Whether you are an essential worker putting your life on the line during the COVID-19 pandemic or a non-essential worker forced to remain at home, there's one thing everyone has in common during this nationwide health crisis; stress.
Midland Yoga Works is reaching out to their community during these trying times to help offer a sense of stability, and they've gone digital. Cyndi Simpson, owner of Midland Yoga Works told the Midland Reporter-Telegram classes are now being offered on multiple digital platforms including the Mindbody app, the Midland Yoga Works app, and Zoom.
“We dove into Zoom and offered free classes while I figured it out,” Simpson told the newspaper. “Now we’re pretty much having three to four classes a day on a regular schedule online so people can sign up for the class and I send them a link to the Zoom class.”
Her yoga studio is giving away 100 free memberships to workers that have been deemed essential including health care professionals, grocery store employees, and first responders, in the hopes of offering them a sense of relief during stressful times, Simpson said.
“I can’t work in the hospital, but this is what I can do: donate free memberships," Simpson said. "I would like to give some of this stuff away so that people have a chance to release some of that stress and create a little bit of movement for your body and your mind.”
The studio offers free yoga classes on-demand and on Facebook. Drop-in Zoom sessions are offered at a discounted rate of $10, so Midland Yoga Works can continue to pay instructors for their hard work.
Sunday sessions are free but Simpson said they accept donations on that day to give back to local charities,"like Field’s Edge and Casa de Amigos.
“I still think that’s important because they are under a lot of stress right now, too, so if we could help them financially that would be really great,” Simpson told the Midland Reporter-Telegram.