Whether you’re a highly skilled yogi or just starting out on your new year’s resolutions, incorporating yoga into a daily routine can be a challenging and rewarding practice. Yoga relieves stress, increases flexibility, sculpts muscles, increases confidence, and challenges you to set goals for yourself.
As yoga increases in popularity, many home remodeling projects are beginning to lay out distinct areas of the home for this practice in particular. If you’ve been considering creating that perfect space of discipline and sanctity in your own home, here are a few tips for building an area you look forward to using every day.
Pick Your Place
You can either build out a new room for yoga practice, or you can repurpose one you already have. Size isn’t as important as peace and quiet, so if you have a small space in the back of the house, or a larger one in a high-traffic area, consider peace over square footage. Yoga is about concentrating on the present moment and centering, and if you have children wandering through or the TV blaring, your practice may suffer.
Keep it Clean
Daily life is full of stuff, both tangible and intangible. Create a space with the bare minimum on the walls, and keep the room clean from both visual and physical clutter. If you are repurposing a storage space, hang up curtains in front of shelves and boxes to limit the visual noise.
Add Natural and Peaceful Touches
Although you don’t want to create an area that is disorganized and cluttered, creating a room that is too barren can feel cold and sterile. Add candles, a few well-placed pictures, and a plant or two to keep it natural and help prevent echoes. Add a sound system to help you find comfort and reduce outside noise.
Manage Lighting and Temperature
Temperature control is an important part of creating a yoga space. If you prefer heated yoga, ensure that your home heating can be modular so that you don’t sweat out the entire house during your practice. Lighting is another important feature. Make sure you have just enough direct and ambient light that you’re not distracted with too much blinding light, but you’re not falling asleep or tripping over yourself. Dimmer switches are a great way to get just the right amount of light to suit your day-to-day mood.
Create Proper Support
Flooring is another very important piece of a home yoga studio. Choose a material that is firm but not uncomfortable. Bamboo can help you maintain that natural feel, as can hardwoods. Make sure you choose a floor that helps support you through your movements but doesn’t absorb too much heat or cold. If your room is carpeted, consider swapping it out for a hard floor, or ensure that it has a low pile so that you are not unbalanced.
A home yoga studio can be an amazing way to fit your practice into a busy schedule, or simply relax and center yourself alone. With a few adjustments to an existing room, or even a complete addition to your home just for you, a yoga studio can become an area where you can catch—and focus on—your breath.