Yoga, Interrupted~ Day #6

If you’ve folllowed this week’s blog from the beginning, you know that I started this week off saying yes. The first was to re-commit to yoga everyday and blog about it. Everything is better with yoga, so how I could I think I could go through this stressful time without it? My second yes was to adopting a rescue dog. Neither commitment required much thought. Both were instantaneous.

Little did I know the ways Sasha would interrupt yoga, and judging by the number of dogs on the Zoom screen, this is a common occurrence. From licking my face during downward dog to barking ferociously at any new noise from an Amazon delivery at the door, to children laughing next door, or a mallard landing in the pool, yoga has been interrupted. Yet, it has never been easier to re-engage after that disruption. And the funny thing is the teachers are watching all of this on the screen. The stories they could tell!

Teachers have seen me leave my mat. Sasha was disturbing the entire neighborhood during Liz’ evening Yin Yoga, and then I had to leave 3 times during Ramsay’s 5 pm (2pm PDT) flow. What was I doing? My 85 year old dad escaped using a computer until Covid-19. He acquiesced to an iPhone a few years ago, but always has others forward emails. He still faxes, so it was a little startling when he needed me to set up his online bridge on Mom’s 8 year old PC. He and his regular Tuesday bridge group now play online bridge at bridgebase.com and talk on a conference call. For some reason, he kept getting bumped out of the game, so from down the hall I hear, “Susan… help me!” The long term solution? We bought him his very own Macbook Air, now fully loaded with bridgebase, Zoom, his gmail, and mine. I quite like this upgraded version, so if you see JQ Reynolds on the screen, it’s me, stealing his new computer.

And back to the dogs. One morning Ramsay mentioned the dogs on the screen and even suggested a “Dogs Day” when we’re all back in physical presence with one another. Later, I googled it and found out it’s a thing. Doga and its described in Wikipedia: “Doga brings laughter and joy, freeing people from feeling they must be perfect to practice,” and so many other reasons to have yoga, interrupted.

And as far as having life interrupted, I know that balancing working remotely with my nonprofit startup, caring for my mom, and adjusting to a rambunctious rescue is nothing compared to the working parents who are homeschooling and caring for young children, while balancing the rest of life. I just read a recent article, “The Parents are not All Right” and it affirms for so many that this balancing act is really, really hard.

I have a few suggestions for you. Common Sense Media has teamed with many companies to create wideopenschool.org which is a phenomenal support to teachers and parents alike. And I’d love for you to test out LookUp.live’s own LookUpChallenge.com. It’s a week of balance to practice with your family, created by Concord resident’s own Juliet Gildehaus, a member of the class of 2020. I could write an entire blog about the high school and college graduates of 2020. Deep sigh. I’m also going to be speaking, virtually, for the Concord Library on 4/16 at 7 pm on Listening to Gen Z: Tech/life balance during Covid-19. It’s for the whole family. Please reach out to me, Susan@lookup.live, for more info on that.