As this year draws to a close I’ve been thinking about the year just passed and what it has meant for Merchant City Yoga.

When I took up the reins of MCY in 2012 I was determined to make the studio, the yoga, the community as integrated, practical and real as possible. So when we were forced to close the studio by the Covid-19 crisis in 2020 my strategy was the same - keep everyone connected, share yoga by whatever practical means we could and above all, keep it real for everyone.

For the first months there was so much to do - figure out the tech and experiment with different set ups; schedule and deliver live classes online; record and share short video tutorials to support everyone practising on their own at home; experiment with different online platforms and formats to see which ones worked best for us; and doing everything possible to keep connecting with our community despite not being able to meet in person. It felt like every day involved learning something new.

But now we’re nearly two years down the road and I realise that the model I created may no longer be working well.

The thing that stands out for me about the online yoga landscape is that it encompasses lots of very different teachers covering an unfathomably wide range of approaches and teaching. Often it seems that they’re hardly teaching on the same topic at all.

But as an online offering competing for people’s time and attention this approach might be superbly adapted to the realities of our current world rather than my ideal of a consistent, practical, in person approach where connection is just as valuable as teaching.

So, how can I continue to serve our online community better while sharing the authenticity of my own daily yoga experience?

Over the past six months since I reopened the studio we’ve all continued to develop new ways to connect and engage with you. Hybrid classes, specialised workshops and events, and coming in 2022, a subscription on-demand library are all new. The truth is only a fraction of this would have happened had it not been for lockdown.

For all of us our yoga practice has change built into it. Our experience changes from day to day and season to season, but for most of us radical change only needs to happen occasionally. I don’t want to rip up my practice and replace it with something else. I’m growing and nurturing it carefully over time.

But, and it’s a big but, our attention has been taught to seek out endless distraction with projects, challenges and transformations. As a result, I find myself wondering what exciting new projects I can plan for this coming year to keep your attention and have you choose to spend your time with us.

To be fair, I know you all honour the values and integrity of MCY and support us in all that we do. The promise of hacks, breakthroughs and apparent transformations can make good content but rarely makes a sustainable practice or way of life. My practice is still evolving some two years after first experiencing shoulder pain. As teachers, we’re still improving our skills despite teaching hybrid classes for six months now. Our on demand library, although small, will take months to make.

Although I can see the hunger for newness remains a constant in our world I prefer to have things evolve and grow - speed is not of the essence! It seems to me this is the best way to ensure long term progress.

I’m taking stock of where we are now with our in studio and online offerings, and looking to see what I can introduce without it feeling as though I’m simply shoehorning something else in because I feel I have to or everyone else is doing it. I’m not sure yet but I’m taking my time to mull things over and will share my ideas with you all. Whatever I decide to do, I will definitely be keeping it real and practical with our community at its heart.

Judi x

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