So, you can’t get to the gym or your yoga class because the government has forced fitness facilities to close because of the coronavirus pandemic – but staying at home doesn’t mean you have to give up being active.

A number of Lismore businesses are transitioning to online delivery of classes with some gym and yoga classes being freely offered up to the community.

Summit Sport and Fitness Centre

Matt George from Summit Sport and Fitness Centre in Goonellabah said he saw the inevitable closure coming a week ago and centre staff had been busy filming classes while they were still open.

“It came quicker than we thought,” Matt said. “We are being forced to reinvent ourselves and push into the digital age. Going online is a new thing for us, but we have a library of classes we can call on, as well as live classes we will stream online too.”

Matt said some of the classes will be available for free to the general public, and others will be available to Summit members only.

“We offer free to everyone pilates, yoga, HIT and stretch classes, but people who take out an $10 weekly online membership with us will also get access to 800 Les Mills class workouts,” he said.

“We are also hiring out our weights and yoga equipment to members so they can do classes at home – but we have a limited amount of those.”

Matt said staying connected is a big part of the role of social gathering places such as fitness facilities.

“So, we’ll be doing a live check in with the community every Wednesday at 11.30am where we can all have a chat and know how we are going. It’s not just about keeping moving, but looking after our physical and mental health - we know how closely related they are.

“We understand and respect that people need to keep physical distancing, but it doesn’t mean social distancing too.”

Matt said it’s going to be tough for the gym staff who’ve effectively lost their jobs overnight, but he hopes that enough people will take up the online memberships to keep the business running.

As far as the government subsidies on offer to help businesses affected by the forced closures and changes, Matt said he’s not sure how they will help him.

“We know the first round of subsidies announced will help us pay staff on the books, but we don’t understand how it will help us after the doors were closed,” he said.

“We’ll wait and see in the next few months what will happen. We knew gyms and cinemas would be on the chopping block because they are meeting and social places. It hurts business, but I know the government is doing the right thing and we encourage all other businesses to do the right thing, shut the doors and stop looking for loopholes to stay open.

“The community has supported our family owned business over the last 18 years – and we know that’s the reason we will bounce back strongly.”

The first free community online yoga class is tonight at 5.30pm. For information about ow to access free classes and memberships, find Summit Sport and Fitness on Facebook, or visit https://www.summitcentre.com.au/

Lismore Yoga Studio

Lismore Yoga Studio owner Julie Hodges is also ready to start delivering classes online.

Julie said she was ready to take the challenge of this “brave new world” after a bit of mentoring from other supportive Iyengar teachers in how to go about it.

Her first online class is today and she already has people signed up for it.

“The idea is to teach the class live so I can talk to the students, look at them, talk to them and adjust them,” she said. “They just need to make sure they have what they need – space, a wall, a mat and some props and they can talk to me as well.

“It’s all about creating a sense of community and connection as well as keeping up the yoga practice – especially if this looks like its going to go on for a while.”

If you are keen to join in Julie’s classes, you can book online and pay, but you’ll also need to email her to get a link to the online class. You can email julie@lismoreyogastudio.com.au or visit https://lismoreyogastudio.com.au/

Kundalini Yoga

Siri Shakti has been teaching Kundalini Yoga and offering sound baths at Mandala Garden Yoga and Wellness in Lismore.

She is already online, offering meditation and yoga classes to the public to people who register for her classes.

She’s also been using Facebook Live to deliver free short classes and meditations to build resilience and invites people to join in with her. Her first Facebook Live since face to face classes stopped was this morning and she’s keen to keep them going from the Mandala Garden studio.

If you are keen to join in with Siri Shakti’s classes, you can email sirishaktiyoga2@gmail.com or visit https://sirishaktiyoga.com.au/, or look for her on Facebook.