I Don't Know If You've Heard....

..... but there's this virus going around, and everything's closed, and we're all trapped in our houses. 

I have so many thoughts about all this virus, but I don't even know where to begin.

Thoughts about time: How can it feel like only a few days ago that I was sitting if front of many of you in a group yoga class, and yet the past three weeks as a home school therapist/elementary/special ed teacher appears to have lasted approximately 8 and a half years?

Thoughts about connection: How can we exist in this world-wide shared experience, yet feel so completely alienated from one another?

Thoughts about energy: How can I preserve and replenish my own energy so I have enough to care for both myself and my family when my family needs SO MUCH, and there's no one to rely on for help?

I don't know these answers. I know I am as lost in my emotional vortex as you are in yours, and am having a hard time sitting and observing these feeling without trying to chase them away. And let's face it, that's what we're all doing. Whether you stress-eat chocolate, numb out on Netflix, fire off insults on Facebook, cast about looking for a scapegoat, or ignore the "stay at home" directives of the government because you bristle at being given orders, we are all responding to our inherent fear in a way to make it feel less awful.

I would love to say "Check out my online streaming yoga classes here" or "click this link to download my free guided meditation!" But the fact is, I just do not have it together enough to put that technology in place right now and even if I knew what I was doing, I don't know how I'd find the time. But for now, I still have the power of the written word.

I offer you, my friends, my simplest expression of pain, loss, and fear. I offer it as a way to connect and relate to one another. I offer it because sharing my observations builds my energy and gives me purpose. I offer it in the event that we feel the same way so you know you don't suffer alone.

I do have some good news for those of you missing your yoga practice. Two local studios are both offering video yoga classes right now, at free or discounted rates. Go to the websites for Yoga Loka in Frenchtown and RiverSoul Yoga in Milford to learn how to sign up for classes and practice at home. You can find flow classes, meditation, Yoga Nidra, and even an early morning healing fire ceremony.

Until such time that I see you in person at a yoga class, or get it together to offer classes online, I hope to keep writing. So keep an eye on my blog page if you like, as I'm sure many of my newsletters shoot right to spam and aren't seen at all. Take care, my yogis!