What strange times we are living in. Yoga studios closing their doors, teachers going online to try and earn a living, and odd new terms like ‘social distancing’ and ‘self-isolation’ entering seamlessly into our day-to-day vocabulary.

I doubt anyone predicted quite how the early months of 2020 would unfold, and yet here we are. This has happened, it is now up to us to deal with it.

Stocking up on loo roll may have been a good initial response, but moving forward we’re going to need more than just luxury soft 4-ply paper. Embedding positive behaviours, finding new routines, keeping active, these are all things we can control during this difficult time and you’ll see this reflected in OM (100% digital and free this month). In the most challenging of times, yoga and meditation are still available to all. No, maybe we can’t wander down to the local studio, but there is so much we can do at home, even if that’s just a few simple breathing exercises. If you have access to an outdoor space, then use it: feel the sun on your face, breathe the fresh air, roll out a mat. If not, pretty much everything in yoga can be done indoors too. Tune in to some of the many online yoga tutorials we’ve highlighted in this issue for an instant uplift.

What I do know is that yoga has been around for thousands of years and that it will be around for long after the present-day crisis has passed. And all things do pass.

And where there is crisis, there is opportunity (the Chinese symbol for both words is the same). In this case, it is the opportunity to reflect on how we’d like to see our planet, our lives in the future, as well as the chance to adopt new, positive health and wellbeing behaviours. Take this time to invest in yourself, to nourish your body and your mind. What recent months have highlighted is our sense of community and togetherness. We are all in this together. So I will sign off with one of my favourite quotes (commonly attributed to Voltaire, though there is some debate over its origin). To me, this encapsulates all of the messiness of
life, its horrors, imperfections and uncertainties, yet that innate human spirit to find joy even under the most arduous of conditions: Life is a shipwreck…but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.