Monday Night Yoga Is Back - Sorry Thanks I Love You ***updated with links to free yoga classes streaming on youtube
written by Caroline Ball - original journal on Sorry Thanks I Love You posted 22nd March 2020
In response to the current situation, we’ve been working on a few special projects to transform the device you’re holding into a portal of radical joy.With help from some of our expert collaborators, we’ll be bringing you delicious diversions, long-form enrichment, specialised tuition, secret handshakes, and other intriguing pick-me-ups and self-improvements over the course of the coming weeks.
The first one will be arriving tomorrow night.At 6pm AEST tomorrow (Monday) we’ll be streaming a free, live, cabin fever-friendly yoga class on Instagram Live Video, hosted by one of Sydney’s in-demand yoga teachers: Misch Gomez.
One of Sorry Thanks I Love You’s hallmarks has been to experiment with the idea of what a shop can do or be, and to use our spaces in creative ways – especially after dark. We’ve been offering free yoga on Monday night in our stores for the past four years as a way of bringing people together, lifting them up, and keeping their mental health en pointe.
What started as a one-off project with non-profit surf community OneWave evolved to become a weekly class at 6pm on Mondays – open to all levels, with mats provided and beginners particularly welcome.
Looking after Sydney’s mental health feels more important than ever while we ride the current situation out - so until we open our new store later in 2020 we’ll be offering free yoga from the ether instead.
No charge, no class size limit, no one noticing if you pause to take a sip of your gin and tonic… If you’ve never tried yoga before, this might be the moment to start.
To join the class, first follow us on Instagram by clicking here.
Then set a reminder for 5.55pm tomorrow, roll out your mat (or a towel will do), stick your phone on your coffee table, (or use Airplay to mirror it to your smart TV), connect to our live video in Stories at 6pm, and let Misch do the rest.
In our experience, physical activity is one of the best ways possible to lift the spirits, no matter how low you feel. To date, we’ve offered more than three thousand students a free yoga class and many of them have formed tight friendships with each other – and us.
“Yoga has improved my global wellbeing and decreased my stress levels,” explained one regular yogi when we asked how our class impacts them. “There is a beautiful initiative behind it, the different teachers are great and the spirit of the class is special,” said another. And another simply: “It’s completely transformed my life.” Ultimately yoga is about slowing down, closing your eyes and taking a few deep breaths. You can do that on your own, too.
**To join our free Monday night yoga class, follow us on Instagram and follow our Story on Monday 23 March 6pm AEST.
*** UPDATED 21st August 2020
When Sydney went into lockdown earlier in 2020 we decided to take our classes online via IGTV with one Sydney’s most in-demand yoga instructors: Misch Gomez. More than a thousand people tuned in to our first class, so we expanded the program to offer free virtual yoga from all over Sydney to connect people with some of the city’s most iconic but off-limits locations, including the shuttered Ken Done Gallery.
The production was low-fi, but the response has been epic. So in the spirit of the program, we’ve made the classes available for free via our new YouTube Channel.
Subscribe and stay tuned for more free yoga coming soon.
Now streaming on demand on YouTube thanks to Sorry Thanks I Love You