In moving all of our lives online, working from home, being unable to see loved ones, but also being free from the daily commute, we have discovered that we can live differently, and perhaps we have also discovered what is really important to us.
Over the course of 2020 with all the restrictions that we have experienced, our lives have become ever more virtual. Meetings, family occasions, dating, fitness classes - conducting our business online is now the norm. Yes, many things could already be done remotely, but this was often just as an addition or a temporary alternative, not just ‘how we do things’. The same has been true of yoga - I for one have done many classes via Zoom, Instagram, and have even gone computer generated (taking people out almost completely) using the excellent DownDog app. Indeed, I did so much yoga during lockdown and beyond that I re-engaged with my practise in a way I haven’t done for years.
Full of this new found zest for yoga, as lockdowns were eased, I decided to take the opportunity to (finally) train as a yoga teacher. I have been practising yoga on and off for almost 15 years. At first, I was a real ashtangi - and even travelled to Mysore - but have since moved away from ashtanga and have tried various different types of yoga over the last decade. Whilst I have taught friends on occasion, I had never actually taken the plunge and trained properly as a teacher - something that I had always wanted to do. Although I have been fortunate enough to keep working this year, I was owed some time off and with the window in which I could train starting to narrow I booked a 200hr YTT course with Green Yoga International in Mallorca.
Travel, the training and our stay there were of course affected by Covid - masks, social distancing, regular temperature checks and always the possibility of quarantine (for the whole group) in the event of anyone showing symptoms. But once we had all settled into the ashram the outside world and all of the angst of 2020 seemed to melt away. We embarked upon three intensive weeks - starting with morning meditation at 7:30 and final class finishing at 8pm. Six days a week, three to four hours of yoga a day, philosophy, anatomy, asana clinics and other classes. Observing silence from 10pm to 10:30am, lights out at 10:30pm, a vegan diet with no alcohol or meat to be brought on site. Doesn’t sound much like a holiday to you? Well I can tell you that it all added up to a break from modern life, from technology, distractions, vices and stress. And free of all of this I found what really matters - human connection.
Whilst my training was on many levels a journey of self discovery, something that will always stay with me is the connection made with the people who were training alongside me. All of us grew in many ways - and we grew together. I am not someone who normally lets their walls down easily - but I really feel that I will always share a bond with the other students, people who after only three weeks I can honestly call friends.
For all the wonders of our technological age, bringing us together despite being separated by the pandemic, or just by distance, nothing can quite replace being together in the same room. Of course, it stands to reason that being face to face is better for learning and understanding. But more than that: taking in all the nuances of speech and body language, the unspoken communication, just breathing each other’s air, the power of being together is something that can’t be replicated. I left this course with renewed vigour, revitalised by human contact, hopeful for the future, and with a resolve to make the most of every minute of every human connection. The word ‘yoga’ derives from the sanskrit for union - a union of mind body and soul - but over the three weeks of this course I learned that for me it means something else too - it’s about a union of minds, connecting with others, it’s about togetherness.
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