Part 1 – Where to begin…
Where to begin, well all this “Online Yoga Business” thoughts and feelings of mine began a year or so ago.
However, the onset of COVID-19 and Lockdown really ramped up the desire to create and start my own online yoga – Zanna Yoga.
So to rewind a little bit, before Covid-19 and lockdown my life looked like this… I’m happily married with two teenage sons, we have Bobby the Cavapoo and I’m a part-time yoga teacher and holistic therapist. My days started with nagging the kids out of bed to get ready for school, sorting lunch boxes, walking and feeding the dog before my day starts.
My days are a mix of yoga classes at the local yoga centre and gym, rushing home to set up for massages or reflexology, squeezing in the odd sandwich and being done by 3/3.30pm for a quick cuppa and sit down before the boys come home and it all starts again with homework, dinner and kids clubs.
That life was great, I liked it, but I felt like I was on a treadmill, the same old routine much like many others, rushing from pillar to post exchanging time for money and feeling exhausted at the end of the day especially after giving multiple full body massages.
THE UK IN LOCKDOWN
So when the country went into lockdown with schools, gyms and businesses closing, I had to close the doors on the therapy business too. I must admit the first few days were a welcome break from the hamster wheel of life, and with a few sunny days spent in the garden sipping ice cold beer, I quite enjoyed what I called the Lockdown “Staycation”. It was relaxing and between the numerous shop visits to see if toilet rolls had been restocked, it gave me my first taste of some headspace to sit back and think and reconsider how I want my work life to look and feel going forward.
Lockdown showed me and many other people how vulnerable we can be when drastic world events hit us like that. It’s scary, I had no income and I didn’t know how long this lockdown would last. Thankfully I still had my yoga so decided that now was the time to use my yoga skills and limited technical knowledge to move myself in a new and exciting direction.
This is where the fun and frustration begins…
Zanna the techno-phobe
I’m the kinda gal who knows very little about technology, as long as I can use my phone, send and receive emails then I’m good. Anything else outside of my comfort zone makes me nervous and I have to pester my tech-savvy husband to help me or just do it for me which is sometimes easier.
Anyway I’d heard about this thing called Zoom meeting app and soon realised a lot of other yogis were using it to deliver yoga classes online to their students as they couldn’t do it in-person in the studios.
Some fellow yogi’s were live streaming in Facebook, but at the time I wasn’t sure I wanted to go that route as you can’t really see anyone. They were offering free classes or requesting a small donation for their time as they too had lost a source of income.
YOGA MENTORS
This was also the time I came across the wonderful Amy McDonald @amyyogabizcoach, she had thrown together a free 5 day program ‘Teaching online expert series’, where she connected with various different yogis around the world, discussing and giving lots of hints and tips on how to transition to an online yoga teacher. I must say I was so grateful for this, she is so relaxed and delivered a no BS way of encouraging us non-onliners to literally get something going, it didn’t have to be perfect, but just to start sharing our much needed yoga and relaxation out there with our students and the world.
This was pivital for me, I gained confidence and immediately went into my lounge rolled out my mat sat down and recorded on my iphone a 6 minute guidance for a breathing practice Nadi Shodhana. It wasn’t perfect in fact Bob the dog walked in on me just as I started, but thankfully went and sat on the windowsill.
I was nervous and unscripted, but just wanted to do something to prove I could get infront of my camera and speak about yoga.
I didn’t hesitate and I put it on social media straight away. Wow I was pleased with myself, I’d done something, far from perfect but I’d created a 6 min clip. Job done that day.
IDEAS AND OVERWHELM
In the coming days I gained lots of inspiration, and ideas of what I can do with yoga came flooding in, and me being me, I like to make lists.
I wanted to make an ebook, create an online digital course, audio meditations, be more visable on social media, the list was growing and so was the overwhelm as I had no idea where to start or how to do any of it. I hit a bit of a wall and felt despondent.
I took a few days away from all the online mental input to process a few things and be with the family. Then I made the decision to try out this Zoom everyone was going on about so I contacted a few yogis and I started running my own class on a Friday morning. The word got round, more people became interested and my little yoga class began to grow.
More to come, so please stay tuned to my blog for the next phases of my journey in creating “Zanna Yoga”.
Love & light
Zanna XXX