Bringing Your Yoga Practice Indoors for Autumn Winter
Use the New Moon and new season to revitalise your morning practice
I’d never dreamed of having an almost daily OUTDOOR yoga practice living on Ireland’s west coast. But this spring / summer, I’ve probably done more outdoor yoga than indoor.
There’s an almost bald patch of grass on the lawn where, on sunny enough days, I could see the Reek (aka Croagh Patrick Mountain) for most of the practice and the roses I’d planted on the other side.
During my practice, I’d often pause to take photos of butterflies, bees and wasps feasting on the lavender I’d planted for them alongside the driveway.
My inner critic would sometimes chastise me for getting distracted but the one time I left my phone far out of reach, a neighbour’s LAMB wandered on up the driveway.
New Moon, new season, new start
With today’s New Moon, though (and it feeling especially wet on the front lawn — I’d got used to the mat being fairly soggy but somehow, today, felt too much), I decided to embrace the indoor yoga practice.
I do my indoor yoga practice in my hallway. It’s narrow and smells faintly of cat food but has a view of the Reek and is in the centre of my home so feels extra grounding and centring for me.
A stain on the ceiling this summer and fears of leak and the expenses involved meant it was even less appealing than the great outdoors. But this weekend, I finally painted the inside of the front door and sanded down and painted over the ceiling stain. I also reorganised the shoes and other hallway paraphernalia so while it’s still very… lived in… it’s making me beam with gratitude again.
Especially when I remember my early days of practicing yoga in my north London attic studio flat back in 2001. I didn’t even have room on the floor FOR a yoga mat so did the standing poses alongside the futon and supine ones ON the futon.
How to make your indoor practice more appealing
· Wear what you like ~ I’d be scrambling to get dressed and out most mornings (my front lawn is my practice space as it’s flatter than the field I’m rewilding at the back). This morning’s yoga practice was a joyous PJ practice.
· Paint ~ If you’d heard me moan about how much I hated painting on Saturday (when I overdid it with a few coats on the back gate as well as the inside of the front door and that ceiling stain and other bits inside), you might be surprised at how much joy the results are bringing me. A lick of paint can transform even a tiny hallway space.
· Clean ~ Yes, Rainbow MagnifiCat’s litter tray is at one end of the hallway and her food at the other but it still feels like a lovely space. I LIKE the grounding element of my yoga space being an often used part of my home. Especially now that I’ve decluttered. If, like most people, you don’t have a completely separate yoga and meditation space, what needs to stay in your yoga space and what can you rehome elsewhere?
· Decorate accordingly for dual (or multi) use ~ I have a Buddha representation high up which I see during my Sun Salutations. I also have a giant Ganesh image that would bring me joy from the garden (when I could see it through the open front door) as well as now, much closer up. I also have a selection of crystals and houseplants by the window so even on days where raincloud makes it feel like the Reek has gone on holiday to sunnier climes, I have things other than shoes and coats as more pleasant Dristi points (where the eye focuses, especially helpful in in balance poses).
· Value your Self ~ Make your yoga space a place in which you can be still, at ease and move freely. Notice what comes up as you allow yourself this moving meditation. Notice how the feelings move through you and how ideas and creativity and solutions to problems come more easily as you create this space for your Self in your schedule and in your home.
I’m hoping that I’ll get some more outdoor practices in before winter but, for now, am delighted to have reignited my gratitude for my weatherproof year round yoga mat space.
I hope this post helps you create or rejig your own yoga practice space. Please feel free to share it on your social media etc so others who may want to do similar can read it.
