Thinking outside the Studio: What to know about taking yoga classes online

Good Day Yogis,

I hope this message finds you all well and enjoying your day!

Welcome to the 3rd week of online yoga classes- this platform is becoming more welcoming for you all and I am appreciative with the feedback I have been receiving. Please keep the comments, questions and feedback coming- this is helping me learn this online world so much more and allowing me to assist you all better as well so thank you for your continued support:)

I wanted to share some “yay’s” and “nay’s”about being a virtual student and how you can get the most from your at home practice- let’s go!

Yay’s

  • Show up as you are: pj’s, bedhead, crabby, moody, morning breath, bad breath, no make-up, too much make-up. All is welcome, any time from any where, this is YOUR practice in your OWN home, show up as you are :)

  • Set up your space: supportive props: Bolster, blocks, straps or anything that mimics those items. Some extra items to add more relaxing tones would be candles, essential oils, light up that fireplace to add that extra cozy feeling, blankets, pillows and eye pillows for savasana. Ahh… what a beautiful space to retreat to for your practice. Remember nature is a GREAT way to enjoy class as well :)

  • Music- falls under the YAY and NAY category.. YAY for sure music, music adds an emotional and therapeutic element to your practice and often times can inspire your practice even more! Crank those tunes… but for your ears only. So here’s the NAY- if we want to jam out in your yoga session make sure that you place your mic on mute. Although I would love to hear your selection of music but a combination of Lord Huron mixed with Sol Rising might not merry the best melody. So please allow your ears to enjoy your own playlist :)

  • Pets- yep, the more the merrier and why not you finally have the opportunity to do downward facing dog pose with your Husky or cat pose with your Persian, dolphin pose with your Flipper and Rabbit pose with your Thumper. I love seeing the extras that have been showing up for class :)

  • Can you see me? I want to see you too :) I miss being able to share the energy with you all in our in person classes so seeing you through the screen would be an awesome alternative :) I understand that for some you want to be ‘behind the scenes’ and I get and respect your wishes but maybe just a quick visual hello before you hide yourself :)

  • Sign up before registration closes: remember registration closes 30 minutes before class starts… don’t let the door close on you… but if you do don’t worry another class (door) will be open for you at another time. Get it… just like when one door closes another one will open :):):)

  • Try out your technology well before the class starts: to ensure no problems before logging into your virtual class you want to make sure all is ready to go.

    • Stable internet connection

    • You have the correct meeting ID number, you have various ways of obtaining this:

      • Your email appointment reminder

      • Log into Vagaro and view your appointments

      • NOW you can also just click on JOIN LIVE STREAM from your appointment reminder or Vagaro account and BOOM zoom pops up and I will see your bright smiling face soon!

    • Another way of getting this is connecting with me if for whatever reason the other options are not working- please do so 15 minutes before the start of class.

  • Hang Tight: Don’t freak out if you log into zoom before I am on- you will get a message that says Meeting Host has not yet signed it- what this really translate too is that I am either chasing my family out of my in home studio space or clearing out the last few dinosaurs, dolls and duplo blocks from my ‘kids’ yoga class that is usually in session all day long :)

  • Share: This is a common word spoken in our house but in a different context… in the virtual yoga world this means share the word about these online classes with friends and family near and far. Virtual means that we are not limited to a territory but now our whole world is our yoga community :) Last week we had people statewide and even into Illinois; thank you for spreading the good word folks, I am excited to see how far we can reach.

  • Most importantly- HAVE FUN!!

I am most definitely more a YAY person than a NAY person so this list is much shorter…

  • Drop your ego at the door, your ego is your false self. The ego wants quantity your soul wants quality. Starve the ego, feed the soul :)

Until we meet again my Yogi friends see you in the virtual world. Thank you for sharing your time here with my today. The light in me honors the bright shining light that is in each and everyone of you.

Namaste,

Tarah

Tarah Mancl