Teachers, practitioners use technology to work on an ancient practice
By BILL BARLOW/Special to the Sentinel
OCEAN CITY – For Suzanne Chew, the lack of physical contact required by the COVID-19 crisis has been tough.
“I’m a hugger,” she said recently. “It’s been a challenge.”
Like many businesses in town and around the country, Chew has had to shut down her yoga studio, Yoga Ginger on Asbury Avenue. Like others in Ocean City’s thriving yoga community, she’s had to look for new ways to connect with her clients as the ancient physical practice meets the digital age.
She now posts video classes online, as part of subscription service called Patreon. Many of those who regularly attend her classes now pay a monthly fee to subscribe, with video classes available at any time.
“They feel like they’re right there with me, but at a time that’s convenient to them,” she said.
Other local yoga teachers have turned to virtual meeting platforms that were designed for business interactions but have now been pressed into service as social gathering places, sites of municipal meetings and yoga classes.
Michelle Whelan, one of the teachers at the Ocean City Aquatic and Fitness Center who also teaches classes at Yoga Ginger, wanted to start teaching remotely, but was not sure which platform would be best. Some of her favorite yoga studios had gone with Zoom, a virtual meeting system that has become a household world since the start of social distancing rules.
She did a test class with some friends, and when that was a success, she reached out to other students.
“I can’t believe how much it’s grown. I think there were 25 people in the gentle yoga class and every day someone new has signed up,” she said.
That platform allows students to speak with each other before and after class, which Whelen said may be almost as important as the yoga during this period of enforced isolation.
“It’s hard to even describe that feeling of connecting with people. Just being able to see each other and talk to each other is almost the best thing about it,” Whelan said.
Experts describe exercise as a key part of staying healthy during the pandemic. With gyms closed and routines interrupted, participating in an online fitness class can help people stay active. Some participants say having a scheduled class can be helpful.
Traditionally, yoga was as much a spiritual practice as a physical one. The poses and moves can improve flexibility and core strength, but breathing and relaxation techniques also remain important elements.
According to Whelan, Chew and others, the social aspect is also important, with class regulars becoming friends. They’ve sought to keep that emotional connection going even as people are physically separated.
“It’s a practice that fills a need for so many of us,” Whelan said. “Even if it begins as something physical, it’s so much more.”
Chew said she and other yoga teachers become close with the practitioners, referred to as yogis.
“The teachers know their students. I know their stories, I know their family life,” she said.
Yoga came to Ocean City decades ago. Shanti Desai operated a yoga retreat starting in the 1970s. He also owned and operated Prasad Natural Foods on Asbury Avenue and authored several books on yoga and spiritual matters.
Ocean City now has several yoga studios, yoga is taught at health clubs and the yoga classes at the Aquatic and Fitness Center are often so full that the floor mats practitioners use are set almost end to end.
At 841 Central Ave., Golden Buddha Yoga has also started live-streaming classes and other gyms, fitness teachers and studios that offer yoga have similarly looked for new ways to connect with clients. Whelan mentioned several times in a recent interview that several yoga instructors in the area offer classes on a variety of platforms.
There are practical considerations as well.
“When everything closed, my income went to zero. There was no way for me to make any kind of money,” Whelan said. She said she needs to charge for the classes for several reasons. For one thing, the online classes take far more time and preparation than preparing for a class in a studio. Also, she said, a friend who also teaches professionally told her how difficult it was for her that some taught yoga for free, but she still needed to pay her rent.
But there is a scholarship plan for those who can’t afford the classes, Whelan said.
“It’s for anyone who does not have any income right now or whose income has drastically dropped. That’s really important. People need yoga now more than ever,” she said. Whelan also plans to donate a percentage of the money raised to a local business struggling in the current crisis.
According to Chew, the income from the classes is a faction of what her store made, but at least it’s something. She began her business teaching in people’s homes, launching her LLC in 2009 and opening the storefront in 2014.
There have long been videos of yoga classes available online, and long before that on DVDs and other systems, but Chew said she had not explored that option before circumstances forced her to. Now, she believes it will always be part of her business, allowing clients who live in Pennsylvania or Texas to remain connected to her classes.
Whelan said she enjoys the chance to see people’s homes on Zoom, getting a snapshot of each participants’ life. Some of her clients are out of work, others are working harder than ever in the health care industry and all are under extraordinary stress.
“Although everything’s changed, for that one hour that we’re together we feel good,” she said.