Yovana Yoga evolves to meet pandemic needs
KCaulder@CalhounTimes.com
Even fitness is disrupted during a pandemic.
Sarah DeFoor, who owns Yovana Yoga on South Park Avenue in downtown Calhoun, has had to rapidly evolve her teaching style and method of offering yoga classes since early March, when the first COVID-19 outbreaks hit Gordon County. DeFoor said her top priority from the very beginning was making sure her students could be safe. The changes weren’t about business — they were about people.
“I’m not going to put anyone at risk so that they can practice yoga,” DeFoor said. “We closed before we were told we had to because I didn’t feel, ethically, that we could remain open when we knew what was going on.”
Instead, DeFoor connected with three other yoga studios in North Georgia and began teaching yoga online using Facebook Live. Students, watching from cell phone and laptop screens, could continue practicing within the comfort of their own homes.
It was a first for DeFoor, who had never before offered classes online with Yovana Yoga, but she said it was an immediate success, not only because of the breadth of classes offered on demand—a whopping 250, by her last count—but also because yoga and meditation became a way for those taking classes to cleanse their minds and relieve stress.
“Personally, in my own practice I’ve done more of the meditation than the yoga lately because it’s what I have needed most,” she said. “That’s just been a really nice way to calm myself down during all of this, and I think it has been for other people too.”
YOGA,
Other classes offered through the online group include yoga for back care, alignment-based yoga, flow yoga, yin yoga, chair yoga, qigong, yoga nidra, power yoga, restorative yoga and even barre and pilates courses. New offerings are being added every week and are available for autopay studio members.
In mid-May, DeFoor decided she wanted to start slowly adding in-person classes back to her schedule. It didn’t seem safe to do so inside the studio, where members might be closer together than social distance allows, so she instead decided to rent green space a block from the studio to hold classes outside. Students are spaced 10 feet apart during these classes and are encouraged to bring beach towels to practice on.
“We are learning new information every day. You don’t know how much research and how many rabbit holes I’ve been down. I’m a restorative yoga teacher, so in the beginning I was driving myself crazy trying to figure out how to keep blocks and props sanitized until I finally decided that we wouldn’t use them or mats anymore,” DeFoor said. “We’re asking people to bring beach towels to do their practice on so that they can wash them and sanitize them when they get home. Getting away from that was a huge relief because we know people will be safe.”
One outdoor class has been offered every day since May 16 and DeFoor said she intends to continue offering them until the end of the pandemic. She will also be offering online classes throughout the duration. In-person classes are offered in the morning and evening on alternating days. DeFoor said the best
way to find out when a class is being offered is to visit the Yovana Yoga website and check the schedule there. It is updated daily.
“It has been so nice to see everyone in person. Even if you’re 10 feet apart, it’s nice to see other people and be out in the sun, moving together as a group,” she said. “I had basically been at home for two months and had barely seen other people before our first class. It was so good to see everybody’s faces and to spend time together.”
Members and new students alike are asked to preregister for classes by visiting yovanayoga.com and clicking on the ‘Classes’ tab.
On Monday, DeFoor said the studio will be reinstating its Monday night donation classes at 6 p.m. Yoga instructor Melody Parker has been holding the donation classes for the last nine years with all proceeds benefiting the Voluntary Action Center. Pre-registration is required.