Teacher takes yoga online
Penny Clay shapes up at home ready to lead one of her online classes with top, a side angle and, bottom, an up dog.
With much of the world still in lockdown, there has been a boom in the online teaching, from flower arranging and learning Spanish to fitness and brewing your own beer.
Such has been the positive impact from the switch to online teaching, making classes more accessible to many in isolated rural areas, many teachers are planning on incorporating an element of online classwork into their normal schedules after the lockdown ends.
Among them is Penny Clay, owner/operator of Mountain Yoga Kinlochleven, which normally offers weekly/monthly classes, workshops and retreats in Zen yoga, meditation and mindfulness in Kinlochleven, Ballachulish and Glencoe.
Penny is trained in Zen Yoga, a Japanese Buddhist tradition teaching practices to foster well-being, develop awareness of body-mind and cultivate our ability to live life fully and fearlessly.
On the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on her business, Penny says the enforced switch to online classes as been quite a journey for her as a teacher.
‘I didn’t want to go online and was really stressing about getting stuff online especially the technological set up as I’m very low tech,’ she laughed this week. But it is proving absolutely fantastic, not just from a small business point of view, although that is important, but it is turning out to be a real life enhancer in terms of staying connected, building community with everyone as well as contributing to my mental and physical health and that of my students. Moving our regular weekly classes, Zen in the Glen and Yoga Mornings online has provided an important routine for me and my yogis and at the suggestion of one of my students I’ve brought in a new class called Staying Strong which is proving popular.
‘Harvard University is recommending yoga during lockdown to help with stress and anxiety and boosting the immune system so I feel I’m contributing in a small way.
‘I’ve been getting feedback from my students as to how the online classes are working for them and there are lots of positives. For example, they don’t have to travel to class so they’re not only saving on travel time but also helping the environment with less car travel, they can practice in the comfort of their own houses, even in their pjs if they like. We’ve got dogs and cats coming to class too!
‘Students can try out more challenging sequences without feeling self-conscious in front of others and can take a break and rest or simply watch whilst still feeling part of the group so it’s a less pressured environment to practice in.
‘Although it’s not the same as a face-to-face class, the main thing I’ve learnt is ‘different’ can be fantastic. Being absorbed in a yoga class takes you out of your head and into your body. Being in the moment moving and breathing gives you time off worrying about the current crisis.
‘You’d think as Zen teacher I would be able to cope with change but I, like countless others, found the rapid social changes and restrictions that were brought in stressful to adapt to and like many other people worried about money and the future.
‘My meditation and yoga practice has been a life saver and a great anchor in navigating these troubled times so whilst I’m not immune to the stresses of adapting to the new normal, I have the tools to help me cope. I am deeply grateful to be able to keep sharing my practice in a new format.’
Full details of Penny’s online classes are on her Facebook page. Anyone wanting to join can message her for details.