Tomorrow We Close Our Doors
When I sit down to write this newsletter, even in the midst of a normal, busy day, I think of our yoga community, individually and collectively, and am grateful for that moment of quiet connection, to each other, to myself.
Monday evening* we will close our physical doors for a time, but our community remains open through live broadcast classes.
(*Leslie's 5:30 Monday this evening in Thetford will be in person, but Angie's WRJ class will be broadcast. Thereafter, all classes will be broadcast only)
Wow what a challenge the past few days have been. And how quickly things change, day to day, hour by hour. Monday evening, Upper Valley Yoga will close—as so many businesses and public spaces are doing to try and flatten the curve of the spread of the coronavirus—for at least the next 2 weeks, through March 31. I hope that by doing this we are helping to slow the transmission of COVID-19 and protect our greater community. I would encourage all of us to honor and take seriously the urgency of following social distancing guidelines. Taking preventative measure now will make a huge difference.
UVY GOES LIVE BROADCAST!
Beginning Tuesday, we will offer live broadcast of most of our yoga classes, and in this way we can stay connected, help you keep your practice and yoga community vital, and ensure we are keeping our practices of self care alive and well. We hope to reopen our actual doors in a couple of weeks but will monitor things as news unfolds.
Your unlimited and other class passes will enable you to take these classes virtually. My hope is that you will continue to "attend" so that we can be together in that way, doing yoga. Should you choose to not practice with us during this time, rest assured we will extend expiration dates on passes. I am hopeful the studio can provide a valuable service and survive financially; I also recognize that other small business owners and employees are financially affected too, and am working on creating a discounted drop in pass rate for people who have been hit hard financially by all the closures. Whether using your current passes or taking advantage of a discounted rate, we greatly appreciate your presence and support as we navigate this new and unknown passage.
If the virtual experience of taking a yoga class is just not for you or you are not comfortable with technology, I understand and we will see you down the road, in person. For everyone else, read on!
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The good news is I taught my first live broadcast class yesterday, a free class to give it a test run, and it worked! It was kind of cool to be "in" the room with a nice big group of people. Of course I would much rather we were together in person, but I felt and appreciated the presence of all those who were practicing remotely with me along with the small group that were there in person.
Today, Monday, classes will be held as usual, with the exception of Angie's 5:30 class, which will be a live broadcast.
So how does it work?
It's super easy, actually. You just go in through the website, and are prompted through a portal to "zoom". Join, and we are off!
GIVE ME THE STEP BY STEP
Following is a brief primer on how this will work, should you want to join us for a live broadcast class.
• Make sure you are logged in to uppervalleyyoga.com. Upper right, "log in" (or sign up if you have never logged in).
• go to Classes page
• Sign up for class (if you haven't already). You will see a link that says "signup and pay": You must either pay for the class or have an existing pass with credits, or an unlimimted membership. Students who do not have credits or a pass will be prompted to pay. (we have a special "community kindness" drop in rate for people financially affected by all the closures, in addition to our regular passes).
• Wait for "View Broadcast" link to appear below “De-register” on the schedule page and click
(you might need to refresh the page for that link to appear, if you just signed up)
If you don’t have Zoom, you will be prompted to download the zoom app. You only need the free version as an attendee and the download is quick. You will see:
Zoom would like to access your camera. ok
Zoom would like to access your microphone ok
Join with Video
Call using Internet Audio
(on a phone) After you join the group you can bring up all the participants on one screen if you swipe left. Double tap on the Leslie Carleton (or whatever instructor is teaching) that is showing the view of the yoga mat and red wall (or whatever is in the instructor's background).
(on a computer) Gallery View in the upper right corner. Select the view of Instructor. Press Pin Video
Enter full screen
You will be able to join about 15 minutes before the class starts, and feel free to chat and socialize as you would before an in person class. When we are ready to start, the instructor will ask everyone to mute their mics, and then class can begin.
I hope this new service offered by UVY can help sustain us through these challenging times. I value your part in our community. Hope to see you on the mat, soon.
Once things stabilize and are running smoothly, I am hoping to offer a free class during the week. Stay tuned, check the website and social media (fb, insta) for updates.
Above all dear yogis, be safe, get outside, take walks, avoid crowds and unnecessary outings, wash your hands a gazillion times a day, do your yoga practice, with us or on your own, do a short daily meditation and pranayama practice to keep the anxiety from bubbling up too much.
Take good care of yourselves and each other from a temporary distance.
Love,
Leslie