Yoga Anytime Zoom Backgrounds

If you’re an aficionado of Zoom workouts, you may be tired of looking at your own set-up in the corner of your screen. Or maybe you resent having to pick up your laundry or hide the evidence of a late-night pizza delivery every time you join a Zoom class. If so, a downloadable Zoom background for fitness classes is for you.

There are lots of reasons to switch up your Zoom background from your real life digs. Custom Zoom backgrounds can take your set-up from blah to fabulous in seconds. In addition to not having to tidy for a bunch of strangers, there are issues of privacy and security to consider now that we’re inviting people virtually into our homes.

If you’re exercising with a small group of people you know, such as the members of a group fitness class that has migrated online during COVID-19, this is less of a concern. Even so, while we appreciate our fitness pals, those people we used to connect with in person before and after class, week after week, do we really want to give them a peek into our most intimate spaces? If you are joining a larger class made up of people you haven’t met in real life, privacy and security are a legitimate concern.

A Zoom background prevents others from seeing your taste in home decor, as well as any of your stuff. If you wouldn’t feel comfortable with your parents, boss, or co-workers seeing your workout space, why would you want to show it to the folks in your barre class? Realtors famously recommend stashing personal items that telegraph your views on religion, politics, and other hot-button issues when trying to sell your home. Think of a clean, neutral, and aspirational Zoom background as home-staging for your screen.

Our designers have collected several Instagram-worthy outdoor environments that we think you’ll feel right at home in, if home means never having to pick up dirty laundry from under the couch or trim the brown leaves off of your Fiddle-Leaf Fig tree. You will find the downloadable images as well as their corresponding mobile links throughout this article.

To get started on your desktop or laptop, follow these instructions:

• First, download your favorite image by clicking on the picture, then right click to get a menu, and select "Save Image As".
• Save the image into a folder you can easily find, like onto your Desktop.
• Open Zoom on your computer, click on your profile photo in the top right corner.
• Select “Settings”, then "Background & Filters", and in the “Virtual Backgrounds” tab click on the "+" box to the right, and select "Add Image".
• Select the background you downloaded.
• To choose this background go back to the "Virtual Backgrounds” tab and just click on it.

On your mobile device:

• First, download your favorite image by clicking on the "mobile link" beneath each picture, and save into your photos.
• Open Zoom and start or join a meeting.
• Tap the “MORE” icon on the bottom right of your screen.
• Choose “Virtual Background” and then the “+” symbol.
• Choose your background from your photos file.

Just like with high heels, there’s a price to pay for beauty. If you’re in a class with an instructor who provides individual feedback, the Zoom background can cut off parts of your body or otherwise interfere with your instructor’s ability to see you clearly. Similarly, if you are the instructor, you may choose to forgo the Zoom backgrounds for the duration of the class to ensure that your students have the best possible view of your movements.

Let us know which background is your favorite in the comments below.