4 Surprise Lessons Learned From Teaching During the Pandemic
2020 was a capacity-building year for Exhale to Inhale in terms of attendance, partnerships, and registrations for classes. While the journey to providing services in a pandemic had its many challenges, the team at Exhale to Inhale learned a few surprising lessons along the way.
In March of 2020 as the pandemic reached New York City, our team was challenged with quickly transitioning to a virtual service-model. At the same time, the demand for our services reached an all-time high as our community was confronted by trauma. In this time of uncertainty and increasing stress, it became our priority to make sure the survivor community and our partner organizations would have continued access to our services.
Our first challenge included making sure our teachers, partners, and community had access to the technology needed to continue streaming classes online. Exploring this challenge led to another complication-our community no longer had an established space to invite clients into practice. From these unique challenges, we learned some key lessons that will inform our future as we continue supporting survivors-no matter what.
When talking to our partner, HELP USA, which serves survivors of domestic violence who are experiencing homelessness, we learned that the transition to virtual classes actually allowed some of their clients to practice in a way that made them feel safer. Previously, Exhale to Inhale has taught classes at HELP USA in-person in the facility’s cafeteria. But when the pandemic hit, the classes were taught virtually and moved into the library – a change that ended up benefiting clients more.
“One of the things we’ve been able to do this year, because it’s been on video, is hold classes in our library,” shares Katie Harmon, Art Therapist. “We have some ambiance to create a literal safe space. There is a sense of safety in not having someone teaching in-person, in the sense that people can kind of be more free with their bodies. That’s been something we’ve really liked, and if in the future when we get people back in person, I think definitely incorporating aspects that would be really important.”
While HELP USA does offer talk therapy, Harmon shared that our trauma-informed yoga classes are eagerly looked forward to by staff and clients alike. After class, participants share feeling more energized, more relaxed, and more grounded.
For our 2020 teaching fellow Jenna Conner, the transition into teaching fully online held many challenges, primarily learning how to now connect with students through the screen. A long-time yoga lover and teacher who has taught all around the world, Conner has always loved the way yoga brings people together and builds community. But while the challenges lay ahead, Conner knew it was vital to adapt in order to continue showing up for the needs of her students.
“I have really struggled with teaching online,” shared Conner. “Not that I can’t do it, I can, I just don’t enjoy it as much as teaching in person. But whenever I have those feelings, I have to remind myself of how much it helps people and how much they need it. In those moments I just remember my discomfort is so small and their joy is so much bigger and that makes it all so much more worth it.”
Amy Apgar is a yoga teacher and teacher trainer who has been practicing and teaching yoga for over a decade, and was a part of Exhale to Inhale’s 2020 teaching fellowship program. As she continued to teach trauma-informed yoga classes this year, on top of managing another yoga studio in New York City, Apgar says that it was her students’ commitment to showing up to class that ultimately gave her strength and courage to continue onward despite so many unknowns.
“My clients blew me away this year,” shared Apgar. “For them, courage looked like showing up, which in turn, was the thing that got me out of bed and helped me show up during this time. I was so impressed with the way they so quickly and effortlessly jumped into something new -- whether that was people diving into yoga for the first time during quarantine or, for those who had practiced before, developing a home practice. With so much going on during this time, it was really hard to show up and practice, especially from one’s own home where they didn’t have the energetic shift of the studio or that sense of community. But my clients showing up for themselves continued to give me the strength and courage to do the same.”
After teaching virtually over the past 15 months, our 2020 teaching fellow Matty Espino was surprised just how amenable trauma-informed yoga is with online formats. For his clients, Espino has found that virtual classes have given them even more agency to decide the direction of their practice and for both him and them, allowed them to explore what self-care really meant for them in the day to day.
“It was really scary to go into teaching virtually during this time because it was so unknown and uncertain, and felt like the ground had been taken out from underneath me. I had to work to rebuild my own self-care and yoga practices in order to feel stable and grounded. I needed to be able to take care of myself before I could continue to show up for others,” reflected Espino. “For my clients and myself, this was a time of asking ourselves: What practices work for me? And then allowing yourself to show up when you can, and giving yourself the grace to also step back from the computer and listen to your body when it says today is not the day to do yoga. All of those moments where you get to decide and make your own sort of path is an exemplification of courage.”
Exhale to Inhale will continue teaching classes online through our partner agencies and to the public through our weekly donation-based classes in English and Spanish. Join us for term 3 starting September 13.