After more than 20 years of practicing, studying and teaching yoga, we’ve seen the full spectrum of possibility in the human body, mind and breath.
We’ve seen the relative flexibility of muscles and degrees of stability in joints. We’ve seen deep breaths change the structure of bodies. We’ve seen tension and anxiety and grief expressed softly—and at times dramatically—through tears, or deep rest, or warm hugs. We’ve seen political, social and economic disruption trouble those who walk through our doors, and shake up the way we do business.
But we’ve never seen anything like the coronavirus pandemic of 2020.
In the short time since we locked our doors and opened our computers to move our studio’s classes online, we’ve seen our community in fresh, shining light. Emails have filled our inbox offering technical, legal and moral support. Thousands of dollars in donations have poured in. Fellow yoga studio owners are pooling resources and know-how. Dozens of our teachers have scrambled to get comfortable on camera while they sort out the logistics of teaching on new platforms.
The COVID-19 crisis has been at once a blindside and a revelation. When we look at the bank ledgers, it’s a terrifyingly bleak vista.
But when we see our students through our screens—practicing poses in their homes with cats perched on their bellies, dogs stretching downward alongside them, colorfully-painted walls in the background, books piled on bedside tables, and grateful digital smiles as we acknowledge their gentle true spirits at the end of class with namaste—we see a landscape of beautiful proportions.
Readers: We want to hear your stories. Send your 300-word COVID-19 story and a photo to editorial@arlingtonmagazine.com. You can read more Covid Chronicles essays at arlingtonmagazine.com/category/covid-chronicles/