Namaste…
When you are wobbling on one foot—arms extended overhead—trying to remember to breathe in and exhale slowly and thoughtfully, it is impossible to think of anything else.
What a blessing that is! After my husband’s 2015 heart attack (when I began dabbling in yoga)… my older sister’s 2016 diagnosis with terminal breast cancer (when I increased my yoga practice to 2 or 3 times a week)…my retirement later that year (more yoga)…my sister died, my husband needed a pacemaker and his subsequent retirement in 2017 (daily yoga)…and then the 2020 pandemic (daily…sometimes twice a day yoga)—yoga became a much-needed companion. It is one of the few ways that I can disengage my brain.
I cannot practice in a studio right now—even though I prefer the calm, quiet camaraderie at “my” studio—One Love Yoga in Kent, Ohio. They still are open and carefully monitor the situation to provide the safest environment possible, but coronavirus keeps me away. I miss Anne’s seemingly simple yet deceptively rigorous practices! I miss Tim’s thoughtfully challenging practices that always incorporate great music!
http://oneloveyogakent.com/silk-mill-location#
Instead, I go to YouTube for Yoga with Adriene (who is terrific).
https://www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene
OR…I go to the YouTube channel for my all-time favorite yoga instructor: Stacy Thompson. Her yoga classes in Charlotte, North Carolina, are amazing. She eases practitioners into the class, but then she turns the whole experience upside down with intricate entries into poses and then poses that are beyond my reach (but that seem completely possible, given more time and focus). There is something about her approach that draws me in and makes me feel invigorated.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYB2Yclyu_8qEiWqcSP7ZAA
OR…wait…there is my OTHER favorite yoga instructor, Danielle at Hot Yoga on Davidson (North Carolina). Hot yoga! I never expected to like hot yoga…it just sounds so…sweaty and sticky. Imagine my delight when I tried and loved it. L.O.V.E.D. I.T. Hot yoga makes me feel clean from the inside out, and Danielle’s classes—always with the absolutely best music imaginable for yoga (no “sweetness and light” or soothing ocean sounds…she chooses contemporary, edgy, moving music)—push me to my limits.
https://yogaondavidson.com/
During the pandemic, the other thing I miss is going on vacation with plans to practice in a local yoga studio. I’ve practiced in Wellfleet, Massachusetts (A Quiet Mind Studio: http://www.quietmindstudio.com/ ) and Yoga Lab Naples in Florida and The Center in the Icehouse in Harrisonburg, Virginia and many, many others.
Each has its own personality. Each focuses on Shanti—Shanti—Shanti…peace. At this point in my life—at this strange time in the world—peace is well worth pursuing. And yoga is a great way to get there.
