Teaching Yoga in the Pandemic - Chapter 5

The Covid-19 health pandemic changed everything — including yoga. I have been a consumer of online yoga courses and classes since 2011. I’ve always enjoyed the ability to learn from a variety of teachers and take class anytime that fits my schedule. As a student, I also love the ability to be anonymous. It suits my personality well.

But it wasn’t until the forced shutdowns that I transitioned to teaching online. Within days of the shutdowns, I had a quick zoom tutorial and we’d transitioned our studio schedule to livestream classes a few times a day. With everyone stuck at home, students eagerly joined the classes.

At first it was a challenge to find the right physical space in our tiny home where I could teach with clear camera angles and not be too interrupted with background noise from the kids. It quickly became clear this would be our reality for a while though, so we decluttered the teaching space and invested in quality lighting and recording equipment.

I was not unique in this transition. By late spring of 2020 almost every yoga teacher had transitioned to teaching online. In those early pandemic days, so many teachers and studios offered free or donation-based classes. Someone somewhere was always live streaming a class. Online yoga classes were an accessible oasis amongst the shit storm of the early health pandemic.

But as time has stretched, the island of online yoga teachers has shrunk back down a bit. I am still on my island and still teaching though with an ever open and evolving mindset.

When Realignment Studio closed in October 2020, I immediately pivoted to classes under my own platform. I’ve long had a website and personal offerings not tied to the studio, but this was a bigger endeavor. The Be You Yoga Hub launched in November 2020 as a monthly subscription service.

I’m now 18 months in and things are steady. Our new home has a wonderful space for me to teach. I am continually tinkering with and upgrading my sound, lighting, and video. I keep dedicated time for my own movement and meditation practices as well as journaling and spiritual readings. I’ve found this more important than ever to keep my teachings alive.

There are weeks when my body and mind are in it to win it, and weeks when I lean towards exhausted and uninspired. I talk about that openly, and I lean into the light to bring us through.

It does feel like the tortoise and the hare. Mostly, The Be You Yoga Hub is the tortoise. I’m joined by an earnest, steady group of yogis. We are dedicated to continuing our practice and our community. We consistently show up for ourselves and one another (both in real time and through class recordings).

This spring I added regular in person classes to our schedule. These classes are a bit more like the hare. They are flashy and exciting, but keeping the steam is hard. As we gained the opportunity in the pandemic to practice anytime, I also think many lost some steam and perhaps remembrance of the magic of in person classes. For those that feel enriched at home and online, they are happy to stay. For those that didn’t, they mostly have lost their yoga practice altogether and may be intimidated to return to class.

I get it all. I’ve now been teaching yoga online for two years. Today, I plan to continue. Catch me tomorrow and I might feel otherwise. But if yoga practice has taught me one thing, it is to just keep returning. Keep rolling out the mat and keep offering what you can.

Maybe someday I’ll fill in all the gaps in my yoga timeline in a book — there’s plenty to say — but for now I wanted to arrive at this moment.The present. So, I could with clear eyes and an open heart, ponder — should I keep going? For this moment, the answer is yes.

My timeline has taught me that what, where, why, when, and how of my teaching is forever shifting. And it’s hard to imagine any present moment where I’m not a yogi — where I’m not practicing and sharing the ride.

Missed my prior chapters? You can find them here: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4.

Curious to take a class with me or read more blogs? It’s all here: betsypoos.com