‘ Here we are in circumstances unimaginable even six months ago. Who could have predicted that for public health reasons our normal yoga classes would close indefinitely? I think for many of us regular yoga students this would have been cause of great alarm, but almost seamlessly, the teaching of yoga has migrated to video conferencing platforms. Yoga is union, and here were are doing remote yoga; so remote union is that a contradiction in terms? As students of the Iyengar tradition, with our scrupulously vigilant teachers, and hands on adjustment when needed, it doesn’t seem a natural fit. However, if judged by its popularity, it seems to prove the opposite. While Covid 19 has tragically stopped so much of human enterprise, yoga, delivered online is flourishing. As both a teacher and a student of yoga, I am not surprised that people feel the need to do yoga now. Firstly people are looking for ways to exercise with limited space and resources. If you have room for your yoga mat, you can attempt the majority of the poses, especially at introductory level, which through BKS Iyengar’s genius have been designed to work the muscles, joints, and internal organs systematically for optimum health. But perhaps it is the ability of yoga to quieten and focus the mind that is its draw. Anyone who has practised yoga has probably experienced how a mood can shift dramatically from the start of a practice to the end. A low mood can be uplifted, a restless mind can be made sharp. But what of the quality of the class in this era of isolation? Glenys Shepherd who started our institute, often used to admonish people who remained loitering at the back during a demonstration “don’t be a long distance learner”. I have to admit I was skeptical as to how much I would benefit in a remote setting, but I have found that I have become fully absorbed from the first to final pose. There is something settling about doing the class in your own space, I realise how much energy I give to experiencing the other students around me. This can be great and in it’s own way a unification, we share a joke, a smile, a group energy. But keeping your attention solely on your own practice reaps other rewards. Every day I feel like I am going a bit deeper and experiencing poses anew. So why not just practice at home on my own? At times I am finding myself very distracted, I think it is difficult to settle into doing something completely and effectively in the Covid context – whether it is working from home, trying to stay in touch with friends and family or home schooling – nothing feels quite as it should. For that reason I am really appreciating the experience of putting myself in the hands of another teacher. There is something of a relief in surrendering to their lesson plan and letting them guide my attention. I have also had the magical moment in a large online class when I thought to myself “ah, I got that then” and simultaneously heard the teacher say “better that time Rebecca” and then conversely when I realised I was drifting off into a compelling thought about shopping lists “do more Rebecca!”.I wonder if fourty odd days into isolation we might also be experiencing something akin to sensory deprivation, where life has become more minimal and subtler details are amplified. Such as the fullness I feel with an unexpected social interaction. The reduction of “noise” in our lives I suspect aids the absorption in our yoga practice. When all classes all around the world suddenly went online it was like the offering of a cornucopia. After considering the array of appetising options, and calculating time differences, I have got into a routine of going to the teachers whose classes I would attend in the non Covid era. These classes are giving me the comfort of my normal routine and familiarity but most importantly keeping me in touch with a community which I hope soon to be back amongst. ‘