Life but not as we know it….

My goodness how life has changed for many of us., all of those plans we had that have been put on hold. My beautiful studio sits empty and longing for the return of my students just as I am.

It’s strange how we react when change is forced upon us and this has certainly been a massive and unforeseen change. I know I may have appeared a little quiet over the lockdown but I needed to have time to process the situation myself. It’s so easy to completely lose our sense of identity, became quite insular and consequently close our hearts and minds during these difficult and challenging times. 

I understand that we all have our own coping strategies, and some of you will have loved being in lockdown and some of you will have loathed it. I am sure there have been times when this situation has felt scary and overwhelming. During the first few weeks of lockdown I felt totally bereft and needed time to sit and be and reflect. I didn’t want to live in fear and so much of the news on TV and social media was so negative and scaremongering I had to limit the time I spent on social media for my own sanity so I used some of the coaching skills I use with my clients and changed my mindset and reframed the situation. I am sure during this time we have all learnt a lot more about ourselves. As much as I love my own company I have certainly missed socialising with my friends, family and of course my lovely yoga students and community. Human connection is so vital to us humans, we thrive on it.

We will all have our own very personal story to tell about these strange and unprecedented times too. The 2020 we thought we were going to have, has not materialised, and now it seems we’ve entered into a very new world and are trying to do our best to come to terms with new ways of being and working and now as we begin to come out of lockdown and begin to return to some form of new normal it will take time to adjust and to let go of the fear that so many are experiencing.  Sadly, for some of you, life will never be the same as the pandemic has left some of you unemployed, bereaved and depressed and insecure in many ways. I have no words but my heart goes out to you and I sincerely hope that you have all of the support and love you need to see you through this period.

I have to say I actually enjoyed many aspects of lockdown but then maybe because my working life hasn’t changed that much. I wanted to continue teaching my classes and to keep in contact with my yoga community and I thought long and hard about teaching online. I have not felt comfortable about this method of teaching but I decided to keep an open mind and step out of my comfort zone and once I had overcome the fear of Zoom and learned how to manage the technical hitches things began to run a lot more smoothly. I can now say that I am so glad I had this technology and I won’t curse it so much in the future :0 It isn’t anywhere near the same as teaching face to face but some of my students have really embrace it and are enjoying the experience and the added bonus of not having to travel to and from class.  I have decided that after lockdown I will continue to offer some online classes. I have missed the wonderful Saturday mini retreat gatherings and yoga brunches but everything in life is impermanent so we will return to these very soon. I want to say a massive thank you to all of my dedicated students who stuck with me and kept their yoga practice going, thank you for your support, your positive feedback, comments and testimonials.

I was planning on recording some yoga videos and that is still one of my plans but I decided I wanted to utilise the extra free time I had by continuing my yoga studies and embarked upon some additional teacher training, infact I did quite a few trainings as I saw the online offerings a bonus, no travelling to London, no overnight accommodation fees, it was certainly appealing. I was at first overwhelmed by the amount of online yoga offerings, my poor head couldn’t cope with it but I finally focused on some of the teachers that inspire me and did some yoga classes with them. More news about my new Programme coming very soon.

During lockdown I also reignited my love of cooking and tried lots of different recipes, I also found time to read some books other than yoga books, I spent time in nature and in the garden and for those of you that I have been to the studio or seen my instagram feed you will see that I get an abundance of wildlife visiting the garden so I spent lots of time watching the animals and birds. I spent time cleaning all of the yoga mats, and yoga equipment and the studio too in readiness for the re-opening but not knowing when I could reopen. Of course when I re-open the studio and restart classes, classes will feel different with social distancing and I won’t be able to fit so many students in classes. I am putting in place a plan to reopen with all of the safety measures required. If you have signed up to my monthly newsletter you will receive further information very soon on the re-opening and new classes and workshops and my new ‘Wellness for Women’ Programme.

I am so grateful for having yoga in my life, Yoga gives back, it makes us stronger, not just physically, but mentally, emotionally and psychologically too, it builds resilience and encourages us to adapt to whatever is going on in our lives and in the world.

For now lets keep practicing yoga and keep our hearts and minds open, go with the flow and trust the universe. I look forward to seeing you on the mat again very soon.

Love and Blessings.
Bea
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