Thanks 2020!

 This has been one mother of a year: a worldwide pandemic, illness and death, a trashed economy, and the demise of yoga as we knew it.

Many of my friends are sick, and some are dying. We had a fire, and then another one. My dog was attacked. My business was decimated. Blah blah blah.

What remains is perhaps innovation on a grand scale. Creation, dissolution, and then out of the ashes creation anew.

Do I miss yoga in person? You bet. Do I miss my friends? Absolutely. Do I miss my family? Some of them all the time, and most of them some of the time.

However, there is some innovation that I believe will stick, if we ever get back to the new-normal.

1. Human beings generally do the right thing, after exhausting every other available option. More of us are wearing a mask, washing our hands, using common sense and anti-bacterial wipes. Yay for us. I am going to keep doing most of this from now on.

2. Technology is my new friend. I have been delighted to find yoga teachers from around the world, brought straight into my basement studio on Zoom. Of course, many are available on video in pre-filmed classes. But there is something about being together in the moment, about sharing what is real and what is happening, that makes the canned stuff seem like, well, canned stuff. The best yoga is always about connection first, and asana second.

3. Virtual platforms have advantages. The Theme Weaver Intro Workshop is actually better on Zoom, and despite the wacky interface, I feel connected to all of you who took it this year. I plan to keep it this way even after we return to new-normal. I can offer it dirt cheap to studios as owners get back on their feet.

4. Crisis brings clarity. Some of us are finding new careers. Others are rising to the top in the new formats. There is something about a crisis that brings clarity. It’s disturbing, it’s painful, but it often wakes us up if nothing else.

5. Apparently, I can practice at home. Who knew? Being in lockdown for most of 2020 has taught me that if I have a yoga mat, I have a yoga practice. Staying at home relentlessly has led me to find a new path inside.

I hope to see all of you, on a screen, or in person (whatever that is) in 2021.

Michelle Marchildon is the Yogi Muse. She is an award-winning writer, an E-500 RYT, and probably on lockdown in Denver, Colorado. www.MichelleMarchildon.com