Reopening our studio classes (and continuing online!)
Olivia Marley
The UK Government has said that indoor exercise facilities can reopen in England towards the end of this month. So I’m really happy that I’ll be able to see some of your lovely faces in person again when I restart our Tuesday evening classes on Tuesday 4 August. I’m only going to restart on Tuesdays first to see how we go and have agreed with our venue owners that we will restart Thursdays in mid-September. But, if Tuesdays prove popular, we’ve always got the option of starting again on Thursdays a bit sooner than that!
I know some of you will have questions about coming back to class so here is everything I think you might want to know. I’ll keep updating this blog post as government restrictions change. Please have a read to check that you are happy to attend class with the below precautions in place. If you have a question that isn’t covered here, please just send me a message and ask. And if, for whatever reason, you’re sticking to online for a while there’s info about those classes below too 🙂
What precautions will the studio owners be taking?
Here is what the venue owners have assured me they will be doing:
Cleaning and sanitising the premises throughout the day and deep cleaning every night
Sanitising all touchpoints (eg door handles, taps, loos etc) regularly
Placing hand sanitisers and anti-bacterial wipes throughout the building
Putting electric HEPA and plasma air purifiers in the waiting area and studio
Putting up signage around the building to ensure people are aware of the guidelines regarding hygiene
Social distancing in the studios and throughout the building
Spacing out bookings to allow time for cleaning in between users.
What precautions will Olivia be taking?
On top of the list above, I’ll be:
Taking your temperature with a contactless forehead thermometer before letting you join class
Wearing this antiviral face covering as I greet you and take your temperatures
Wearing this face shield visor during class (so you’re protected but hopefully can also still hear my instructions!)
Reducing the number of people in class by more than 50%
Exceeding the current social distancing guidelines of 1+ metres space between students
Asking you to bring your own mats to either lay on top of ours or to put down where indicated so that everyone is only practising on their own mat
Wiping down touchpoints in the studio with this antiviral cleaner before and after each class
Putting out extra hand sanitiser in the studio and asking you to use it as you enter
Washing my hands thoroughly before and after each class.
What do I (a student) need to do?
Please don’t come to class if you feel at all unwell
Book your class in advance (and please cancel if you can’t make it so someone else can take your place!)
Bring your own mat
Try to arrive ready for class so you don’t need to get changed, minimising your need to use our bathrooms
Bring as little stuff with you as you can so the studio stays as clear and as clean as possible
Not be put off by having your temperature taken or being asked to use hand sanitiser
If you are coming for a 6:30pm class, please arrive a little early to allow time to get everyone in safely
If you are coming for a 7:45pm class, please arrive after 7:35pm so the class before you has time to leave
Please don’t be offended if your temperature shows as 38 degrees or higher and I don’t let you into class. To be certain of getting in you can always check your own temperature beforehand!
Be aware that I’ll need to hold the contactless thermometer 1-3 cm away from your forehead to get a reading (but will be wearing a face shield with anti-viral coating as I do that)
Remember that we just have one staircase to our front door, so you may need to wait a few seconds for it to clear if someone is using it as you arrive or leave
I won’t ask you to wear a mask but you’re very welcome to. Please bring one with you if you want to wear one
Know that our 7:45pm class is normally quieter than the 6:30pm, so consider coming later if you’d like to practice with fewer than 6 people
Expect that the studio might be a little cooler than normal since there’ll be far fewer people and we’ll be using the ventilation system more to bring in fresh air (so perhaps bring socks and a top for savasana)
Make sure that you have a current mobile number and email address in your Mindbody account in case I need to contact you about another student in a class you attended testing positive
And lastly, expect that these new systems may have a couple of teething problems as we all get used to them (so please be patient!).
Will the online classes be continuing?
Yes! I’ve really loved being able to keep up with you all during lockdown. Thank you so much for joining me. I know for some of you making it into London for class doesn’t work at the moment (perhaps class is at the wrong time, or even in the wrong country for some of you 😂) so I’ll definitely be keeping up with online.
As I’ve explained above, I’ll be restarting Tuesday classes at our studio soon meaning the Tuesday evening online class will disappear from the schedule. But I’m undecided about whether to restart Thursday evenings in the studio or just keep them online, and will make that decision in a month or so depending on what the demand has been for online vs in-person classes. So to start with I’ll be running online classes on Monday evening, Wednesday morning and evening, Thursday evening and Saturday morning.
Our Friday evening online class isn’t that popular… totally understandable now the pubs are open again!… so I’m going to cut that regular class and instead use the timeslot for one-off fundraising classes for the Runnymede Trust. The fundraisers can be on anything you like - relaxing yin to handstands or anything in between - so if you have any requests just let me know. I’d also love to know if any other times would work for you for online classes, especially on weekdays (morning and evening) if your working patterns change. The best thing about online is that I can shift things around to suit you all!
I’m really looking forward to seeing you all - either in person or in your zoom squares - again soon 💜