Who would have thought back in March when we first went online that we would still be online?

Our last class of 2020 will be on the 18^th December. We will restart on the 4^th January with Qigong. If 2020 has taught us anything it’s to keep plans flexible and fluid so we’ll be staying online in January pending changes in the situation with Covid-19.

The Class Archive now has over 200 recordings of almost all our Zoom classes this year, Vinyasa with Scarlett Wilde, Gua Sha with Dr Crystal and additional tutorials in seated yoga, Tummo / Wim Hof breathing and more. So if you would like to keep up your practice over the Xmas break, then this is the answer. Most of you have the Members Package which we have extended to cover the Xmas period. But if you’d like access for the time we’re off air and don’t have the package, please drop me an email and we’ll hook you up temporarily.

In many ways working online has been a revelation and certainly has deepened many people’s practice. We’ve welcomed regulars, old friends and new friends from the UK and abroad to our virtual classroom. For us it has provided a means of staying connected as well as providing structure and purpose.

Yoga is ultimately a solitary practice, especially when you get to the stage of withdrawing your senses from the external world (see this month’s piece on Patanjali). So this year, as well as focusing more on breath, in Kundalini there has been more emphasis on developing an awareness of the subtle flows of energy that follow the breath. This is an advanced practice so congratulations to everyone who has kept up and worked on that over the year.

Yin Yoga online has been a joy – it is so well suited to working at home. Classes have involved piles of pillows, blankets, essential oils and candles. And after an hour of deep stretching and relaxing, no need to get yourself home, just roll onto your couch! I’ve loved teaching the Thursday night class, it’s become a very nurturing community – I suspect this class will stay online long after we’re back out interacting more normally.

Alex has really developed the skill set of his Qigong participants this year too, covering new sets and introducing concepts that have deepened everyone’s practice considerably.

So whilst the year may have felt like a pause, for those of you that have stuck with us on the online journey we hope when you reflect back on your yoga or Qigong practice at least, you will see the huge gains you have made in understanding, practice and self-discipline. We know that a lot of you have started and stuck to a new home practice which, in itself, is an amazing achievement.

Of course the one thing missing this year has been the gongs. Recording the gongs has proved a technical challenge. And with regulations changing constantly we have only managed one socially distanced gong bath. We have really missed playing the gongs. And we understand a lot of you have missed us playing gong. Rest assured the gongs are our big priority for 2021 – we’ll be back just as soon as we can.

We’re looking forward to some time off to recharge, research and re-set our direction for the new year. Expect new courses in functional breathing, tantric meditation and TRE to come online in January.

So a huge thank you to everyone who has joined us online over 2020 or supported us in any way. Many thanks to everyone who volunteered to shake with me online to help me on my way to qualifying as a TRE practitioner. And to those who have put up with my obsession with breath as I qualified as a breath coach with Oxygen Advantage.

And we’d also like to express our appreciation to everyone who hung in there this year and suffered restrictions to their freedom for a bigger cause. If anything, 2020 has called us to put the collective good above our own needs. Don’t be dismissive of how difficult this year has been – what we were asked to do was a really big deal. Here’s hoping 2021 brings you all a bountiful harvest from your efforts.