A former dancer, Berkeley’s David Moreno has taught yoga for more than 25 years, from his early days at Yoga Mandala to conferences and teacher trainings around the world. Today, Moreno is known as much for his unique real-life retreats — hello, Pasta e Prana in Sicily — as he is for cultivating community during COVID-19. His donation-based Zoom classes, weekly e-newsletters and virtual meditation circles have kept hundreds of Bay Area yogis centered and feeling connected while sheltering-in-place this spring.

Q: You bring a light-heartedness and humor to your classes. Where does that come from?

A: I think it comes from my years in improv theater and my love of entertaining people. Laughing allows us to let go of tension and be more connected. It brings people into the moment, as opposed to just going through a series of movements or comparing yourself to the person next to you. One of my Balinese teachers used to say, “If you sit down to meditate with a serious face, you’re chasing away all the other feelings.” It’s so true.

Q: What’s it like teaching yoga on Zoom? 

A: It’s cool and it’s not cool. My little sacred space is now a production studio. I’ve always run to it to get away from public teaching. But it has certainly been great to see people. My first class had 100 people from eight different countries. That’s a miraculous thing.

Q: Is there a negative to having one’s teacher available, live or streaming, every day? 

A: Of course there is. The practice becomes dependent on another person and a certain set of circumstances. There are a lot of people who won’t do it on their own. It helps them to have someone there. But the yoga practice itself is an inward journey, and many of the great yoga teachers were initially self-taught before seeking out a teacher.

Traditionally, asana practice was done at dawn on an empty stomach and in relationship to a rising sun. There are physiological reasons as well as energetic considerations for practicing at that time of day. With 24-hour classes, our stomachs are seldom completely empty, our minds are super active — and when we practice at night, we are bringing up heat in the body at a time when it is meant to cool and restore itself.

Q: You have written about the importance of touch during isolation. Can you elaborate? 

A: We know that the proper diet and the right amount of exercise are essential to our well being. But I believe that the right amount of touch is essential, too. My training as a teacher has always incorporated touch, using adjustments for proper alignment. Now, social distancing due to COVID-19 has prohibited us from touching anyone other than our cohabitants, and even that can be confusing. In Ayurveda, there is a daily practice of self-massage called abhyanga that uses warm oils for healing and calming the nervous system and increasing circulation.

Q: What advice do you have for people who are trying to develop a home practice?

A: Start by creating a daily self-care practice for yourself. Something that makes you feel that you’re being nurtured, like drinking tea, doing breathing exercises or abhyanga. It helps you slow down, bring mindfulness and wake you up in your body because it puts you in the moment.

So you have your tea, do self-massage and then you’re all “oozy” and ready to sit down. As you practice your asanas, your mind will start to settle down through movement. Spending the time to allow yourself to have that is an essential part of self-practice.