Unlimited online and outdoor classes until March!
After the strangest and probably most challenging year of all our lives, 2021 has dawned with new opportunities along with less certainty than ever. To say it's unsettling is an understatement, but let's face it, there's no choice other than to go with the flow and hope for the best! In the words of Reinhold Neibuhr's Serenity Prayer: Grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference. In the spirit of accepting the things we cannot change, I'm expecting to continue fully online at least until the end of March and launching the new Body and Soul membership deals tomorrow (Sunday, 3rd January). You can choose between three months unlimited access, monthly or pay as you go. The three monthly option is amazing value and will really help me by simplifying my admin which, frankly, has been a nightmare with people paying in different ways and at different times. Active members will continue to receive the coming week's zoom links via email every Saturday and they can confirm bookings using the online calendar. Best of all active members who pay for three months can share their membership with friends and family which, hopefully, will encourage them to try out my classes. I know some people are still nervous about online classes so maybe they will feel more confident if someone they know is in the class. My attitude to the internet has definitely evolved since March. At the beginning of our first lockdown (yes, we're numbering them now!) way back in April I wrote about online classes and my personal take on them. At that point, I'd only just heard of zoom and was dipping my toes into the online world from both sides of the camera (or more accurately my mobile phone which suddenly became my lifeline). There was nothing new about online yoga - but, to be honest, it had never appealed to me. With plenty of classes at the gym, plus coffee and comradeship what was the point? For CPD and inspiration I had regular BWY workshops to attend. I sometimes used Dru's own online studio to remind me of sequences and recap on lectures but recorded classes just didn't feel the same as having a live teacher in front of me. Then the pandemic hit and suddenly we were all stuck indoors. Gyms and private classes (including my own) were forced to shut. The only option was to go online and the choice was overwhelming. Every time I opened Facebook another teacher was urging me to roll out the mat and join her (or him) from their kitchen or living room. I found my old yoga teacher, Denny Berfield on Facebook Live, and took my phone outside to practice with her every morning. As she led me through the familiar Sivananda and Kundalini sequences I felt my body stretch, my lungs expand and my mind calm. Without Denny I'm not sure I'd have coped with those early bewildering days of lockdown when the whole world seemed to have been turned upside down. There's no doubt that she's a brilliant teacher - I recommend you try her classes, especially if you are looking for a strong and strengthening practice with lots of pranayama (breathing) - but most of all hearing her voice and seeing her online felt like she was holding my hand and leading me through the craziness. It was like being at the gym again when she was my regular teacher and all was well with the world. I realised then that I needed to take my own classes online and reconnect with my students. My first attempts were not as good as Denny's but I persevered. I chose Facebook Live because it was easy to set up a group which gave me some control over who joined but enabled the classes to be free and open to everyone - subject to answering a few simple health questions and a standard disclaimer. I will always be grateful to everyone who supported me during those early, floundering days especially those who used the comments box to let me know when the phone was upside down or I'd frozen. I realised I needed to invest in a proper stand when the phone fell off it's precarious perch on top of the sofa midclass. I experimented outdoors to begin with which was great for me (I loved the fresh air) but turned out to be too hot for my phone which overheated. Turning the living room into a temporary studio wasn't a popular option with my family (no idea why!!????) but I quickly discovered the spare bedroom as the perfect space. It is now my very own home studio and completely taken over by yoga "crap" as my son describes it! The live aspect of classes made all the difference to me as a student and a teacher. I still very rarely use recordings preferring the "real" connection of live classes even if the timing isn't always as convenient. I find it difficult to teach with out the buzz of knowing my students are sharing the practice with me in real time. Eventually I found my online teaching voice - following my own classes was an intimidating experience at first (one I've only attempted a few times) but it certainly highlighted verbal twitches. I found out that "so" and "OK" are my go-to discourse markers! I've become less needy over time and trusted that the camera is working and the students are still there. Occasionally they haven't been when the internet froze and I looked up to a sea of confused faces (zoom) and frantic "can you still see her" comments on Facebook. I realised Facebook Live was becoming increasingly unreliable with the slightest fluctuation in power interpreted by Facebook as a complete crash and moved the classes to zoom. Since then it's been much better although there has been the occasional hiccup such as when my son used the internet at the same time which proved too much for our WiFi. Over the year I've had the opportunity to try various classes with many excellent and inspiring teachers online. Denny has been my saviour and guide for daily practice, along with Just Mimi who put together an amazing timetable with a smorgabord of teachers classes on Facebook Live. I signed up for Swami Sarandananda's Yoga Alliance recognised meditation training in September and qualified just before Christmas. Swami is a strict disciplinarian and her course wasn't an easy ride. Online training, I discovered, is not an easy option but bi-weekly zoom meetings kept me on track in a way that recorded training wouldn't work for me. The British Wheel hosted its winter training online and I enjoyed an amazingly full day with brilliant teachers including their ex-chairman, Paul Fox. Best of all I didn't have to travel anywhere! Dru were quick to move their training online and I'm now in the final stages of their Backcare and Wellness programmes. Recently I've committed to Chi Ball training - a programme which uses weighted pilates style balls to facilitate movement to music. It uses the elements of Qi Gong, Felkinstrasse, yoga and pilates with energy flowing sequences. In some ways it is very similar to Dru Yoga and I'm really looking forward to incorporating it into my classes. I've also signed up for 500 Yoga Teacher Training - again online. It means I can access daily live classes with master yogis in India and other parts of the globe. With zoom the world really is our oyster. They are promising additional modules in specialised areas such as Children and Teen Yoga, Chair, Seniors, Pregnancy etc so I can't wait to get into the material they are offering. A lot of it will recap on my previous training while introducing me to other styles like Ashtanga. What are my plans for 2021? Well, I've decided to work towards the end of March and rethink then. That's why I'm offering the three month membership which finishes on 31st March. After that, maybe in person will be possible again. I'm hoping HASWA will invite me back to teach at their centre in Hornchurch on Monday mornings (bookings and payment would be through them). I am looking at possible venues in Romford and Hornchurch with the focus on space, hygiene and fresh air. The Golden Lion is a possibility for Movement & Mindfulness plus lunch if they are able to have us back. Raphael Park Bandstand and Lodge Farm outdoor classes will definitely be back for the seventh year running. We may have to wait a while as groups are out of the question in Tier 4 (although I can take bookings for 1-1 tutorials on Tuesdays if people are interested). But whatever happens I will continue to offer an online programme. There are so many advantages to teaching and practising at home I think we have only just begun to explore the possibilities. It could be that in person classes will be offered online as an alternative or that recordings will be made available afterwards. For the moment, online yoga is the best way to stay connected. I will be opening zoom meetings ten minutes before each class so people can chat and interact with each other and there's always time afterwards for questions if you want to stay on. I've got exciting plans for the Yoga Book Club which has been meeting every three weeks since September. I will be announcing the next zoom meeting - usually Friday evenings 7.00 to 8.30pm which is free and open to everyone. There is a Facebook group available too. Our first book "How Yoga Works" by Geshe Michael Roach has prompted some interesting discussions and enabled us to explore the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali in a fun, practical and accessible way. The future is uncertain and it's scary but it's also exciting. I hope you will share the journey with me by joining my yoga community. Wishing you all good wishes for this very new, new year of 2021. Om Shanti, Mary
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MARY GRIFFITHSI qualified to teach in 2015 but my yoga journey started much earlier, way back in the 1970s. Here I share my experiences and passion about everything yoga. Archives
May 2021
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