Sunday, November 9, 2008

Day 339

One of the challenges I'm facing in my yoga practice is finding my way to the mat on weekends. I spend most Saturdays and Sundays at the house and there's very little open space. I've struggled to find an area that feels right for yoga. So far, I've tried a tiny parcel of floor next to the bed in the upstairs spare room. I did that twice and hated practising there.

My favourite room in the house is actually the front room downstairs. It has high ceilings, lots of windows and natural light. Even though it's in the more 'public' area of the house, it's uncluttered and comfortable. I like this room for reading and writing (in fact, I’m writing this while seated in my favourite chair in front of the Faux Fireplace).

Because I love the room, I decided to give it a try for yoga. I moved aside two reasonably light chairs and practiced near the front of the room, next to the sideboard and close to a wide west-facing window. I brought along my travel Buddha and two tiny statuettes of Ganesh and Saraswati and placed them behind two tea candles.

I practised my sun salutations facing north (I'm used to facing east), but it was a good practice. There is also an unused wall space next to the front door where I can do Sirsasana and handstands. My only lingering complaint is that this house is COLD. My apartment is so warm that I'm considering bringing my little space heater over here to heat my 'yoga area' before practice.

I had a really good practice - my best all week, probably because I had plenty of time and didn't feel rushed. It still doesn't feel entirely like 'home' or like my space, but I think it will work. I'm hoping it will. Starting next week, I'll be practising in this house on Saturdays and Sundays.

No comments: