Alva Courses is a Shopify app that lets yoga, meditation and wellness teachers build, sell and deliver online courses entirely inside their store. A wellness course is usually a video-led practice library — a class series, a 30-day program, a teacher-training module — paced over time and tied to a season. Everything below runs through your existing Shopify store, checkout and customer accounts, so there is no separate platform to manage and no second login for students.
The steps assume a working Shopify store and something worth teaching: a recorded flow series, a meditation course, a breathwork challenge. Follow them in order, since later steps depend on earlier ones. For an audience-specific overview, see the Alva Courses page for yoga & wellness teachers.
Can you sell yoga and wellness courses on Shopify?
Yes. Alva Courses turns a Shopify store into a yoga and wellness course platform. You build a course of video lessons, link it to a standard Shopify product, and sell it at your normal checkout. Once an order is paid, Alva Courses enrols the student and opens a calm, branded player in their Shopify account.
Step 1: Install Alva Courses and build your class series
Install Alva Courses from the Shopify App Store; it embeds in your Shopify admin with no second dashboard. Create a course, then use the drag-and-drop builder to add sections and lessons. Organise practices into sections — one week per section, or one theme per module — so the player sidebar stays calm and progress feels achievable.
Lessons are more than video
Each lesson holds a rich mix of content blocks. Pair a class video with a text block of breathing cues, a PDF sequence sheet, or an audio file for a guided meditation or yoga nidra. Use "Create Multiple" to add a batch of daily lessons at once, then reorder them by dragging.
Step 2: Host long class videos without the 10-minute cap
Video is the hard part of a wellness course. Shopify's native file storage caps each upload at 1 GB and 10 minutes — too small for a 60-minute flow. On the Unlimited Pro plan, Alva Video Hosting gives you 50 GB and removes that per-video limit, so a full-length class uploads as a single file.
A 60-minute class is one file, not six
Without a video host, teachers end up splitting a long class into chunks or hiding it on an unlisted YouTube link — clumsy for students and off-brand for you. Alva Video Hosting plays every full-length flow in your own branded player, so the practice stays calm and uninterrupted. For filming and upload tips, see the guide to making course videos.
Step 3: Drip a program day by day so students follow the practice
Releasing a whole library at once invites bingeing and refunds. Alva Courses drips lessons a set number of days after each student enrols, so a 30-day program unlocks one practice per day from the moment someone joins — see drip-feeding course content for timing strategy and cohort-launch dates.
Keep students in sequence
Turn on "require completion before next lesson" so students move through a flow series in order rather than skipping ahead. For a breathwork or meditation course, sequential pacing protects the arc of the practice and keeps beginners from jumping into advanced sessions too early.
Step 4: Sell seasons with limited-time access
Wellness sells in seasons — a spring reset, a summer mobility series, a 30-day challenge. Limited-time access in Alva Courses sells a course for a set window, then closes it automatically when the season ends. The countdown adds gentle urgency and keeps your catalogue curated rather than sprawling.
Step 5: Blend live Zoom classes with on-demand video
A program is stickier when it feels live. Add a Zoom block to any lesson so a weekly workshop, Q&A or guided session sits right beside your recorded library. Native per-lesson comments let students ask about a pose or share how a meditation felt — so the program becomes a small community.
Step 6: Reward finishers with certificates and track progress
For a teacher-training module or a multi-week challenge, Alva Courses awards a custom completion certificate automatically when a student finishes, and emails it to them. The certificate template is fully editable, so it carries your studio's branding. A per-course Members Overview tracks enrolments, completion rate and per-student progress.
Bringing existing students across
Moving a class series onto Shopify rarely starts from zero. Use bulk CSV import to add your current students in one pass, or Add Member manually for one-offs. Imported students appear in the same Members view as new buyers, with the same progress tracking and discussion access — so a migration does not split your community across two systems.
Step 7: Deliver access through a calm branded player
Students never leave your store. When an order is paid, Alva Courses enrols the buyer and delivers access through a branded enrolment email plus links on the Thank-You and Order Status pages. Students open My Courses in their Shopify account and follow each practice in a distraction-free player with a progress bar.
Which Alva Courses plan does a wellness teacher need?
For yoga and wellness teachers, the deciding factor is video. Both plans include unlimited courses, members, drip, limited-time access, certificates and the branded player, each with a 14-day free trial. The choice comes down to whether you host full-length classes yourself or lean on YouTube and Vimeo.
Unlimited $9.99 vs Unlimited Pro $14.99
Unlimited ($9.99/mo) fits a teacher who embeds classes from YouTube, Vimeo, VdoCipher or Loom, or keeps files under Shopify's 1 GB / 10-minute limit. Unlimited Pro ($14.99/mo) adds Alva Video Hosting — 50 GB and no per-video limit — for video-heavy seasonal programs. Both come with a 14-day free trial; see the pricing page for the full breakdown.
How should I price a yoga or wellness course?
Price around the outcome and the format. A single recorded class series anchors lower than a guided seasonal program with a live Zoom and a certificate. Limited-time seasons justify a recurring re-purchase, while a teacher-training module commands a premium. For frameworks, read how to price an online course.
Why run a wellness course inside Shopify instead of a standalone tool?
Keeping a wellness course in Shopify means one checkout, one login and one customer record. You reuse your theme, payments, discounts and analytics, and the player carries your studio's branding instead of someone else's. A standalone platform adds a second subscription and splits your data across two systems.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. With Alva Courses, a yoga, meditation or wellness course is built and sold inside your existing Shopify store. Each course links to a standard Shopify product, so students buy at your normal checkout. Once paid, Alva Courses enrols them and opens a calm, branded course player in their Shopify customer account — no second platform and no second login.
Shopify's native file storage caps each upload at 1 GB and 10 minutes, which is too small for a 60-minute class. On the Unlimited Pro plan, Alva Video Hosting gives you 50 GB and removes that per-video limit, so a full-length flow uploads as one file. You can also embed YouTube, Vimeo, VdoCipher or Loom inside any lesson on either plan.
Yes. Alva Courses drips lessons a set number of days after each student enrols, so a 30-day program unlocks one practice per day from the moment someone joins. You can also schedule a lesson to publish on a fixed calendar date for a cohort launch, or keep upcoming weeks as Draft until you film them. Dripping paces students and reduces refunds.
Yes. Limited-time access in Alva Courses sells a course for a set window — a spring reset, a 6-week course or a 30-day challenge. When the window closes, the course leaves the student's customer account automatically, so a re-enrolment is a fresh purchase rather than a manual cleanup. It keeps your catalogue curated and adds gentle urgency.
Yes. Add a Zoom block to any lesson so a live workshop, Q&A or guided session sits right beside your on-demand library. A seasonal program can blend recorded daily practices with a weekly live class, and students reach both from the same branded course player in their Shopify account — plus per-lesson comments to keep the community talking.
Alva Courses has two plans, each with a 14-day free trial. Unlimited is $9.99/month for unlimited courses, members, drip scheduling, limited-time access, certificates and discussions, with Shopify-hosted video capped at 1 GB or 10 minutes per video. Unlimited Pro is $14.99/month and adds Alva Video Hosting with 50 GB and no per-video limits — the right plan for full-length classes.