My yoga studio was one of the last nonessential businesses to shut down. As a matter of fact, they made several accommodations prior to the city’s demand that nonessential businesses shut down.
They sanitized surfaces such as door handles and counters more often. We stopped exhaling through our mouths. They marked the floor so we could place our mats 6ft away from one another. We no longer signed our names on the clipboard, but only swiped our cards, which a few days later became making a reservation online for classes to make the whole process completely contactless.
Despite all of those efforts, they still had to comply with the city of Austin’s declared shelter in place order. They devised a virtual workaround after a week. All I have to do is register for the classes I want to attend, then click on the link they send 15 minutes prior to class.
Every day at noon, I take either a 60-minute Bikram class, a 60-minute Inferno Hot Pilates class, a 90-minute Ashtanga class, or a 90-minute Intermediate Bikram class. This has been the easiest yoga challenge ever. Absolutely amazing how easily one can attend a daily yoga class in one own’s living room when there’s next to no social life–only prolonged social distancing.
Having a midday mediative activity has truly helped me stay focused and not drown in time. My days are divided into “before yoga class” and “after yoga class.” And thanks to working from home Monday through Friday, I still have a sense of the weekends.
Nonetheless, walking outside, even if it’s merely taking the long route to and from checking the mail, has become far more precious than it’s ever been. I know the air is cleaner these days, but seeing new things in 3D, rather than on a 2D screen has been wonderful.
For Earth 2.0, or however one’s keeping track, daily meditation will continue long after the shelter in place. As a matter of fact, all the fanciful illusion that smokescreens reality will be confined in fictional works. Let’s see if the rest of my fellow Americans will follow suit.