Diary of a Lockdown, day 2: is it possible to get teenagers tagged?

Today the teenagers seemed to ‘get’ what this lockdown means. Until now, their social isolation included going for a haircut, having the girlfriend over to watch a film, going to a barbecue and sleep-over.  Last night when 6ft-tall son went out to buy ’emergency crisps’ I started to wonder whether I could arrange to have him tagged.

But today they stayed in. When you get out of bed in the afternoon, there isn’t much of the day left to be bored.

I haven’t seen that much of teenagers as I’ve been hidden away in the attic working on marketing my online yoga classes. I started running them last week with my regular morning students, but from today they are open to anyone.

It’s been great to re-connect with yoga friends I haven’t taught for a while: people who don’t live in London, but come to my retreats; people who can’t make the times of my usual classes. I’ve had some lovely messages from people who are stuck at home and really looking forward to having a regular yoga practice to start the day.

It’s still early days, so the sound, picture and my technical skills won’t be super-slick. It’s me with my yoga mat and a laptop in the attic. It’s interesting to watch myself teach – something I can’t do in a ‘normal’ class.  I noticed today there is something weird about the way I move my mouth and I’ve got to remember to look at the webcam, not the screen – or I look a bit shifty!

But overall, it works. People can choose whether or not to have their cameras on so I can see them. At the start and end of the class I invite everyone to switch on so we can greet each other and send our love to each other as we say goodbye. That part – the connection with each other – is just as important, perhaps more so, than the yoga moves.