Yoga in times of self isolation
Sending new moon greetings on this sunny morning.
I am here sitting with a cup of tea, in the sunshine, writing and contemplating. It’s only a week ago since my last newsletter. That was when I made the decision to stop the yoga classes due to the current circumstances. At the time it was all very unreal.
And it was only on Saturday that the clinic (and all wellness studios and most other public places) were asked to close.
A lot has changed.
What’s going to happen to my yoga:
I have more contemplations on this (long email alert!) but for those who are concerned about their yoga classes:
Currently, I have several FREE resources
Audio classes HERE
Selection of videos HERE
Just uploaded one on Youtube here – also shared on Facebook.
All my online courses are now 50% off with coupon code calm https://yogaembodiedonline.com/
Having said all that… teaching yoga and offering massage therapy is out of the question at the moment. If you use any of the audio/free classes please consider donating to my Paypal link (no need for a paypal account).
Pressing the pause button
It feels like the World has pressed “pause”. We are forced into stopping and being.
Of course, there are exceptions: I can’t imagine being on the frontline in the health service, administering the logistics or deciding the new rules and regulations.
There are plusses and minuses of being self-employed and not being able to work: the minus is that I don’t have any income and there is no financial support at all from the government at present (although we hope some kind of package will materialise). It’s scary. We don’t know when we can start again and make plans for that.
When this crisis started all the yoga teacher forums were inundated with questions of if we should teach or not? To be honest, I had to turn off all the yoga teacher facebook groups – it was too stressful! Then the pressure of everyone asking about teaching online and how to do and what to charge…
Uncertainty and fear create anxiety. It is not a good place to make decisions from.
So I pressed the pause button. I don’t know what I will do (and that’s ok).
Yesterday I did some home practice and I recorded it. But I am still not certain if I’m in the right space to set up a regular online class. Thank you to those who responded to and would like us to continue – it may happen but nothing is certain yet.
I often talk about how we react rather than respond
I don’t want to react (because it really isn’t necessary right now). That has been a pattern and it has led to burn-out and exhaustion.
Instead, I pressed pause to digest and respond – rather than react. I do my own yoga and movement practice. Lots of breathing. Simply being. Lots of cooking. Going for my allowed once-a-day loooooong walk on the beach.
We are in this together
And we feed off each other’s fear and drama – or any emotions and reaction. We look to others for safe ways to react as a collective. But we can choose how we want to respond as an individual. It does mean we need to stop. Stop watching the news, social media, the headlines or overly interacting with people who feed us with fear and drama (at least for a while). We need to look in instead of out.
We may still be affected and pick up the collective energy. The weird vibes around at present. But it also means that we have a choice to learn about our reactions and how we digest all of this.
So, this is one of the positives of being self-employed. I have pressed pause. I can take long walks. I can take time to truly digest, assimilate and then decide what is nurturing me, strengthening and supportive and what needs to be released.
Not having children I have space and time. I enjoy being the English teacher along with Dan for my niece who is also isolating back in Denmark (hurray for FaceTime). I spend time chatting/facetiming with friends and family – more than ever.
How are you coping?
What is helping you in these changing times and what challenges are you feeling?
I’ll continue sharing my newsletter and if any online classes come up you’ll be the first to know!
New moon love and sunny greetings,
Anja
yogaembodied.com written March 25, 2020 by anjayoga