‘Zoom, just one look and, then, my heart went boom…’, so sang Fat Larry’s Band, back in 1982. Pre-23rd March 2020, few of us knew of the rather clunky video conferencing App called Zoom, ‘Then my whole wide world went Zoom’ and, ‘(High as a rainbow as we went flyin’ by)…’.
Zoom and I did not get off to a flying start. To be honest, it was a struggle. However, I worked, hard, to master it. I had to. On the 14th March, I was teaching in The Cabin, albeit with hand-washing and other hygiene measures, on the 21st March I was teaching outside, on Chapel Green, in glorious sunshine, with everyone at a 2m distance. By the 26th March I was struggling with Zoom and desperately messaging as many Elie yogis, as I could remember. That is part of the reason for creating this website, so that I can construct an organised mailing list.
A new timetable evolved, I was, quickly, teaching 7 classes, 5 days a week, to people in rooms, or gardens in their own homes, not only all over Scotland, but in London, Warwick and, even, in The Dominican Republic!
Cats and dogs wondered in and I saw people from angles that even a yoga teacher doesn’t expect to see. However, what made this kind of practice different was that people were in their own homes.
I was concerned, at first that people would feel that they were not getting the full experience, not being in our usual space and not feeding-off the energy of a group class.
However, it was a success. People liked to practise yoga at home and the chats, before and after a class, on Zoom, helped build a new kind of togetherness.
As we ease out of lockdown, I will maintain classes, on Zoom, as we move outside and, hopefully, back, into The Cabin, albeit with reduced numbers.
So, in the words of George Michael, ‘Let’s go outside…’