After a several-semester break, I rejoined in the 35th semester. Partly, the reason for joining was to keep up the connection with my practice while I was in US. However, after the semester started, some things came up in my life which made my participation in class much more difficult than anticipated. As a result, I didn’t “show up” in class as I had intended to. I didn’t participate or ask questions. Rather, I just listened.
On the one hand, I found attending class online very helpful as it felt like a little weekly vacation time for myself. It also helped to remind me of the tools I can use to deal with the stress and overwhelm of my time in the US – breathing, meditation, etc. etc.
On the other hand, joining class online is different than being in person and I sometimes found it challenging to pay attention. I look forward to attending the 36th semester in person to continue deepening my practice with less of the the distractions I faced this semester.