Reasons to celebrate

Given that we are daily reminded of the reasons to be careful and cower in our homes, we at MLY feel it is the right time to celebrate the benefits of online yoga practice.

1. Practice in your PJs. Obviously, this is the best thing to come out of 2020.

2. All the learning. All manner of learning instantly and affordably available on your iPhone. It's almost too much. I think I just finished a course on quantum sound healing?

3. The moment. If ever there was a year when you must NOT plan ahead, this is that year. The only place we can really be is here and now!

As we bauble along toward the holidays, friends, let's always remember that happiness is a choice. Now more than ever, that slippery slope of anxiety can easily catch us unawares during those inescapable moments of uncertainty.

Our message to you, and to ourselves, is that regularly reaching out to friends for support can offer lifelines of stability when things start to feel especially dark. There is also a treasure of stability to be found in routine, even turning up to your normal zoom yoga class can give you a sense of achievement and bookend the chaos of a day in the COVID era. Even if you keep your camera off, just hearing the teacher and sharing a collective LIVE experience can recalibrate the brain chemistry and banish the doldrums.

Celebrating gratitude in the face of constant doubt and uncertainty is the spirit of 1.33 in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.

मैत्रीकरुणामुदितोपेक्षणां सुखदुःखपुण्यापुण्यविषयाणां भावनातश्चित्तप्रसादनम्॥३३॥

maitri-karuna-mudita-upeksanam sukha-duhkha-punya-apunya-visayanam bhavanatah-citta-prasadanam

A serene and peaceful mind (citta-prasadanam) is cultivated (bhavanatah) by being friendly (maitri) towards happy people (sukha), compassionate (karuna) towards those who are suffering (duhkha), delighted (mudita) with those who are virtuous (punya) and disengaged or undisturbed (upeksa) by those who are doing harm (apunya).