Morning Walk at the National Arboretum (Happy May Day)

I participated today in the determination as to whether the noon gentle/therapeutics class at Willow Street should be cancelled due to the weather.  It is hard to know when and what to decide unless the roads are absolutely unpassable or it is clear that that storm is not impacting most roads and sidewalks.  Some students will have wanted to come to class regardless of the weather, even if it would have been both difficult to get the ice off of their cars if driving and very slippery going from house to car and parking spot to class.  If class was held, other students would have wondered why class was not cancelled and felt it unfair that they now had to do a make-up since they were too sensible to go out in the ice.  It is a balance of trying to offer the yoga as committed and making decisions about the reasonableness of trying to hold class given safety and logistical concerns.  For a class with lots of physically intrepid students within walking distance, the determination is different than for one with people who are facing injuries and other challenges of embodiment, which can make it a challenge to get to class on even a beautiful day.

I’d love to get your feedback on where you think is the weather line between holding class as usual and cancelling.  For me, part of the call was that within an hour of class, my porch, front stairs, and sidewalk were still solidly slick with ice.  It would have been a challenge even to get to the corner, much less walk ten blocks and take the metro.  Things did not really start to melt until mid afternoon.