that costs $299.99 annually. You can look at their platform, watch a handful of free videos, and view two-minute samples of yoga classes before signing up.
How To Get Started With a Yoga Class on Gaia
Gaia makes it easy for users to sign up and begin their first yoga, meditation, or fitness class.
How to get started using the Gaia app:
- Download the app in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store
- Click on Start Free Trial
- Create an Account by submitting your email and creating a password
- Choose your preferred payment plan
- Click on the topics you’d like to explore
- Start your first class
How to get started using the Gaia Website:
- Go to the Gaia website homepage
- Enter your email and click Start Free Trial
- Choose your preferred payment plan
- Click on the topics you’d like to explore
- Start your first class
Gaia App Key Features
Gaia is a video streaming service that promotes mindfulness, spiritual growth, alternative healing, and a yogic lifestyle. Gaia offers yoga and meditation classes taught by world-renowned instructors. Both beginners and advanced yogis can enjoy classes on Gaia’s platform. Gaia costs $11.99 monthly and $99.00 annually, there is a seven-day free trial with either subscription.
Exceptional Yoga Instruction
Gaia has a variety of fitness classes available, but they mainly gear users towards yoga and meditation. They have some highly recognizable yoga teachers, such as Rodney Yee and Kino MacGregor, who have significantly impacted the international yoga community. The yoga classes I tried were clear, engaging, and recorded in bright, beautiful spaces, which created a sense of consistency and familiarity throughout my practices.
With the variety of yoga styles and teachers available on Gaia, it can be a bit daunting to conduct a search for the right class. Gaia does ask users what they’d like to focus on so they can provide recommendations, but the experience isn’t as personalized as other yoga apps. For example, I often overlooked my suggested classes on my main screen because I was distracted by Gaia’s advertisements of featured content on Ancient Civilizations. Thankfully, the filter tool helped me narrow my search by style, duration, teacher, focus area, and experience level. All preferred classes can then be saved on the playlist tab for easy access.
Meditation and Extra Resources
Gaia’s meditation content is comparable to its yoga catalog. While other yoga apps often categorize meditation as an extra resource, Gaia pushes meditation to the forefront of their video instruction section. There are hundreds of videos on meditation —everything from guided meditation exercises to documentaries on its origin. Gaia also provides other resources, like a yoga pose library and articles on alternative healing, but you can only access these items on the website, not on the app.
Streaming Videos
Gaia has an extensive collection of videos, TV shows, and films that cover an incredible range of topics. I was delighted to see tutorials on different yoga postures, healthy cooking videos, and fascinating documentaries on famous gurus. However, some of Gaia’s content goes beyond the mainstream view of mindful living. For instance, TV shows and films about aliens, chemtrails, crop circles, and forbidden science might be a bit far-fetched for some users.
Gaia also offers a premium plan called Events+ that allows you to live-stream events, workshops, and conferences from around the world. With this plan, you can chat live with other members watching the events and gain access to their library of past events. The Events+ plan costs $299.99 a year and I wouldn’t recommend this option to anyone looking for live yoga classes. The current events on the schedule didn’t include yoga instruction.
Gaia vs Yoga International
In December of 2021, Gaia acquired Yoga International, so anyone who currently subscribes to Gaia may start to see some of Yoga International’s content migrating to Gaia’s streaming service. 1 As of today, they still remain separate apps with different pricing. Yoga International costs $19.99 monthly, $199 annually, and $499 annually for a premium plan. Gaia’s monthly plan costs $11.99, and its annual plan costs $99.99. You can get a seven-day free trial with both companies.
Yoga International doesn’t offer a catalog of TV series and films like Gaia does, which is the main element that sets these two yoga apps apart. Yoga International has yoga instruction on the forefront, while Gaia’s yoga classes appear to be more of an additional perk of its streaming service than its primary focus. Yoga International would be a better choice for yoga enthusiasts who want to focus on building a better practice.
Gaia vs Alo Moves
Gaia and Alo Moves are similar apps because they have yoga and meditation in common, but they are very different platforms. As mentioned above, Gaia is a huge entity that’s aiming to evolve the world’s consciousness through alternative media. The Alo Moves app is much more focused on fitness.
An Alo Moves subscription costs $19.99 monthly or $199.00 annually and comes with a 14-day free trial, which is a longer free trial than many other yoga platforms. Gaia’s monthly membership of $11.99 is lower than the average, and you get a lot of extras with their entertainment options. However, if you’re not interested in their media content, and more focused on getting fit, Alo Moves would be a better option.
History of Gaia
Gaia Inc., formerly known as Gaiam, was founded in 1988 in Boulder, Colorado, by Jirka Rysavy. It’s a subscription-based streaming service that’s currently available in 185 countries. On Gaia Inc.’s LinkedIn profile, they explain that the company’s goal is to produce alternative media covering a wide range of topics to empower the evolution of consciousness.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Gaia App
How Do I Cancel My Gaia Subscription?
You can only cancel your Gaia subscription through the platform from where you purchased it.
For Apple users, you can cancel your subscription by going to Settings and tapping on your Apple ID at the top of your phone. From there, you tap ‘Subscriptions’ and select the Gaia tab. Then click ‘Cancel Subscription.’
For Android users, Open the Google Play app and tap on your profile icon at the top right. From there, you tap Payments & Subscriptions, then Subscriptions. Select the Gaia app and tap ‘Cancel Subscription.’
To cancel your subscription on the website, log into your account and click ‘Cancel Membership.’ Be sure to follow all the prompts and get confirmation that your account has been canceled.
Does Gaia Offer Refunds?
No, Gaia does not offer refunds. If you’ve seen unauthorized charges on your account, see the steps listed on this customer support page. Check out Gaia’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy for more information.
Final Verdict
Gaia is an impressive company with a strong message on conscious living, but ultimately, I would only recommend Gaia to those looking for alternative entertainment platforms beyond services like Netflix or Hulu. While Gaia offers excellent yoga instruction in various styles, the yoga classes are more of a subcategory of their streaming service, not the main feature. Those that are looking for a personalized yoga program can find an array of other apps that solely focus on yoga classes.
