And then Covid came along
In the beginning of 2020 I was working 30 hours for ATI Physical Therapy, teaching Wednesdays 4:30 & 7:30pm & Saturdays at 4pm at Down Dog in Bethesda and teaching Thursdays at 6pm and 8:30am at Yogamour. I was so grateful I still kept my classes even though I stepped away from managing.
Rewinding to the summer of 2019 at Down Dog we had a regular student named Robin. He's of German decent and a personal trainer. I don't think that man had an inch of fat on him. He always wore blue shorts and no shirt. He was intimidating to say the least but I respected him. He had his specific spot in the front right corner. DDY (Down Dog Yoga) was on the top floor of a four story building in the heart of Bethesda. It had an elevator and stairs. Showers and two restrooms. The studio space was all windows, a black ceiling and beautiful bamboo flooring. Around 5pm in the summer, we hit the greenhouse effect. The studio would easily hit 108 degrees. Robin new his body and his nutrition. He was always hydrated for his practice. How do I know this? Because I had to mop his two gallons of sweat after class every time. In August I walked into the studio on a Monday morning to a bowed floor right in Robin's spot. He definitely left his mark.
The floors didn't get replaced until January 2020. $10,000 later...
In February of 2020 I finally found the courage to go into Lululemon for the first time. Abbey came with me to class that day so I wasn't alone. I bought my first mat and a bra. The two I still have today! Needless to say that mat didn't get a lot of use for awhile.
March 14, 2020 - Governor Hogan had closed schools the day before for two weeks but the studios were still open, I believe. It was so long ago but I'm pretty sure I'm getting the date right. I taught class at Yogamour in the morning and headed to Bethesda for my 4pm Hot Power Flow. I had my regulars. Tu, Dani, Katie, Luisa. There were a few other students as well. One in particular that I don't know her name but I had seen her before. When she saw me, she looked me up and down and said "you're teaching?" I answered yes and she rolled her eyes at me. Well I guess this could have bothered me but I was tired and just wanted to get through the class to get home. I taught class, a great one at that and after that she came up to me and said "I didn't expect that out of you!" Thank you I guess. I was so over it and ready to go home. We were gathering our things. Katie was getting her shower as she always did. I was closing the studio and Ms. "Housewife of Potomac" as I like to call her realized her car key was missing. And her airpods. Dani's car keys were missing, too. Fuck! I just want to go home. I close the door to the stairwell at the start of class but the elevator locks five minutes after class. We're assuming someone came in and hid in the showers when class started. We called the police and Housewife of Potomac laid into me. I guess the magic of the class wore off. She let me know that the key to her Lexus cost $700 and she should be compensated for this. Well I didn't take her key. I just taught her a Yoga class. The police made their way halfway up the stairs until the felt the heat of the studio. They made us come out. Housewife starts fussing at them and they cut her off real quick. "Ma'am! You left your belongings unattended. This is your responsibility." They looked at me and told me I could go home. Thank god. I was so hungry!
Dani had to wait for her husband to come from Rockville with her spare set of keys. She said she receives an email alert every time the panic button goes off on her car. It appeared who ever took the keys went into the parking garage looking for the cars. I heard the keys were found. One set in the trash can out front. Another on top of the mailbox on the first floor.
That was the last time I would teach at DDY. If I would have know, I would have taken my black Jade mat home with me. I really loved teaching there. It was a great studio. Personalities and all!
None of us knew that would be the last class. We assumed we’d be back the following Saturday. My mat stayed behind. The floor Robin had warped would sit empty. Within days, yoga studios across the country would go dark, and like so many teachers, I’d find myself wondering when—or if—we’d ever teach in person again.
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