September is National Yoga Awareness Month. I am honored Summit asked me to write this blog for the month of September again this year. However, this year is different from any year. I decided that my purpose for this blog is to share with you how one small business decided to adapt in a pandemic.
First, let me give you a quick bio. I am an Occupational Therapist and Yoga Instructor. When I added Yoga Instructor to my resume in 2014, I never could have dreamed of the doors it would open, my life would be changed forever. I started this journey when I led a gym session for my students who have a diagnosis of autism. (I was not a yoga instructor yet just practicing yoga in my daily life). One of my job responsibilities included creating a theme for each monthly gym session. One month I chose yoga as the theme of the month. The immediate feedback from the students was enthusiasm, joy and peace. The verbal and non-verbal students both clearly communicated pleasure in a variety of ways. I knew as an OT, I had to bring yoga into my student sessions regularly and pursued my yoga certification. Fast forward four years and I started Brave Yoga for All. Brave Yoga for All provides adapted yoga sessions to individuals with emotional, intellectual, and physical disabilities.
In April of 2020. I taught my first Virtual yoga session. I resisted all negative thoughts and proceeded with caution. There were 5 participants in the virtual yoga session. The theme of this first session was “Superhero Yoga”. My goal was to help my participants learn to be comfortable wearing a mask. We discussed as a group the fact we were superheroes wearing our mask to protect others. Engagement was good. I had to learn to maneuver the technical difficulties. That came with time. The priority was to use the craft I have come to love to help the individuals I love to work with.
It is now August. I transformed my basement into a studio. I am happy to report my virtual classes are a joy to teach. Participants have adjusted beautifully. It is an opportunity to see the friends they have missed so much. I have had up to 40 participants in my session. I guess this is the silver lining. I could never teach a class of 40 participants in person. I discovered it was an adjustment, however it was still the class that we all learn to love. My goal for this blog is too hopefully help someone re-invent their work in this very challenging time and to always find the silver lining. Namaste to you all!
I hope I am fortunate enough to meet all of you. Please check out my website, www.braveyogaforall.com, for resources and my contact information.