CHICOPEE – Lotus & Compass had just started offering yoga classes at its boutique on Exchange St. on March 7, but with the COVID-19 pandemic owner Melaney Houle decided to temporarily close the in-person classes on March 13 and continue them online.

The result is she now has students practicing yoga from their homes courtesy of the Zoom conference call platform.

The results have been “good feedback” from the students, she said.

Houle explained the students have several options by taking class this way. They don’t have to travel. They can watch the instructor but they don’t have to have their own cameras on, if they want privacy. Houle said the only requirement is for the students to have their microphones turned off during class to keep outside noise from distracting from the teacher’s instructions.

She said if the students keep their own cameras on they could see one another, which gives the class “a more community feel.”

The irony about the decision is Houle said she has always planned to offer classes online as well as in person. The precautions against the pandemic just pushed the offerings quicker.

“Necessity is the mother of invention,” she said.

Part of the reason to offer online classes is to offer her boutique customers from around the country another service. Her clothing store, which she and her husband Brandon started several years ago, started as an on-line retailer.

She said that sales of their curated clothing line have increased.

“People are home now and they’re bored,” she explained. Shopping “puts a smile on their face.”

For more information on the online yoga classes, go to https://lotusandcompass.com.