The bittersweet necessity of live-streamed exercise classes

As the coronavirus spreads, living rooms have become the new yoga and dance studios. It’s not the ideal way to stay active and connected — but there is a silver lining. 

Over the past week, orders to practice social distancing have affected gyms and dance, yoga, and fitness studios across the world. These businesses had to close spaces that are often as much for socializing as they are for exercising.

In response, gyms and studios are turning to livestreamed and pre-recorded classes to keep their pupils and members engaged. Many are using Zoom. Some are using Instagram Live and Facebook Live. Facebook even compiled a Google Doc of class times and social media handles of popular fitness studios.

Alex Hazlett, a Mashable employee in New York City, said she is “grateful” that her 5-year-old daughter’s ballet studio is offering classes online. 

“But honestly watching it was kind of sad,” she said. “To see all these little kids who would be together in one place having fun, being alone and trying to maintain normalcy.”

Erin Stanford, an occupational therapist in Los Angeles, and her two sons, are adjusting to life under California’s stay-at-home order. To her surprise, when she plunked her 3-year-old Marcus in front of his virtual “Dance with Miss Danny” lesson and watched him wiggle with excitement, the experience was emotionally overwhelming. 

“I’m watching my three year old do a dance and follow his teacher on the computer screen, and I just started crying,” Stanford said. “As much as we are trying to create the opportunity for connection, this is not what humans were meant for. We are a social species.”

Erin also takes karate classes. On Monday evening, she logged in to her virtual class dressed in her full Karate Gi. Her husband took the kids for a “pajama ride” in their toy cars around the neighborhood so she could attend the class in peace. But it just wasn’t the same. 

“Part of it is about being able to get out of my house and go somewhere where it’s just separate, it’s my little pocket, it’s for me, it’s my time,” Stanford said. “The piece here tonight was really marginally fulfilling.”

That sentiment is shared by many on the 260,000 person r/yoga subreddit.

“I’ve only been doing yoga for about 3 months and am really struggling with the transition from studio to home practice,” writes Reddit user . “Going to yoga felt like a fun, special outing and allowed me to really tangibly set time aside to show up for myself. I’d love to grow a little more of that community aspect with you all.”

The shifting of community from in person to online does not mean that it is going away entirely. In fact, for some, it is resonating stronger than ever.

Over the course of 48 hours, the owners of EVERYBODY gym in Los Angeles digitized their business, making classes free online to all gym members, and just $5 per class for non-members.

In Zoom chat messages, people from all over the world share their thoughts during class, from in-the-moment experiences (like “Oh my gosh, I’m sweating”) to comments about loneliness.

“One of the surprising things is how moving it’s been, how emotional it’s been,” said co-owner Lake Sharp “I feel a little choked up talking about it. Everybody is really struggling in this moment. But there’s a lot of community happening in that we’re all in it together. The chat function has become this incredible scroll of compassion.”

In Istanbul, all of yoga teacher Nadya Kaya’s classes were canceled. So she took matters into her own hands by broadcasting on Zoom every night at 7 p.m.

The distance her stream has traveled floored her.

“People started to share my post, and by the second day of the class I found myself practicing yoga face to face with some friend’s grandmother, another with her dog, a friend from elementary school in his pajamas, my old teacher now living in Australia, some cousins living in the U.S. with their toddlers, and many other[s], either directly or indirectly that I know, or complete stranger[s],” Kaya said. “Many of these people have never practiced yoga before. This was not what I expecting at all, I only wanted to keep my group classes going.”

Livestreaming activities for adults and children might not be as satisfying for those yearning for a social connection. But, like most anything, it might just take some getting used to. 

“There’s a certain amount of confusion,” Hazlett said. “She asked me later, ‘Why can’t i go to ballet class, why do I have to do it this way?’ It’s an adjustment for the kids, but it’s an adjustment for everyone.”

And even if parents feel bad their children are missing out on face-to-face playtime, some are comforted by how their kids have taken to technology. 

“My kids are pretty young, they’re magically resilient,” Stanford said. “Kids are pretty freakin incredible when it comes down to really facing these things.”

The global connection these classes enable are, as EVERYBODY’s Sharp put it, the “silver lining” to the massive upheaval. In the midst of a global pandemic, over movement and dance, the world is actually coming together.