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We will be offering small group classes and one-to-one, in-person sessions …
To our hōmies,

As you may know, we have gotten the green light to re-open. We will begin offering small group classes and one-to-one sessions beginning on June 15thAt first, we will limit the classes we are offering in-person to TRE on Tuesday evenings (7:15 – 8:15 pm) and Neurogenic Yoga on Thursdays (5 – 6:15 pm). These groups will be limited to 6 participants at a time in order to maintain a safe distance and individualized attention. Pre-registration is required and can be done through our website on our schedule page: https://homsouthflorida.com/class-schedule/ 

In addition to these two classes, we will also be available for one-to-one, in-person sessions (as well as over zoom). If you are interested in working with Chaim or Staisha on an individual basis (in-person or online) please contact us at: 954-683-7071 or email [email protected]. You can learn more about the different types of individual support we each offer by visiting the “About” page on our website.

Because we realize that many of you are still hesitant to attend group classes, and we wish for you all to stay connected, we will continue to meet for our other offerings (e)face-to-face, via zoom, until further notice.

How we are reopening:

We will be following the CDC’s recommended guidelines to keep our hōmies safe.

In addition, we are taking the following precautions:

  • Contact free check-in process via registration through the website
  • Everyone who chooses to come to the center will have their temperature taken before entering the building
  • Heightened, deep-cleaning measures throughout the day, evening, and between classes
  • All equipment (whether used or not) will be cleaned and sanitized after each class
  • High touch surfaces will be disinfected before and after people arrive for classes

We encourage anyone who would feel more comfortable doing so to wear a mask or facial covering – although it is not a requirement at this time. We will kindly ask that you wash/sanitize your hands upon entering the center and most importantly, if you are not feeling well, please stay home. Additionally, if you have recently been to a protest or any other large, group gathering we ask that you consider the recommended 14 days of self-quarantine before participating in group classes at the center.

We will continue to carefully monitor the situation and keep you updated. The most important thing as we begin to gradually offer classes in-person is that we do so in a safe environment.

If you have specific questions not addressed here please reach out to us.

We look forward to seeing you all (virtually or in-person),

Staisha, Chaim, & Boris

We Look Forward to Your Presence!

Additional helpful details:

  • There is parking across the street from the center as well as available parking spots directly in front of hōm.
  • At this time, we highly recommend that you bring your own yoga mat to class.
  • Please arrive on time or plan to come at least 10 minutes early to orient to the space and settle in before class begins.

The world is suffering deep loss in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since this all began millions have become infected, hundreds of thousands have passed, we are in the midst of a global economic disaster, and with this, all the suffering that accompanies it. Even if you yourself are not infected with this virus, even if you haven’t lost your business or your job, even if no one in your family is sick or has died, we have all been affected.

For almost everyone, there is anxiety, fear, and moments of experienced helplessness and hopelessness. We are confronted daily, through the news and social media, with documented losses in painful and visible detail. What we don’t often see or consider is that for almost everyone, there are also invisible losses.

It is true that many have already died, while the majority will not. It is true that some have lost everything, while some will only know the greatest suffering second-hand. Many of us are being hurt by what is happening in our world, as well as by what has not yet happened. Indeed, there is pain and loss even in what we escape.

For some, there is guilt about not using the “time off” in lockdown “productively” to learn how to bake bread, speak a new language, exercise more, start a new project, finish an old project, or be a better parent. Professional caregivers who are not working alongside their colleagues on the frontlines might be feeling guilt and even shame about not “doing their part”, not pushing themselves to the brink, or even dying for the cause.

Some of us may even be experiencing an invisible but well-documented emotional response of unconscious survivor guilt – or the perception that we have fallen short of our natural sense of responsibility for the lives of others. Rumination and worry are exaggerations of thoughtful self-reflection, and contribute to feelings of unease, anxiety, and depression we might be experiencing. This can distort the natural sadness and grieving that are inherent in our humanity and can even rob us of moments of joy and delight in our own present moments of precious living.

So what do we do? How do we skillfully address all of these things that may be coming up for us? Though we may have heard this time and time again, it remains true: recognize your feelings are normal (and common); acknowledge, honor, and make space for what you’re experiencing right now; give yourself permission to take a break; let yourself find moments of peace, feelings of safety, connection, and joy; they can be valuable treatments for the wide world of pain and suffering.

Ultimately, be gentle with yourself. Be compassionate to yourself for the losses that anyone might see in your life, for the invisible suffering only you can feel, and for your place in the misery of what the world is experiencing in a million inexplicable ways.

Whether on the frontlines or the sidelines, kindness and taking care of yourself allow you to be compassionate and hold space for others and their suffering. Kindness and self-care, most of all, allow us to see the sacrifices and contributions that we and so many are making and to feel our connection to all humankind.

 

A poem about what we can and cannot do

On March 17, as sheltering-in-place was starting, poet Jane Hirshfield wrote this poem,

“Today, When I Could Do Nothing.”

 

Today, when I could do nothing,

I saved an ant.

It must have come in with the morning paper,

still being delivered

to those who shelter in place.

A morning paper is still an essential service.

I am not an essential service.

I have coffee and books,

time,

a garden,

silence enough to fill cisterns.

It must have first walked

the morning paper, as if loosened ink

taking the shape of an ant.

Then across the laptop computer-warm-

then onto the back of a cushion.

Small black ant, alone,

crossing a navy cushion,

moving steadily because that is what it could do.

Set outside in the sun,

it could not have found again its nest.

What then did I save?

It did not move as if it was frightened,

even while walking my hand,

which moved it through swiftness and air.

Ant, alone, without companions,

whose ant-heart I could not fathom-

how is your life, I wanted to ask.

I lifted it, took it outside.

This first day when I could do nothing,

contribute nothing

beyond staying distant from my own kind,

I did this.

 

 

Blog post adapted from: https://meri.ucsf.edu/blog/invisible-losses-secondary-trauma-survivor-guilt-and-moving-through-covid-19-crisis

Additionally, here is a link to a wonderful resource created by Shine to help us care for our Coronavirus anxiety:

https://www.virusanxiety.com 

 

As we attempt to skillfully and safely navigate this challenging time, we invite you to join us virtually!

All offerings are now available by donation via zoom and Facebook Live.

#staysafe and #stayconnected