I will be the first to admit that I am not good at sitting still. Sure I like a Netflix binge as much as the next person, but it’s usually accompanied by a slew of other activities such as online shopping, planning my next getaway or vigorously swiping left on Tinder.
Even pre-pandemic I was a hobby hoarder. New yoga studio with a free trial? Sign me up! Sudden desire to join a knitting club after eyeing off a $300 scarf? Just let me grab my needles.
So naturally, as classes started going online, my world has opened up to a plethora of new hobbies, with studios and activities I’ve been dying to try – now I can even attend a dance class in Sydney or a Brisbane-based earring workshop!
Learn
As a singer in school, my mum encouraged me to learn the guitar. So naturally I learnt the flute. Of course she was right, and now 20 years later I’m finally fulfilling the dream after enrolling in Fender’s online guitar lessons. Bass, piano and the ukulele are also on offer as part of their straightforward step-by-step course. Local music school The Music Gym, who normally run lunch-time classes in the Melbourne CBD, have now taken their lessons virtual, across guitar, piano and bass, so you’ll be singing and strumming to the joy of your neighbours in no time!
Ceramics are an art form I am yet to master, no matter how hard I try. But Guy Vader from Ceramiques became a pottery teacher in less than 2 years, so surely I can make a soap dish in two months. Operating under his Instagram Claytime by Ceramiques, you can get your own kits delivered to your door for $65, so you can follow along and get fired up to his Ghost-esque tutorials from the comfort of your own home.
Being comfortable in stillness is something I struggle with, so what a better time to learn to meditate than now, when you cannot leave the house. The Headspace app has a whole range of daily meditation practices, including a range of meditation courses to help quiet and comfort the mind amidst the chaos. Alongside their Pilates, yoga and fitness offering, Happy Melon Studios are also running a four week meditation journey, to help you really sink into the stillness.
Move
I love variety in my exercise routine, so the sheer number of studios who have gone online have got me giddy with excitement. While I have the turnout but not the flexibility or discipline to match, I can now live out my Swan Lake ballet dreams, care of the Sydney Dance Company, who have turned their full catalogue into daily Zoom classes. Body Electric Dance studios have also pirouetted their classes to the online sphere, for both adults and kids. Tune in and dress the part for your starring Broadway class, or get down and funky with Sunday morning with GROOV3.
To stretch out them tight hamstrings, you’re spoilt for choice with the Pilates and yoga studios with an online offering. My favourites (so far) have been Amy Carmody Yoga for her strength building and alignment-focused practice, Good Times Pilates for Pilates-based buns of steel, and Good Vibes Yoga for some serious zen time.
And we must not forget our cardio work, or as I like to call it, lie on the ground in a ball and cry. Chris Hemsworth’s Centr app is currently free for one week, and while I will be writing a stern letter as to why he’s not taking the classes, they are a decent sweat-fest. Frame Small Group Training has also embraced the online, with their posture-based strength classes, ideal for anyone strapped to a desk all day.
Enjoy
Combining painting and drinking just sounds like a riot to me, and a recipe for some really bad art. Cork and Chroma was already supporting this wild activity from their Collingwood and Sydney studios, and have now taken their brushes to Microsoft Paint. Purchase a home kit and book a seat to join the live streaming classes with your mates, though it’s HBYO for all your beverage needs.
Life drawing may seem like a high-brow, out of reach pursuit for many. But whether you’re a stick figure Sally, or a Peter Picasso, life drawing is really for everyone. Normally held at the Rochester Hotel, Drop in Life Drawing invites one and all to join their Tuesday night Instagram pencil pushing. Due to the rules of social media, model Katerina Bak stays fully clothed, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t going to bend in every direction to inspire and capture your imagination.
I’d been waiting for Brisbane-based Alex, aka Lazer Unicorn, to bring her Perspex earring workshops back to Melbourne. I need wait no longer, with the artist and jewellery designer now selling online earring care kits for us all to play along with at home. Choose from three fun designs – floral, stars or fruit – a get a crafting for your pair of face-framing fun!
Now I know I’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg, as businesses spectacularly adapt to our new world with their creative home-based ideas, so the list goes on. And honestly I’m not too sure how I’m going to have time to actually participate in everything around my full time work schedule. But those with an itch to keep moving, the world is your sustainably-grown oyster right now! 0
taryn-hunter.com 