The magic of 'Live'

I love watching Roger Federer playing tennis. He has inspired many blog posts, and even a haiku. If there was a match right now, I'd probably drop everything in my schedule to watch him play. But there's a condition.

Of course, now that we're all locked in, because of a certain microscopic creature, most major sporting events stand postponed indefinitely, if not cancelled.

As a freelancer, I've mostly been working from home for a few years. The only time I stepped out, was for the occasional client meeting. That has been replaced by Skype, and life, overall, hasn't changed much.

Except for one thing -- my daily yoga class.

One of the challenges of working remote, is creating a routine. For some people, a fixed schedule is easy to follow. But for me, that self-discipline is much harder. One of the ways I ensure I have some semblance of a routine, is by aligning my work around external factors: my husband's office hours for ensuring the morning is dealt with, on time, and the evening yoga class, to ensure I have enough incentive to finish the day's work in time.

With everyone being locked indoors, my external stimuli have gone out the window (pun unintended).

There are many yoga videos on YouTube. In the past, I have attempted to practice at home, using those resources. But try as I might, I have never been able to sustain the practice at home.

Over the past few days, though, I have begun attending live yoga classes, being streamed by some kind folks. And they seem to be doing the trick -- at least for now. And this is what made me think about the magical phrase, 'Live'.

I began this letter by mentioning that I'm a huge Federer fan. But even I do not care much for old matches.

In a sporting event, 'Live' means that there is uncertainty. What's the next move going to be? How will the commentator describe it? How will the audience react? Who will win? And will wearing lucky T-shirt, influence the outcome?

The yoga classes, on the other hand, are far more predictable. But even if the structure of the class is identical, every single day, no two classes will ever be the same. Just like in real life. Unlike tutorials, there are no edits, and we can practice along with the remote class, taking part in the spontaneity, along with other humans involved.

Uncertainty, thrill, spontaneity, community, these are the qualities that make 'live' so much more engaging than pre-recorded videos. And perhaps that's why they're an effective external stimulus for me during this lockdown. I'm not sure if it will continue to work for long. Only time will tell.