Free Online Gentle Yoga Class

About this event

If you are worn out, stressed out, or just looking forward to relaxing your mind, body, and spirit, please join me for 75 minutes of gentle yoga. My mission is to make yoga accessible to everyone, regardless of race, age, gender, income level, or body size. The primary goal of the class is to help you find a small bit of peace and relaxation during stressful time. No experience necessary.

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All classes are taught via TikTok from Los Angeles, California. You will receive a TikTok link about 30 minutes before class begins. Registration closes one hour before class begins. Only the first 500 applicants to join TikTok will be admitted to the class.

Frequently asked questions:

What time does the class start?

I am located in Los Angeles, California. Class is on Saturday at 6 pm. If you are located in a different time zone and are confused or unsure of when that is, here is a link to a world clock that will allow you to type in Los Angeles and your city to figure out when the class will begin: https://wrwrw.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html

What do I need?

Just a pillow and a blanket or towel. It doesn’t matter what kind—whatever you have at home will work just fine.

What should I wear?

I recommend wearing whatever makes you feel comfortable like sweatpants or shorts. The main purpose for the class is simply relaxation so we won’t be getting sweaty but you’ll need to wear something you can move around in a little.

What if I don’t want to be on camera?

No worries! You are more than welcome to turn your camera off. You will still be able to see and hear me but you won’t have to be seen if you prefer not to be.

Programs using animals to calm patients and reduce tension are called animal therapy(治疗). In the United States, these treatments are popular, although there is a lack of evidence to show that they work.

There are, however, many stories about animal therapy helping people. For example, some children have a fear of injections (注射). That may make getting the COVID-19 vaccine (疫苗) a difficult experience. So, some hospitals use therapy animals, like Ollie, a six-year-old therapy dog, to help children at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego.

One of those children is nine-year-old Avery Smith. At the children’s hospital, she cried over her fear of the vaccine. Then Ollie came in and sat at her feet. “It helped me because I never had a COVID vaccine before,” said Avery. She added, “I didn't know what it felt like. But when I saw the dog, I stopped crying.”

Kristin Gist is a 75-year-old dog therapy volunteer and a former hospital programs direct tor. She is also Ollie’s owner. She said even before the vaccine, therapy dogs were already being used at the children’s hospital. Some children at the hospital are fighting cancer or other serious diseases. Gist said kids or their parents will sometimes hold the dogs and seem to feel better.

However, some experts say there is a lack of scientific evidence proving that animal their apy improves a patient’s medical condition. One such expert is Hal Herzog. He is a professor at Western Carolina University. Herzog told VOA that an animal can simply distract (分散注意力) a patient. “Some studies have shown that for short-term preventing pain, staying with a dog can put your mind on something else. And in that case, I see no harm in doing it. However, this won't do much for treatment.”

If you want to take good care of your eyes and vision, I encourage you to adopt the habit of blinking (眨眼) softly as often as possible. Frequent and gentle blinking is important to maintain healthy eyes and good vision because it helps to keep your eyes coated with three beneficial layers (层) of tears.

The first layer of tears lies right up against the whites of your eyes, and provides an even coat of protein-rich moisture (水分) for the second layer to stick to. The middle watery layer helps to wash away foreign dust. It also provides your eyes with minerals, a variety of proteins, and moisture. The third outer layer of tears is somewhat oily. It serves to prevent the middle watery layer from drying quickly, and smooths your eyes.

If your eyes are not regularly coated with the three layers of tears described above, they will be short of moisture and cleaning, and they will be unnecessarily tired.

One of the reasons why many of us don’t blink as often as we should is that we don’t see frequent blinking in mainstream media. Actors and news presenters are typically trained to blink as infrequently as possible, so when we take in most forms of media, our minds learn that it isn’t normal to blink frequently.

To fully support your eyes and vision, it’s best to blink softly every two to four seconds, which translates to about fifteen to thirty blinks per minute. By making an effort to softly blink at this rate, over time, your body will turn your efforts into a habit. If you’re thinking that such frequent blinking will make reading a book or viewing a movie uncomfortable, give it a try and you’ll see right away that it doesn’t take away from these experiences at all.