Adapting to Be Present

2020-03-25

Hello Everyone,

I know we are all learning to deal with the situations pressed on us by the outbreak of covid-19. It has been by turns difficult, liberating, worrying, and continuously uncertain. I’ve been riding my own roller coaster of emotions, and with two of my kids back in the house from university, life feels very crowded again. While it’s nice that I am among the many people who haven’t had their day jobs cancelled by the virus, I still have to work from home every day. Making space for practice under these conditions is hard, and so is being separated from the yoga community.

I’ve been looking at various technology options for sharing an online practice space. In fairness, so have many other yoga teachers in the Dublin area. Last week (19 March) I held a yin class via a Discord livestream. It was a little bit magical, how everyone brought their attention together to create a bit of sacred space even though we were scattered from Co. Wicklow to Malahide to the east coast of America.

I still don’t have all the details of online teaching worked out, but I would still like to help create space for everyone to practice. SO I am going to repeat the Thursday night Yin practice tomorrow, 26 March 2020 from 1930-2100, just like last week. I’m asking to set aside a little bit more time to talk after the practice and discuss various options for continuing this practice (and others) while the social distancing measures remain in place.

So if you’ve not ever joined the YogaLab server this link will get you connected to the rest of the group. I strongly suggest that you just use a web browser to connect to the server, and do not download the desktop client. The web interface is actually one of the reasons I like Discord for livestreams. Once you’ve joined the server, then you need to click on the “200326 - Thursday Night Yin” voice channel, and then the red “LIVE” button. If you want to talk to the group you’ll also need to click the little microphone thingy next to your user name to be heard.

Over all, I’d like to keep offering one class on each of my regular teaching days (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday), but as I said, I am still figuring out the technology, as well as what kind of content makes sense using the livestream format. Please email your suggestions, or even better, bring them with you to class tomorrow. I’d love the chance to practice and talk to you all.

Remember: Thursday Night Yin, 1930-2100

I will probably be sending a few more emails than usual as we figure out how to proceed during this difficult time. Thank you for listening.

Om shanti

This document was translated from L^AT_EX by H^EV^EA.