It has been a whirlwind of a March and I am beyond proud of the community we’ve built at Hip Circle. Some lessons/observations that have come out of our shift to virtual classes:

1. Community Matters - While we know community is important, so much so that it’s a key part of our mission, finding ways to maintain a sense of community in these moments of social/physical distancing through our virtual classes has been amazing!
2. Activity Helps - Oh, what a powerful thing moving is! Being active (as a teacher or student) impacts your mood as much or more than it impacts your physical health. 
3. We are resourceful - Nothing forces you to be resourceful quite like being told to shelter in place! We’ve enjoyed seeing our students improvise weights from soup cans, hip scarves from hoodies, and yoga mats from towels or rugs!
4. “You are the Mistress of your own Mat” - Seeing our students (literally) take the message home with them by making modifications during classes has been awesome. Getting to see everyone Brady Bunch style and offer adjustments means we get to teach with the same level of care as we use in-studio.  
5. We share - We’ve gotten to know each other a bit differently over the last few weeks - pets, children, and mates make cameo appearances. We get to see living rooms, bedrooms, basements, and kitchens. We’re sharing our wins and our struggles in the virtual classroom and it’s been amazing to see the shared support.
6. Laughter lives - Laughter is still alive! I’m not sure we’ve had a class yet that hasn’t had at least one bout of shared laughter ripple through the virtual room. 
7. Self-care is vital - That we’ve had students in every single class we’ve offered virtually shows that another message we share has hit home. We have also added programming that whole households can do together because we realize that “alone time” isn’t necessarily realistic right now. 🙂
8. We are stronger together - I can honestly say that I feel like our Hip Circle community has gotten MORE connected over the past month. Seeing how much we need each other and doing things to stay connected has been incredibly powerful. 

While getting to share actual space is something I miss and very much look forward to doing again someday, I am thrilled that we have figured out how to sweat separately and stand together.