YOGA IN A TINY SPACE

In Octavia Butler’s Parable of The Sower, the middle class and the working poor all live in gated communities that they are constantly defending from homeless people who have been displaced due to Climate Change (not a farfetched idea and it is kind of happening already). Octavia Butler didn’t so much write a book of fiction as she did a book about what is really going to happen in our future. The book’s center character’s Dad is a teacher and he does most of his teaching online when the internet is working. You do not know how many times I thought about that during the pandemic, particularly whenever the “low internet signal” warning would flash up on my screen during a Zoom meeting.

So I am completely surprised that I voluntarily created a Zoom yoga class and that I am still doing it.

I never ever saw myself as the kind of yoga teacher who would create videos or record classes. The sound of my own voice makes me want to crawl up under a rock and die. I am still honestly amazed at how my yoga students endure the sound of my voice all the way through a class. I have nearly fallen over in shock when a student tells my voice is soothing. I just want to yell at them “DO YOU EVEN HAVE EARS!!?!?!?” I feel awkward and ugly in front of a camera, probably because I am rarely the one in front of the camera. I am always on the other side of the camera, taking pictures of others who probably also feel awkward and ugly in front of a camera. Videos and recorded classes where just not going to be my thing.

I learned some things after teaching that first class and bought myself a ring light. I now have two cameras going to give my students the best views and I no longer feel like I’m a yelling. I like that I teach the class in the very same place where I have my personal home practice. I like that I don’t have to leave my house to teach this class. I had one week (just one) where I did not have students show up to Zoom and the great thing about that is that I didn’t drive across town for nothing. Here’s the thing I like the most about this whole Zoom yoga teaching thing. I have two students who are my regulars. They always show up. That’s not what I like the most, though of course I love that they like it enough to keep coming back every Thursday. The part I like the most is that none of us are in the same state. Sarah and Christy are both college friends who I haven’t really spent time with since college ended for us. There would be a few gatherings with Sarah over the years, but Christy and I had our first visit in over twenty years back in 2019 when I was in D.C. for a conference. Now I see these women almost every week, which is crazy because we are all stretched out across the country with Sarah in southern Oklahoma and Christy in Virginia and me in the middle.

I have gotten comfortable teaching in this format, which is something I never thought would happen. Despite the weirdness of technology and not being in the same room, there is an intimacy to be found here. There is vulnerability here. I am allowing people to come into my bedroom with yoga props piled on the bed and a full laundry basket of dirty clothes right in clear view. None of it bothers now. I have always found joy in teaching yoga and teaching in this format doesn’t seem to diminish that joy. This week, the class will start with a seated warm-up before moving into a few rounds of sun salutations. Our asana practice will be a gentle flow of standing and balancing poses before winding down for final relaxation. This is a practice for all levels of yoga. There is a link to the Zoom room on my Facebook page or you can email me for the link. The class is free, but if you would like to make a donation, you can email me about ways to do that.

Hope to see you in the virtual world this Thursday at 6:00!