Fostering Community during Covid

I had joyfully been teaching Yoga to active older adults for nine years when all of my classes were cancelled in March 2020. Initially I thought classes would resume in Summer. Au contraire, restaurants, cafes, schools, libraries, churches and parks closed as the pandemic raged on. I missed my students and wondered how they were faring. Some had been practicing with me for years, others for a matter of months.

I worried that I was about to lose the connection we had fostered together. I reached out to students, then began offering online classes in May 2020. To my great surprise, many hopped onto the new technology right away. Let me tell you, there was a learning curve! No matter, we were exploring a new way to interact and practice Yoga. I was so happy I nearly wept. Along the way, friends and family joined. Some people dropped in for a few weeks or months; most have continued week in and week out for the duration of the pandemic. We continue to grow and deepen our community (sangha). Before class we have check in for 10 minutes. Some people opt out of the conversation and listen. Topics range from Yoga, health, family, gardening, current happenings, and of course, the pandemic.

Community and Movement

Although we practice in our own homes, we feel one another’s presence. As we move and breathe together, the magic of entrainment happens. Humans feel happy and connected when moving in unison. I have experienced group flow and joy in Yoga classes, while dancing, singing and in celebration. I fondly remember an herbal conference in southern Oregon. At the opening ceremony and after the invocation, we held hands encircling a giant oak. We moved to the sound of the leaves rustling and wind blowing. Several years ago, I attended a Winter Solstice celebration and learned more about this innate human tendency to move in sync. Our teacher began class with gentle drumming as we meditated, resting on our backs with our hands on our chests. He told us that when we gather in a group, our heartbeats begin to syncopate together with the drumbeat. We later drummed while listening to our own heartbeat, then that of another person.

Homage to brother Dave, our communitarian

Opportunities for Collective Effervescence

To facilitate community-building in an online environment, I created new opportunities to experience my classes:

Communication beyond class time, I regularly send email with updates and tips. I created an Instagram account (https://www.instagram.com/heidilmair/. My posts include pictures of dog walks, gardens and parks, poems and Yoga quips and quotes. For the month of November, every post focused on gratitude. I continue to write a blog post each month and highlight the teachings and topics in my classes. I call, email and meet with individual students when possible.

Yoga on the Road – in the month of May, I traveled cross-country with my family and taught from each destination: Yuma Arizona; Las Cruces, New Mexico; nephew Thomas’ farm in northern Texas; nephew Dave’s house in Columbus, Ohio and Dayton, Ohio.  Next up – Yoga on a goat farm and the Oregon coast.

Seasonal offerings – I select readings and design practices to highlight and celebrate each passing season.

Outdoor Yoga – this Summer, I held three classes in gardens – at my house and the homes of two community members. I also taught an outdoor series at Magnuson Park. Outdoor Yoga included gardens, dogs walking, cats lounging, chickens clucking, children and birds singing and a few airplanes. To recline upon the earth and gaze up at the tall trees and blue sky was indeed healing.

It was fabulous to meet in person again and to welcome new students. The first class was also held via Zoom, so students at home could follow along. We were giddy with delight. This was truly a moment of collective effervescence – that moment of bliss that comes from communal shared experiences. As I looked at each student, I cherished their contribution to our group. The more we practice together, the more in sync we become. There has been a shortage of collective effervescence over the past year and one-half. I experienced it that morning. And I contend that our online community inculcates bliss, healing, compassion even across the internet.

Looking forward

This Fall, I look forward to the return of in-person classes and the benefits of practicing together in a shared, community space. All community center staff and instructors are fully vaccinated, and we will wear masks. Class limits are lower to ensure social distance. Like old times, we will chat before and after class.

I will also continue teaching online. Many of my students prefer it and feel safer at home until Covid is under control. Others want the option to take an online class – even if they return in person. I enjoy the experience of teaching from home. We see one another’s rooms, books, animals, artwork. It is cozy and comfy, personable – even warm and fuzzy. Now that I have taught for more than a year online, I have learned better ways to cue and pace my classes.

In both settings, my heart soars when I see the calm, peaceful look on my students’ faces at the close of class. I have found my bliss teaching Yoga.

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The misconception which has haunted philosophic literature throughout the centuries is the notion of ‘independent existence.’ There is no such mode of existence; every entity is to be understood in terms of the way it is interwoven with the rest of the universe.

― Alfred North Whitehead

Finding Wellness with Nature

Cool, calming and moist NW forest

Environmental Wellness

In 1979, when Bill Hettler, developed the Six Dimension of Wellness, he defined Environmental Wellness as the ability to recognize our own responsibility for the quality of the air, the water and the land that surrounds us.

Over the last 40 years, our relationship with nature has changed dramatically. We have become more urban and by 2050, almost 70% of the world’s population will live in an urban setting. Fewer people live on farms or in rural areas. We spend more time indoors – often gazing at a screen and less time outdoors. This – despite all of the runners, boaters, hikers, surfers and skiers we see. Meanwhile, we are witnessing epidemics of obesity, diabetes and autoimmune diseases.

Our perception of nature and wild places has also changed. Many people take a family camping trip once or twice a year or visit a park on a sunny, summer day. But how many modern, urban dwellers have cleared a trail, walked in an old growth forest, observed animals in their natural habitat, or harvested their own food? How many children run free with wild abandon?

Humans both yearn for and are afraid of the wild within us and around us. Why do we both romanticize and demonize nature?

Mushrooms – some edible, some poisonous

Biophilia

The Biophilia Hypothesis (and my background in anthropology) can help explain human’s innate love and fear of nature. E.O. Wilson defined biophilia as the genetic basis for humans to focus on and affiliate with nature and other forms of life. Keen observation of animal behavior, changes in weather patterns, as well as knowledge of reliable food, shelter and water sources are all key to our survival. The fight/flight response and a fear of predators, storms and unpredictable fluctuations are critical to our viability. We need both social organizations and a knowledge of nature to survive. We need to cooperate with one another and understand the rhythms of  nature… to our marrow.

Throughout history, humans created complex communities while maintaining a close connection to the immediate environment. Around the globe, Homo sapiens became experts in the flora and fauna of each bioregion. We learned to follow the flow of rivers, navigate by the stars, migrate with the animals and transform grasses into “the staff of life”. Within the last hundred years or so, our direct reliance upon nature appeared to diminish as technology advanced. Or so it seemed. Loss of biodiversity, environmental degradation and fluctuations in climate affect all life forms, including humans.

Over the past thirty years the biophilia hypothesis (BET) has not only influenced the fields of conservation and environmentalism, but also architecture, public health and urban planning. Put simply, access to open spaces, parks, trees, lakes, rivers, beaches and thriving ecosystems create happier and healthier communities.

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“Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.”
~ Kahlil Gibran

Gazing into the canopy

NW Nature and Health Symposium

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity”

~ John Muir, Our National Parks

Although John Muir could have spoken those words last week, he foresaw the 21^st century dilemma over 100 years ago. Our relationship to nature is critical to life on planet earth, and to our own wellness. And recent studies support this claim.

This week I attended EarthLab’s Northwest Nature and Health Symposium at the University of Washington to learn what advances are being made in the emerging nature and wellness field.

Speakers presented papers about trauma and war, children’s health, and the role of nature on health and equity. The lunchtime interview was a conversation with Richard Louv, author of several books on biophilia, nature and wellness. We broke into small groups and discussed research needs and implementation in our communities. My small group discussed the needs of the 50+ age-group. There was a biophilic art and design exhibit displaying the proposed lid over I-5 in Seattle, Amazon’s spheres and other buildings designed to bring people closer to nature at home, at work and even in hospitals…. Or should I say, especially in places of healing.

A new program of EarthLab, Nature for Health has been launched, focusing on five sectors: veterans, children, the elderly, healthcare providers and underserved populations. I am excited to see what positive changes are ahead.

Communities are beginning to design more open spaces, neighborhood pocket parks, and plant street trees… and to design communities around nature. Nature is no longer the afterthought. Part of the healing process for the individual is to feel more fully present in one’s life, to be observant and in awe with a childlike wonder.

Bring it on Home!

Here are a few of my own tips to integrate nature into your life:

• Take a break from TV, computers, phones, etc.
• Plant a seed and watch it grow.
• Decorate your home with houseplants.
• Open your doors and windows and let the breeze in.
• Go barefoot; wiggle your toes into the earth.
• Watch the animals that live near you – when do the birds sing? What is feeding time?
• Take a walk every day, if you can – otherwise sit outside or by an opened door for a few moments.
• Grow your own food, or buy from a local farm.
• Eat seasonally – learn what fruits and vegetables are in season in your area.
• Visit a park, woods, stream, lake, meadow or marsh.
• Look at the bark of a tree, a flower or a blade of grass, up front and personal.
• Close your eyes and envision a deep forest, mountain or ocean.
• Listen to the sounds of nature in your home, yard or outside your window.
• Use plant medicines (essential oils and herbs) rather than artificial fragrances.
• Watch the sunrise and sunset; gaze at the night sky.
• Bathe in a forest!
• Find out where your drinking water comes from – what is your watershed?
• Reduce, reuse, recycle.
• Volunteer for a trail clean-up.

Schlumbergera – beginning to bloom

Photos taken by Heidi Lynne’.

Creating Community through Compassion

Yoga and Community

We are all familiar with stunning pictures of yogis and yoginis posing alone in the woods, on beaches and atop mountains. These images might lead us to believe that Yoga is primarily practiced in solitude and only in idyllic settings. Or perhaps the intention is to convey the feelings one might experience while practicing Yoga: calmness, connection with nature, oneself and the universe. In actuality, millions of Americans practice Yoga in studios, gyms, health clubs, community centers and other venues.  Some Yoga classes are located on busy, urban streets, some in strip malls, some in rural settings. One common thread is that each Yoga class is ideally a “safe” place to practice without judgement towards one-self or our fellow practitioners…. a community of compassion.

Practicing Yoga as a group naturally fosters community. The very word Yoga means to unite or connect. Yoga not only connects us to our mind, body and breath but to our fellow practitioner and broader communities. Moving, meditating and breathing together is a powerful experience and can create a feeling of transcendence. Like a butterfly skimming along the water, we create waves of energy around us. And where those waves connect, a bond is formed.

For many years, I practiced alone and sporadically dropped into random classes. Then, about 12 years ago, I began attending classes regularly. I vividly remember the first class where I felt profoundly connected to my true self, my teacher, my fellow practitioners and the world-at-large. It felt like a moving meditation, sacred dance, celebration of life – all in one instant!

Scientists at the University of Oxford researched the benefits of practicing Yoga in a group setting. According to their studies, we are able to release higher quantities of endorphins and endocannabinoids, nature’s chemical pain relievers and mood enhancers, into our nervous systems. As a result, we feel better, which further rewards our cooperation as a group. When we engage in a group chant or meditation, our perception of distance between ourselves and others lessens. “In deep spiritual moments, we’ve observed decreased activity in the parietal lobe, which regulates the boundaries between the self and the world,” says neuroscientist Andrew Newberg. “When that activity reduces, people feel a connectedness, an intermingling between their selves and everyone else’s.”

Community and Compassion

As social beings, we seek connectedness for survival and to find meaning in our lives. Humans express compassion for one another, relieving pain and suffering for their families, their neighbors, and their communities. The complexity of modern society often thwarts and distorts our natural desire to be compassionate. The sense of disconnection is so pervasive that unkindness, indifference, and selfishness may appear as the norm; compassion, kindness, and caring are the outliers.

In a Compassionate Community, the needs of all members are recognized and met, the well-being of the entire community is a priority, and all people and living things are treated with respect.  A community where compassion is fully alive is a thriving, resilient community whose members are moved by empathy to take compassionate action, are able to confront crises with innovative solutions, are confident in navigating changes in the economy and the environment, and are resilient enough to bounce back from disasters.

According to Yogapedia, a Yoga sangha is a community of Yoga practitioners. A sangha can quicken the learning process, break down boundaries and provide support for each person’s s practice. As the practitioner learns to center him or herself as an individual, they are encouraged to be inclusive and accepting in a broader community setting. Sometimes, an ongoing class naturally becomes a sangha.

I strive to create a community of compassion in my classes…. a place where each student is affirmed and deepens their practice as well as their connection to their fellow yogis and yoginis. Nothing is more gratifying to me as a teacher than when a student tells me they experienced a personal breakthrough, or when my students bond with one another. And the Viniyoga  tradition fosters community in a number of ways. At the beginning of each class, we welcome newcomers, do a check-in and ask for requests. We acknowledge the uniqueness of each student. Teaching and practicing Yoga is an honor and gift. I am deeply in gratitude to my students and teachers. Namaste.

I have found that the greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion. The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being. Cultivating a close, warmhearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. It is the ultimate source of success in life.

― Dalai Lama XIV

Thanks to Judith Hanson Lasater and Twist Yoga for a wonderful workshop…. you inspired this blog post and helped me define my personal mission statement. And to the Dalai Lama for fostering the Seeds of Compassion in all of us.