Has The Role of Yoga Studios Changed?
As a place to get regular practice in Group Classes, find like-minded individuals and deepen one’s knowledge of Yoga changed post the pandemic? When Covid-19 struck us in Dubai in March last year and brought the whole city of Dubai to a standstill that followed the lockdown, little did anyone suspect that something not even visible to the naked eye could wreak havoc to so many lives!
Yoga Studios among many other businesses struggled to continue with classes and activities like we once had done before.
Even as Sports Gyms and Yoga Studios reopened their doors a couple of months later with new restrictions and with the hope of some normalcy, much had changed and one could not go back to the packed group classes and the footfall that had prevailed pre-Covid times. The feeling of Community and fond exchange of banter and Yogic / Well-being talk in the corridors of the Studio Rooms seemed to be missing….
Even as Sports Gyms and Yoga Studios reopened their doors a couple of months later with new restrictions and with the hope of some normalcy, much had changed and one could not go back to the packed group classes and the footfall that had prevailed pre-Covid times. The feeling of Community and fond exchange of banter and Yogic / Well-being talk in the corridors of the Studio Rooms seemed to be missing….
A year and a half later, much has changed, and yet too the basics of keeping good health physical and mental, and boosting one’s immunity has risen in importance in everyone’s eyes. Yoga as a means of preventing Covid-19 or even reducing one’s chance of getting an acute infection brought renewed interest in an ancient often misunderstood form of exercise.
The Pranayama ( breathing exercises) and Meditation aspect of Yoga, where before there was not much interest, today post-pandemic can indeed help one to adjust better and innovate in these uncertain times.
Going deeper into this Ancient Science of Yoga whereby one studies the Philosophy of Yoga and its nuances can bring about lifestyle changes leading to a higher happiness quotient and greater well-being.
Yoga Teachers Training
Doing Yoga Teacher Training has become even more popular as a means to learn a self-practice from home.
When I checked the group classes that were once popular pre-covid to find if the means of instruction had changed, I found that more emphasis is now placed on teaching a session inclusive of breathing exercises, inducing deeper stretches and releasing more stresses than before amidst a slower and at times more mindful practice.
When I checked the group classes that were once popular pre-covid to find if the means of instruction had changed, I found that more emphasis is now placed on teaching a session inclusive of breathing exercises, inducing deeper stretches and releasing more stresses than before amidst a slower and at times more mindful practice.
Looking to the future, a renewed interest in Breathing, Yoga and Meditation, an equal emphasis on all three aspects of Yoga which makes Yoga Ashram stand apart from other Yoga Studios is what keeps us going! When people keep coming back saying how they had lost weight, been able to step back from the bustle of their lives, improved their health and basically transformed their Well-being, it gives us enough reason to carry forth amidst the uncertainties yet confident that we are indeed serving a greater purpose to society at large.
