Covid and Yoga: Where do we go from here?

The pandemic is here and it is going to change us. Yoga in America is going to be different. People are going to need more space. We cannot bury our collective yoga heads in the sand and do group yoga the way we once did. We will be changed by this experience. Covid might come back for Waves #2 and 3 like the Spanish Flu and other viruses of the past. 

Let's step back, look at what's happening and be realistic about where does it go from here? What does the future of American Yoga look like? What might we expect? Can we look at it without fear and truthfully discern the possibilities?

Whatever you do, don't get your lycra in a twist over any suggestions I give below. These are just possibilities...

Outdoor Yoga: we are going to be spaced out

In the future, we are going to need physical distance.  A person coughing or sneezing in the yoga room will be a big problem. It doesn't work to have a person who is marginally sick in the room, where before, we tolerated mild amounts of sickness. It might be necessary to ask the person who is coughing and sneezing to leave the class. In the winter time in New England, I had many people coughing in class in the past. It was tolerated. I don't think it will be in the future. Hopefully we won't have to do temperature checks at the front desk, like the airlines are doing.

We might be doing a lot more outdoor yoga, which is actually pretty cool, sometimes too cool, but outdoor yoga is very different from indoor yoga. Outdoor yoga classes so far have been special events, like Full Moon Yoga, rather than a daily thing. We might be doing yoga in a big tent with lots of space and a floor. Yoga in nature, yoga on the tennis court, yoga in the park is probably going to be more common and the way we get together in large groups.

Outdoor yoga can come with its own set of downsides like uneven surfaces, bumpy grassy muddy sandy sticky mats, sand, sand fleas, sand in your eyes, flies, ticks, mosquitoes, gnats, wetness, strong winds, hot and cold temperatures and inclement weather; I have experienced all of these distractions teaching outdoor classes. Yoga in nature is a beautiful animal and you might have to grin and bear it if you want to be with a group. Yes, good yogis are supposed to transcend bugs, hot and cold and all that, but the variability of the outdoors is not gong to be everybody's cup of chai. 

Don't under estimate what is happening

The transformation happening in the world right now cannot be underestimated. Just a few weeks ago, we had every kind of yoga available to us. For 25 years, America vinyasa has been the predominant form so far as attendance numbers goes. Teachers were rocking the excitement of a big packed yoga room, full of yogis who are vibrating, sweating and flowing together in close quarters. Wow! What a rush!

You might disagree with this projection, but how do we go back to big room yoga with lots of tightly packed yogis which has been so popular in America?  Many yoga centers already have thin razor margins and they depend on tightly packed yoga rooms. In a post pandemic world, we may need small group size restrictions widely spread out, in the same big room. That is going to make the price of yoga go higher. Those cheap unlimited monthly yoga passes just skyrocketed. The old days are transforming and this is evolving into something else. Change is inevitable; let's talk this through without fear. It is unlikely that it is going to be the way it was.

Masks in class?

Are people going to wear masks in class? What will that be like? Most of Asia already wears masks in public. "Wear your mask as a sign that you love others."

All indoor surfaces will have to be rigorously sanitized, more than before. Yoga centers will have to seriously look at air sanitization and air flow all over again. A good idea is to install too many UV air filters running continuously and multiple ozone generators on timers at night. Those sanitation efforts will never be enough for some people who have compromised immune systems.

Will we lose our bond of unity?

A truly tragic possibility is what might happen to our mindset. Instead of the ethos of  "love one another" and "see the unity in all," we may culturally shift to a default viewpoint that other people are inherently a threat to my health. "Damn, did he just cough into his bandana! Is that bandana tight enough?"

Props might be BYOP 

You might not even be allowed to bring props to the studio. Pillows, blankets and bolsters might be for home use only. If props are in a yoga studio, it might be possible to "bake" all the pillows, blankets, straps, blocks and bolsters in UV light and ozone, every single use. We might have sanitization closets were all the props are doused in ozone and UV light and rendered in pristine condition. Someone with gloves hands you, your sterilized block. Kinda like going through TSA. It is going to be a big job. A focus on publicly sterilizing props would be wise, so that everyone sees that the yoga center is serious about sanitation. The desk, door handles and bathroom surfaces will have to be wiped many times a day. Everyone will need spray bottles and wipes at the ready.

Seva Selfless Service: Everyone cleans!

There will be a 15 minute seva (selfless service) requirement for everyone attending class. In order to attend class, you have to clean. "You got time to lean, you got time to clean," says the masterful yoga teacher Chandrakant for the last 40 years. Everyone selfless cleaning their yoga center is one of the most beautiful ideas possible. It would definitely turn away some students, but it would attract the right students. It is how ashrams have worked for thousands of years. Everyone cleans, period! Everyone works together cleaning their shared space. Everyone who does this for very long will become so connected to their yoga home. They will take ownership over their sacred space making every corner, nook and cranny so loved. There will be supervisors for each area making sure the crews of spray bottle wipers are doing a proper job.

S.U.H.YO.MA.

Rental and Loaner yoga mats hopefully will disappear in the future. Anyone who needs a mat, might be offered a "Single Use Hemp YOga MAt!" When you create your SUHYOMA company and sell it to Gaiam in three years, please send a portion of the proceeds to the address below.  

Yoga Online

Online yoga is like the wild west right now. Right now, students are so relieved to hear the friendly voice of their old yoga teacher. Some truly lovely things are happening as we connect in this new way. It is quite obvious that online yoga isn't the same. There is more distancing than ever as everyone is on mute. There are those awkward dead silences and two people trying to share at the same time. The connectivity factor is possible but it is of a different kind. It is what we have for the moment, so it is good enough, but looking at a video screen kinda sucks in comparison to what we had. 

By next month, almost every yoga teacher will be online or moving online. Most classes will be by donation or something similar. Everyone is recording now if they haven't in the past. Class after class, year after year, the supply of yoga videos will grow.  Eventually, there will be an unlimited amount of free recorded yoga classes available online by almost any teacher in the country.  How does this oncoming yoga glut survive the eventual reality of donation fatigue?

Online yoga is good for workshops

Yoga online is actually very good for workshops! You can attend workshops of all the great yoga teachers in America for very little money. This is already happening. Yoga classes focus on the experience, where workshops are more about content, theory, ideas and research. Online workshops can bring a world of yoga teachings into your living room, inexpensively whenever you want it.

Holographic Yoga & AI: the Perfect Guru

Holographic Yoga is probably one of the best ideas that hasn't yet come to fruition. R2D2 will project a 3D image of your yoga teacher infront of you. Artificial Intelligence will become so advanced, you will not even notice that there is no real person in front of you. In a split second, AI will first scan all your bone lengths, joint orientations and proportions. A Quantum Computer will see all your structural anomalies that no human yoga teacher ever could do. It will remember your problems from last week and its advanced algorithms will anticipate problems. From a huge database of past experience with previous students who fit your body type and personality profile, AI will always find the perfect way to personally guide you. Individualized instruction will be its forte. . AI will monitor your alignments and always speak very kindly and gently to where you might want to place your attention next in the pose. AI won't be subject to any unpleasant personality swings, irregularities or the failings of your living yoga teacher. Artificial Intelligence will become the Perfect Guru, without flaws, the one you have always been looking for in your unrealistic spiritual dreams. This won't just be your mental projection. It will literally be a holographic projection.

One day Holographic Yoga will be able to give shaktipaat, (the transference of spiritual energy from guru to disciple,) but right now that is science fiction.

Sunday Jan 5, 2020