Bonjour!
As I wrote recently, I’m spending a lot of time at home and enjoying extra family time with L’Husband and Le Chien. We are adjusting to our new home in Vermont and working from home. And despite the uncertainty and stress of the pandemic, we are trying to stay positive and also trying new things.
In my previous posts about life during quarantine, I shared pictures of L’Husband learning to bake, outdoor folk art, and baby bunnies in the backyard. Today’s post covers my experience with attending online yoga classes.
Before reading on, consider the democracy monologue from Sacha Baran Cohen’s satire The Dictator (2012).
Adjusting to Online Yoga
“Yoga does not just change the way we see things, it transforms the person who sees.” – B.K.S. Iyengar
I’ve practiced and taught yoga off and on for years. Sometimes, I enjoy it and feel relaxed and reinvigorated after a gentle practice; others, I feel stiff, sore, and disgruntled.
After a yoga hiatus, during which I moved to Vermont and prepared for the bar exam, I began attending gentle flow classes at Soul Shine Power Yoga. After the Vermont governor issued the stay-home order, I was happy to discover the studio was offering roughly the same course schedule in an online format via the Zoom video conferencing software.
I’ve done yoga in studios, gyms, parks, and my own home. It’s easy to set up and requires little equipment – all you really need is a quiet spot and your breath. Streaming a yoga class online, however, was a new experience for me. Eager to try something new in the middle of quarantine, I happily signed up (and figured out how to use the rest of my prepaid 10-class pass now that such businesses are closed).
Yoga at Home, with Dachshund
“Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.” – Bhagavad Gita
Ever the homebody and introvert, doing yoga at home was absolutely delightful. I set up my own mat, lit my own preferred scent of incense, and played my own relaxing music (usually the Chill Our Radio or Enya Radio stations on Pandora). I didn’t have to worry about being in a crowded classroom or listen to other attendees breath and grunt. I relaxed and enjoyed, moved at my own pace, and made my own adjustments as we flowed through poses.
While I do have my own yoga mat, foam blocks, canvas strap, and meditation cushion, as I mentioned above, all you really need in a quiet space and your breath. You can practice yoga at home in a chair, on the floor, in bed, anywhere that feels peaceful and comfortable.
My only companion during these yoga sessions was Le Chien, who was thoroughly perplexed by my behavior. If I sat on the floor, he hopped in my lap; if I stood to reach and rise on an inhale, he gazed quizzically upwards at me. And of course during savasana, the last pose in any yoga practice, all bets were off – the hound quickly jumped on my stomach for an inspection and stated licking my face, as is his wont.
So while not the traditional yoga class in any way, it was still lots of fun to try yoga online, and to be reminded by Le Chien not to take anything – especially yoga – too seriously.
What new activities have you tried during quarantine?
Merci for reading and please subscribe and share!
À votre santé,
Katie
Joie de Vivre 