CHENNAI: DIY ideas, workout charts, decoding kolams, and meditation sessions — bloggers and influencers are making the best out of this quarantine to engage with people. CE lists a few interactive sessions that will fuel your mind, body and soul
MOVES AND POSES
N ow that the air is getting cleaner because of the lockdown, take a deep breath and join Sarah Jane at 5.30 pm (IST), live on Instagram every day, as she conducts calming and rejuvenating yoga sessions during the lockdown. “I only started doing live classes on Instagram since the lockdown. My first few sessionswere with friends, family and students,” says Sarah Jane, a yoga teacher from Abu Dhabi. The sessions areopen to all age groups and Sarah is often joined by her husband too. Together they guide viewers, stepby-step and then do a recap of everything learnt in the class at the end. @sarahjanehorn
STORY-TELLING
Yesterday, it was Little Vinayak. Today, it’s The Case of Stolen Smells. Tomorrow, it could be Lazy Dog. Who does not enjoy a story-telling session laced with humour and quirky expressions? Golpo Tales by popular story-teller Janaki Sabesh, in collaboration with Lil Trails by Avanti Natarajan and Rajavel Sundar, has been curating a fun session for kids every evening at 5 pm. “Our first session received 8,000 views on IGTV. When we went live on Instagram, 200-300 people joined the journey. The kids were interacting through feedback. It was an unexpected and overwhelming response. Live sessions are the way forward I guess,” shares Janaki Sabesh.
LEAP ON
Think Parkour can be done only outdoors? You are mistaken. Prabhu, co-founder of Parkour Circle, Chennai, and a parkour coach, has been conducting live sessions on Parkour Circle’s Insta handle even as India remains locked down. The focus, he says, is to improve balance, speed, strength, stamina and power. All you will require is a 10 ftX10 ft space, water, a yoga mat or a bedsheet. The online session will be conducted between 6.30 pm and 7.30 pm, every day. “These sessions will be conducted until the lockdown is removed. People who are regulars to our of fline sessions, and other Insta users are also benefitting from this,” he says.
MENTAL HEALTH
In this current lockdown, It’s Ok To Talk, an online project of Sangath, based out of New Delhi, helps people by discussing various aspects of mental health. They plan to have two sessions a week to address the problems in the present scenario. “People are flooded with news everywhere as they’re confined to their homes. It’s okay to be anxious. It’s okay to take it lightly. It’s okay to go slow. People tend to get bogged down by external factors, all the more when their daily routine gets disrupted. We hope to offer professional help to personal problems. We don’t want to overwhelm but want to kee p the communication channels open. We will eventually come up with topics that can be discussed during live sessions along with our psychologist Rhea Sharma,” says Pattie Gonslaves, founder of the project.
DIY DECOR
Entrepreneur Sharada Murthy recently did a live DIY session on Instagram. Using the hashtag #besaneinsan, she kept the viewers enticed, showing them how to rearrange their home with the limited resources and raw materials available. “There’s so much of negativity around us. I needed something to look forward to every day. This is my way of networking and building a community. If not now, then when do we clean? Why not put it to best use with simple and doable ideas,” shares Sharadha, who will be covering different ideas, one each, until the lockdown. She plans to go live around 2 pm, but watch out for change in timings.
KEEP CALM AND KOLAM ON
W hy not get creative with kolam art during this lockdown? Bhargavii Mani, founder of Kolam Podu is answering all questions that mystify kolams. Be it about the texture or complicated designs, Bhargavii plans to address everything about kolams in her Instagram live sessions, every day at 6 pm. “I will be
hosting live sessions during these 21 days. I have also planned to show viewers a live tutorial of
drawing a difficult kolam design of their choice,” says the city-based artist. Bhargavii regularly uploads videos on YouTube, explaining her kolam designs.
SILENCE IN SOLITUDE
Mumbai-based meditation and yoga teacher, Diksha Lalwani has attracted a massive fan following for her Instagram live yoga sessions. “I have a 75-minute session planned out for every day. We will be doing different yoga styles every day. The response has been really good and I will continue to conduct live sessions for the whole month,” she says. The blogger will be conducting daily sessions from her home in Mumbai at 8.30 am.
BEHIND THE LENS
A photowalk at home? What can one possibly take pictures of ? Last week, the team of The Chennai Photo Walk shared four topics and gave the participants two hours to click pictures from home. Each of them had to submit a maximum of five photographs for each category. The winners from every category will be announced by the end of this month. “There’s so much that can be captured in everyday life. We gave themes such as day-to-day patter ns at home, portraits of family members, colours found in the kitchen, and creative storytelling images with toys, light and other objects available. I’m sure this is the best way to keep people of all age groups engaged,” says Naveen Kumar, organiser of the activity and member of CPW. Over 166 people took part in the previous activity and the team collected 1,000 images. They will be conducting this event on Sunday from 10 am-6 pm. Viewers can use the following hashtags — #staysafe, #thecpw, #chennaiphotowalk and #PFHwithCPW while uploading photos.