By Kwame Boakye
April 11 2020, 13.30
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A Twickenham based yoga teacher has taken her lessons online in a bid to help combat loneliness and promote positivity.
Jo Ellis 40, has lived in Twickenham for 20 years and has been teaching yoga for the past seven years, she is currently in France but that hasn’t stopped her from giving back to her community.
Jo was in Arachon a town in the south of France, visiting her partner Jean, just as French authorities imposed a lockdown.
With a permission slip needed to leave the house and police & army everywhere, she spends her days indoors with her four-year-old daughter Mayalie and teaching yoga classes online via Facebook, she said: “This is a way to provide a service that people could really use right now, it’s more vital than ever that people have the opportunity to move and to stay positive.”
She hadn’t previously taught online but wanted vulnerable people to have access to her classes during lockdown, she said: “This is a whole new world to me but I have to adapt. 41 people attending my first class is amazing considering I’ve just started this.”
Jo, who began practicing yoga aged five, believes that the ancient discipline can play an important role both physically and mentally during lockdown, she added: “Mobility is deeply linked to confidence and your ability to cope, through yoga you’re improving your ability to cope in difficult situations.
“For me this is about trying to share what I know intrinsically works no matter what situation with people who don’t have access to it right now.”
Jo’s classes are held daily, you can find out more information on her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/joellisyoga/
