This morning I came into the yoga space six minutes before class but instead of starting Zoom at the click of a link, I was presented with a laptop that had suffered a power outage yesterday. It was off. The old thing takes its time booting up, so I quickly thought through the options for connection: my phone, the tablet, or my desktop computer just across the room. Desktop was most expedient.
Recently gifted a hand-me-down Jabra headset with a good mic, I plugged that in and waited for my first student to arrive. And when she did, I could barely hear her. Something was wrong with the setup. Oops. Well, not a real problem since I am the one talking during class. With the headset mic, I felt like a stage manager. Cue 42 (spinal twist)…GO!
Everyone arrived, I laughed at the situation and we began class. After our usual warmup sequence, everybody practiced sun salutations at their own pace while I fussed with the laptop, hoping to be able to finish the class as I had planned. But it wasn’t coming back online. After a few minutes, I started our pranayama practice with a Guided Breathing Mantra while I went back to the laptop.
Thoroughly kerfuffled and not feeling centered or yogic at all, I ditched my class plan and asked everyone for their help. Mamiko led us through three good stretches, then Jo led us through our ending sequence into savasana. It was a real team effort.
I rallied as we relaxed. Today’s yoga class was a course in handling adversity! I suggested we meditate on how we handle situations when technology fails or other misfortunes arise. Do we try to ignore the problem and power through as planned? Fix things on the fly? Give up? Laugh it off? Ask for help?
I did a little of each this morning.
