Abbey Walsh stretches her right arm high in the air as she lunges forward into the peaceful warrior yoga pose.

She seamlessly transitions into another posture and then another until the 30-minute session concludes.

In normal times, Walsh would be conducting her express Vinyasa yoga class in front of her devoted students as part of her Focused Fitness studio, which merged with Butler Health and Fitness in 2017.

These are not normal times, however.

With the coronavirus pandemic shutting down all non-life-sustaining businesses, Walsh has had to improvise. That means conducting her yoga class on a Facebook group page.

“Like everyone else, I was blind-sided by this,” said Walsh, who is also a group fitness instructor at Butler Health and Fitness. “We wanted to create something where people still feel connected.”

Walsh is not alone. Several gyms and fitness centers across Butler County are turning to social media and their own websites to teach their classes and keep people engaged and fit.

And perhaps most importantly, keep them positive in troubling times.

“This is what's going to keep us sane,” said Jill Zoria, director of marketing strategy and development for the YMCA Association.

Zoria is part of an ambitious undertaking that will bring virtual fitness classes taught by Butler County instructors to those who want it.

The Butler Y already has 12 on-demand workouts posted on its My Virtual YMCA website page.

But Zoria and her team wanted to augment those videos with ones taught by faces familiar to local residents.

“We've received hundreds of messages from the community,” she said. “They're suffering because the Y is their family.”

So, Zoria and her team got to work quickly.

“Monday night was our last day and we literally started planning that day,” Zoria said. “We understand Butler County loves their Ys. They love the instructors they are comfortable with.”

Kathy Hensler, the healthy living director at the Rose E. Schneider YMCA in Cranberry Township, is one of them.

Hensler is filming a variety of workouts and posting them on the Rose E. Schneider Y's Facebook page.

“I released the first Facebook Live videos on Saturday and got an amazing response,” Hensler said.

The Cranberry Township Y has already hammered out a schedule of workouts. They're posted on the organization's Facebook page.

“We're ready to go with a variety of classes throughout the week,” Hensler said. “Our group of instructors are amazing.”

Heidi Nicholls Bowser plans to produce bootcamp workouts for the Butler YMCA on Facebook Live at 10 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. She said she is amazed by how quickly the effort was mobilized.

“Crisis breeds creativity,” the Butler resident said.

All the workouts will be available to members and non-members.

Butler Health and Fitness has also mobilized its team of trainers to post workout videos on its Facebook group page.

Walsh is the administrator of the page.

“We're doing a little bit of everything,” Walsh said.

Some classes will be live while others will be pre-recorded and all will be open to members and non-members, Walsh said.

“We started it for members only, but saw the need in the community, so we opened it up for everyone,” she said. “The biggest piece is people love it and they won't be doing it alone. They'll be doing it together and they'll feel like they're still part of a community.”

Young Brothers Tae Kwon Do is also trying to do its part to give its students a sense of normalcy.

Audrey Gavula, the assistant headmaster instructor at Young Brothers Tae Kwon Do in Cranberry Township, said the martial arts gym will offer classes on Facebook Live for its students.

“I think a lot of kids are looking for things to do and parents are trying to keep things as normal as possible,” Gavula said. “The kids can put on their uniforms and have some kind of routine.”