Online yoga in a time of COVID-19

New measures are put in place every day to protect us from the fast spreading coronavirus. With so many unknowns this is a time of intense anxiety and fear. But for all our faults humans are for the most part brilliant, and particularly so in the face of adversity. We are fast learning to adapt to new sanctions, carving out new versions of reality for ourselves and our families. That said anxiety levels for many of us are through the roof and it has never been more important to find ways of relaxing and indeed coping with this changing world.

I along with many other yoga teachers and yoga studios made the decision to stop all public yoga classes for the foreseeable future. This then prompted a mad scramble to try and take our classes online, which for a number of us is completely new territory. Hats off to those who already have a big youtube following. I’ll admit it was always on my to do list, but I never quite got around to it. Well here I am climbing up the online yoga hill a little blind to what lies ahead.

Live Online Classes

Next week I’ll be rolling out my first live class. If test sessions are anything to go by, while there may not be technical difficulties (fingers crossed, be kind to me internet gods and goddesses), you can expect every animal that lives in this house (there are 5) to make an entrance at some point or another. I’ve ordered some studio lights, not the best that money can buy but what is feasible within budget (as who knows when we’ll be back to making a regular income from this?). I’ve to-ed and fro-ed over a price point for the classes. I’d love to be able to offer them for free, and I’ll certainly be uploading a number of publicly available free videos to my youtube channel, but my reality is that I still need to make some money. The good news is that I’m no longer capped by room size, arguably my class size is now infinite, so I can factor that in and work with a price that considers the financial strain everyone finds themselves under at the moment.

Many of my fellow teachers are offering donation based online classes which is a great idea. Those that can pay more do, and those that are struggling simply pay what is affordable for them. Once I figure out how to automate that, I’ll certainly be doing that too.

What you need to know about our online yoga classes

Our videos will not be as polished as subscription yoga channels. We’re new to this. Our lighting will be off, the sound might not be great, there may be interruptions by other people also confined to our houses as they invariably forget that we’re holding a live class. But choose us. It’s important that you choose us over other services because we are YOUR people. We are YOUR yoga teachers. We are YOUR friends and when this is all over we will be there in person for you again to help you with YOUR yoga practice. I really hope that my students will reach out to me over the forthcoming weeks with their yoga questions or hell, just reach out because they need someone to talk to. There is a strange time ahead for us all. We need to find a way to be there for each other even when we cannot do so in person.

Maybe think of it this way; established subscription classes by large companies are the equivalent of eating in a chain restaurant. You know what you’re getting and the food is ok. Whereas online classes from your yoga teacher or local studio are like home cooked food; personal, tailored for you and seasoned with love.

Feel free to visit my YouTube channel for free yoga classes and check the schedule for the next live online yoga class.

Fingers crossed I’ll see you online. Stay healthy and stay safe x

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