In my world the longest lasting effects of Covid 19 are most apparent within my business.
What a shit couple of years….
But has is all been bad?
We have had to learn how to adapt the business to online, providing recorded classes on our website, starting a Youtube channel, and then live streaming to our yogis. Unfortunately the hot yoga part had to stop - unless yogis at home cranked their heating up (but not with today’s prices)….
We found new private clients, people who wanted to continue their practice and needed that one to one situation to get them onto their mat each week….
We also found new online clients from different cities, towns and countries. Yogabombers were popping up all over the world! It has been lovely to be able to practice with different teachers, studios, reconnecting with yogis that you may have met in a different time etc….
And now we are all travelling again, Yogabombers can log in to their fave classes from their holiday locations! So it has not all been bad…. having to roll out of bed onto the mat was a bonus too!
But it has been tough
The hardest part for me has been the connection, the energy, teaching to a computer screen rather than real people. Keeping the enthusiasm and motivation going when the internet fails or the sound drops.
I LOVE teaching real people. Having yogis in the same room, uniting breath, energy and movement together IT IS MAGIC. It is slowly coming back, it will get back to where we were before the pandemic, but we just have to be patient.
The cost of living is hitting people hard at the moment. Yoga classes are maybe an expense that is not essential (except in my book), online yoga is free and plentiful. People have changed their habits, tried new things, moved away from yoga perhaps.
Small businesses have been hit hard. We are fighting to keep going. We are fighting for customers and trying to offer new things, what people want.
When your business’s USP is HOT YOGA it’s really shit when the energy companies hike up the cost of electricity! Maybe we need to try ‘not so hot’ hot yoga for a while!
The repercussions from covid are immense, it’s a bit like a continuous wave that just keeps coming in and out. But we will stand strong and ride the wave