Steps to create harmony in your home, and optimise your online movement classes

Zoom works best with good, strong internet

It’s helpful to have a fast internet connection via fibre or ADSL. If you’re on 3G and some other internet connections, it may make your viewing unstable. Zoom also works best on a computer, laptop, or TV screen. If you’re using an iPad, please connect this to your Wi-Fi at home for seamless streaming.

Create a family calendar, and plan your classes and internet usage in your household. Consider sending your Google Calendar to your family.

It’s important when you’re doing an online movement class that you are the only one in your household who is online at the time. This will help your internet bandwidth so that it can be used optimally for the class, and will bring clarity to the delivery of the teachers instructions as well as the music. It will ensure that the class is not slowed down or speeded up, and that your screen doesn’t freeze. This includes closing your email programme, and being off Facebook and any other social media platforms, gaming, or YouTube channels for the duration of the class. We’ve noticed that if everyone either switches their cell phones off, or puts them on airplane mode, this definitely affects the quality of the Zoom class.

Please note that whatever you’re doing affects the whole, i.e. the other people in the Zoom class.

When you’re on the Zoom call

Arrive ten minutes before the start time, so that you can arrange your mat a suitable distance from your laptop. Ensure the device you are using can elevate your screen to eye level using necessary props to do so.

If you leave your microphone on, everyone can hear what’s going on in your house. It will also affect the quality of everyone’s stream as Zoom allocates some bandwidth to your microphone. The same goes for your video. If you like, start your video and unmute yourself at the beginning or end of the class to say hello and check in. When we start the class, the teacher will mute all participants and we’ll remind you to stop your video. This will help you see and hear us better.

If you arrive a bit late and the class has already started, please make sure that you have muted your microphone and that your camera is off. Again, this will make the experience for everyone so much better! If there is something that you’d like to say during the class that’s really urgent (like the sound quality, or if you cannot see the teacher properly), there is a chat menu at the bottom of your screen.

Nia classes (for the littlies, as well as the adults)

The Nia for Kids programme has been scheduled in the middle of the day (13:00 to 14:30), so that families can take a break at lunch time while their children are doing their online class.

Some examples of how you can use this time to feed yourself with nurturing activities by taking a mental detox

• Find a quiet spot in your home inside or ideally outside, and either read something uplifting, or call a friend using your landline or Vox phone (or similar VOIP phone service), rather than your cell phone.
• Write down your feelings in a journal to give air to your thoughts so that you can re-set and liberate your mind.
• If there is more than one of you in the house, give each other a massage (back and neck / foot, or hand). You don’t need to be a masseuse. All you need is the intention of loving touch, and healing energy will flow. Use music and essential oils or candles to create a sacred time and space for this.
• Put your headphones on and listen to some of your favourite music.
• Bake your favourite cake, or prepare your favourite meal, and sit in a quiet place to savour each bite.
• Go for a silent mindful walk around your garden and notice the little things that you might not have noticed before. If you don’t have a garden, walk around your house or patio and notice things you haven’t noticed before or see them in a different way. You might also find that you see the same things, but some different sense emerges in the silence and a new perspective about the small things is created. Don’t be surprised, at this point, if you start having creative ideas about the big things too!
• Have an uninterrupted conversation over a cup of tea or coffee for at least an hour, and share your truths in a loving manner with each other. It can go like this, “My truth is…”. Recently, I shared my truth with my family, which was that in order for me to function optimally, I need more boundaries in our household. This means that I need the mornings to dedicate my focus to my Sacred Livelihood which is running my Nia studio and training business, teaching my classes, workshops and trainings, and I need to work in my home office with no interruptions to do this. My husband shared his truth that it is easier for him to respond more positively to my requests when my tone is gentle rather than aggressive. My daughter said that her truth was that she is missing school, and needed to connect to that emotion of sadness and longing.
• Spend time with your animals.
• De-clutter one drawer or one shelf of one cupboard.
• Create a sacred space in your home which is just for you. Bring articles that have meaning: artwork, candles, incense, photographs, items from nature like stones, branches, flowers, and anything that evokes some connection to you.

The Nia classes for adults are at the start or end of the day, making it a ritual and a practice for the body and soul to re-set every time for optimal health in your body, mind, emotions, and spirit. We can send you details of all classes (send an email to us requesting the full list).

For Nia classes through Studio Kairos, you can visit www.niagp.co.za, call Susan on 011 880 5223 or email kim@niagp.co.za. If you’re a Discovery member, you will earn 100 points per class attended.