For a moment, think about what you were doing this time LAST year….Possibly working from home; still catching up with your shows via Netflix, Hulu, and the rest; coming out of shelter-in-place, or going back in; sipping wine out of your coffee mug during your virtual meetings; missing your friends and family (or not); not knowing when you would feel truly safe again. Perhaps even your definition of “safe” was different or completely changed, even non-existent. All most of us wanted was to feel “normal” again. Huh? Not event sure what that is anymore. (smh)
Fast forward to Summer ’20, (a very active hurricane season to say the least.); a few heatwaves; lots of alcoholic beverages by the pool… alone or super distanced; slow peeks outside of the house, then,… Autumn and Back to School,….on zoom; food lines plus higher food prices; Halloween; an election to remember; Thanksgiving, and Christmas (none of which felt remotely the same in the year of Covid-19). It all moved so slow, and yet seems like a blur at the same time.
So much for highlights.
Now, we are in Spring, and there is a bit of hope for us humans. Slowly resurfacing from our homes and stepping back out into the world again; some going back to the office; states lifting mask mandates completely. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Some of us were quick to take off the masks once fully vaccinated, and others have proceeded with complete caution. With every update that the CDC has put forth, gyms, fitness centers, spas, and yoga studios are slowly welcoming members back, adding classes to their schedules, and creating a different space for us to move around in. The studio I teach in is no different. They have diligently followed every guideline to a tee to keep students and staff safe, while trying to stay as close to the previous “normal” as best they can. It begs the question – are we satisfied with holding on to the new “normal”- as we are so far removed from our previous lives, OR, do we now unravel this thread and wiggle ourselves back to the way things were originally – Pre Covid-19???
Last week, before the start of my yoga class, I was shocked when I saw a student, (just outside the doorway to the room I was teaching in), smile at me without her mask on. The horror on my face surely was seen clear through my mask. And there it was! In that one moment, one expression, my mind came to this shocking realization. We have all been living in this ever changing “bubble” for so long, that we are not fully prepared for what happens next, and worse, how we actually feel about it. We have learned to adjust our entire lives to the point of not knowing how we feel, or what we should do when the majority of us become fully vaccinated, and it is time to mix and mingle with people outside our direct households. The clock pendulum has now swung so heavily in one direction, that when it swings back, we feel stuck, numb – like we are starting our lives all over again, from an entirely different perspective. As a yoga teacher, I started to really think about what the room will look like with more students in it, minus masks, walking around offering adjustments – not teaching entirely from my mat anymore with a zoom camera in front of me. It seems so foreign now, I am unsure whether I can even “speak” that language anymore. Covid-19 was so new, and we all had to adjust, (some of us begrudgingly so), to this new way of life. Post Covid-19, we may not be 100 percent sure where to pick up from. Is it worth it? Did Covid-19 change our lense of life so much, that there are just some things we can live without? (Heavy sigh)
Last year my life felt like it was moving in slo-mo every single day. I took time to really purge my home, my spirit and my entire life. I found a certain level of comfort and safety staying home when required, and living my life “close to the vest”. An eternal introvert, my base was not really rattled and I was not itching to get on with life knowing there was a chance that I could get infected and possibly, very sick. I savored the pause in every way. I learned to live in a completely different way, that I never expected. Now, the “lights are slowly being turned on again”, and I (we) have to adjust yet again. It is a process. Be kind to yourself,….again. Take it s l o w, and do not be so surprised if it looks different from what you remembered, thought it would, or even wanted it to be. We are all a year older, wiser, and worldly, stepping back out into the world. Another life lesson, another gift from the universe. Take a deep breath, step-by-step, day-to-day, and – smile!
yoga #meditation #wellness #vaccinated #breathe #selfcare #awareness #movethebodytoquietthemind #micheleyoga
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