Today I’m sharing a recap of the year that was 2020. I don’t think it turned out how anyone expected, but I still wanted to look back over the past 365 days.
All I can say is oof. So many things have changed dramatically in the last 12 months. I didn’t think that it would be normal to wear a mask going out of my house. Washing my hands and using hand sanitizer as much as I am when I don’t have access to a sink. So many things that I took for granted before (being able to go out for dinner with friends, spend indoor time with my boyfriend unmasked) I definitely won’t be again.
Yoga classes
I had big and exciting plans to get my yoga classes off the ground in 2020. I had created my small business, rented space in a super cute building that’s a hub for the surrounding community, advertised my classes on Facebook and on flyers, and got business cards made to pass out to people who were interested. While I did get one 6 week session of classes in, I’m pretty disappointed that that’s all I was able to teach. Towards the end of February it became clear to me that it wasn’t safe for me or my yoga students to be participating in in person classes, between the small studio size and sharing props. I thought I would only be putting classes on hold for 6 months or so, but here we are 10 months in the pandemic and the province I live in is in another lockdown.
I’d love to get back to teaching in person yoga classes. I have absolutely no idea when that will happen though. I have a feeling all kinds of fitness classes will look different than they did pre-pandemic. I’ve been looking into hosting online classes, so there’s a possibility that I’ll be offering those in 2021. Be sure to book mark this page to keep up to date on when and where I’ll be offering yoga classes.
Everyday life
I’ve only been in a grocery store twice since the end of March. I’ve been ordering groceries online. I had never done it before, so I was surprised at how easy it ended up being. If you haven’t given online grocery ordering a try yet, I highly recommend it. I’ve done it at a few different stores and they all work pretty much the same.
Back in April I spent a bunch of time at my sewing machine making reusable masks. I hadn’t used my sewing machine in a long time, and thankfully it wasn’t hard to pick back up where I had left off. I had converted the dining room table into a fabric cutting station for a week or two. Who would have thought that elastic to sew onto the masks would become such a hot commodity? I still have some of those masks left, so if you live in Calgary email me.
Spending time with people has really shifted too. Everything from appointments to hanging out with friends has moved online. While I love that I don’t have to drive to nearly as many appointments, it still feels a bit weird to have phone appointments with my doctor and therapy appointments on Zoom. One thing that’s been really tough has been spending time with my boyfriend. We don’t live together, and right now with the current restrictions, we’re not able to spend any time together, even if we’re outside, masked, and socially distanced. I get that those restrictions have to be in place to protect everyone, but it doesn’t make it any less easier. I miss him (and his dog Winston) a lot. Hopefully the rules will be relaxed mid-January and we can resume our walks with Winston. My fingers are crossed.
Fitness
For a long time I was never very good at working out at home consistently. The gym was my favorite for everything from cardio on the elliptical to group fitness classes. The last time I went to the gym was the very beginning of March. Gyms closed down mid-March here in Calgary and since then I’ve been sticking to at home workouts. For the first few months I stuck to free workouts that I found online. Finally I took the plunge and signed up for the Peloton app. I had talked to a few people online who used it and assured me that I wouldn’t need the bike or treadmill to be able to do a lot of the workouts. I’m so glad that they encouraged me because I’ve really enjoyed using Peloton. For a fraction of the cost of my monthly gym membership I get access to a ton of workouts (from boot camp to yoga to strength) and I’ve only needed a few pieces of equipment (dumbbells).
I’m definitely looking forward to getting back into the gym at some point. I’ve really missed it. There’s just something about having someone else push me in a group fitness class that makes me work harder than I would on my own. I love being able to put on a playlist or podcast on my phone and just zone into my cardio workout for the day. I also miss the people. It’s felt like I’ve lost that whole community I used to have.
In the spring I also took advantage of the pathways near my house and spend time outdoors walking. While I wasn’t necessarily counting the walks as workouts, it still felt really good to be able to get some fresh air and spend time moving. I’m so grateful that there’s lots of space along the pathways and trails so it was easy to stay away from other people.
How was your 2020? How did things change for you? Tell me about them in the comments below.