Yoga is not only fantastic for my mind and body it is also important as a way to spend time with my own thoughts. A place that is for me, and me alone. With no distractions or outside noise. It is a place I go to if I want to feel invigorated and energised or relaxed and soothed.
Lets face it! You can lay your mat down anywhere and call it 'your' yoga space. However to make it that extra bit special I have blogged about ways to make your space more inviting and desirable.
After all you deserve a life full of self love, happiness and all things beautiful.
The first home project we undertook when we bought our house was to convert our garage to a home yoga studio a perfect place for us to enjoy our time and have personal space. All animal owners will fully understand that I love my dog Bailey with all my heart and although very cute i'm not so happy with him when he keeps interupting my yoga flow. He thinks my yoga mat is his play mat.
But here are five tips on how to set up your own 'at-home' yoga space:
1. Choose a designated space.
Even if you live in a tiny apartment, as long as you have enough space for a yoga mat you have enough space to practice yoga. Of course, it does help if the space is large enough to provide you with a reasonably free range of motion so you don’t hit your hands or legs or knock anything over during practice. Also consider other factors that can have an impact on your practice like privacy, and natural light when selecting a space.
2. Pick the right yoga mat for you
When you first started out, you probably just picked any yoga mat that you found not realizing that variations in thickness and material can greatly influence our yoga experience. If you have sensitive joints or focus on restorative poses, opt for a thick mat with lots of cushion. If your flow is more dynamic, consider a thin mat with traction, that’ll keep you rooted during standing and floor poses. You can also read our blog post on yoga mats...As important as your running shoes
3. Add ambience.
Think about ways to engage all five senses and put you in the mood to practice?
Try using:
- Soft lighting or candles
- Incense sticks, diffusers or oils
- A mini fountain or water feature (when i use my diffuser it bubbles away and i find that very theraputic).
- Flowers that look and smell amazing.
- Music that you enjoy (this could be anything from classical to rock) have fun this is your yoga time.
Recently I wrote a blog post on my 3 favourite essential oils that I like to use and diffuse during my yoga practise if you are interested you can also read that blog too. 3 Essentail oils for relaxation
4. Make accessing instruction easy.
If you are still starting out in the world of yoga. You might find it easier to follow instructions rather than flow with your own yoga intuition. Thankfully nowadays yoga is everywhere. You only need to google yoga videos and you will be bumbarded with extensive choices.
Too many yoga videos and no clue where to start???
I do understand that sometimes that can be off putting as you might not know where to start and if the yoga style will suite your needs. That is why when I practise I make my own audio yoga sessions and simply play it on my ipod. It's great becasue i dont need to stream anything online and i dont need to keep looking at a screen for instructions.
If this sounds good to you then please let us know as we are currently in the process of professionally recording Angela Elliott yoga audio sessions to sell in our online store (not only will you recieve the audio file you will also be able to download or print of yoga sheets showing every yoga posture And will be designed to be used anywhere so that if your away on holiday for example you can have it with you and keep up on your practise. see example below:
5. Don’t forget your accessories
At Angela Elliott yoga classes we like to hand out a yoga block and a yoga strap both of which can help a student progress deeper into a stretch without forcing or straining helping our students further their practice. If you’ve found these helpful for alignment or improving your flexibility, consider getting a set for your home space too. Also... think about what other items could improve your experience such as a mat cleaning spray, bolster pillow, blanket, eye pillow etc. And add these to your collection as well.
There are no rules on how you should set up your own yoga space at home however I do hope the ideas above have provided some inspiration. Creating a space that’s perfect for you and your individual practice is what’s really important. Namaste.