7 Keys to a Peaceful Home Yoga Studio
Imagine for a moment your dream home yoga studio. How does it feel when you first enter? Chances are, it feels calm, soothing, and devoid of the stresses. Perhaps you have relaxing music or ambient sounds playing softly in the background. Perhaps a mala hangs happily next to a tabletop water feature. Whatever it is which brings a sense of peace to your space, its easily accomplished.
By dedicating a place in your home to your yoga practice, you reaffirm its importance, which may help you to maintain more consistency. The less you need to think about, and the better you feel in your space, the fewer barriers there will be between you and your practice.
While having a room in your home exclusively for yoga is certainly beneficial, it can also serve as a space for any sort of creative pursuits or self-care practices. Such a space is perfect for meditation, reading, journaling, prayer—anything that makes you well.
Continue reading if you’d like to see our top suggestions for creating your own home yoga studio:
1.) Eliminate Clutter
Clutter is simply antithetical to relaxation. Seeing piles of stuff will make it harder to be fully engaged in your yoga practice, as well as other self-care, and it will quickly negate the stress-reducing benefits of your routine. Getting rid of clutter opens up your space and makes you feel lighter.
2.) Calming Colors
Much attention has been given to studying how colors affect our psychology. Choosing the right color for your at-home yoga studio can make or break it; after all, it won’t help to be surrounded by a color that’s subtly influencing you to be aggressive. Muted cool tones (greens and blues) have been shown to have a calming effect on our moods. Warm whites can also work well since they won’t pull any of your attention from your practice. And, this should go without saying, but make sure to go with a non-toxic paint. Not only is it healthier for you, but also for the environment.
3.) Natural Lighting is the Best
Lighting is particularly important when it comes to your well-being. Most people these days aren’t getting enough natural light, which is a major source of vitamin D and serotonin for your body. Natural lighting is most ideal for your studio. Selecting a space next to large or numerous windows will be highly beneficial. Barring availability of this, sunlight-simulating lamps are available for relatively reasonable prices, which could also be useful if you live in an area with frequent cloud cover or harsh winters. Candles can also be a great element to employ here, but be cautious of fire hazards and make sure that you are comfortable with flickering light.
4.) Add Small Personal Touches
It's important not to go overboard here (see the first tip) but adding a few decorations can really help the space feel more personal. Items that are unobtrusive, such as paintings or wall hangings, can really help make the space feel complete and homey. You can also add practical elements, such as a corner table (as long as it’s aesthetic) on which might sit candles, some incense, or the above-mentioned happy hanging mala alongside a miniature waterfall.
5.) Add Some Plants
Plants are pretty amazing. They instantly add a life and a lightness to any room. Leafy green friends, such as philodendron, ferns, or bamboo palm, can also purify the air in your space, which can have a significant effect on how you will feel in your studio. You may want to avoid flowering plants; while they are pretty, they may end up being a distraction. Caring for these plants can also become a part of your practice of compassion and foster a deeper connection with nature.
6.) Scents and Sounds
Since you have control of this space, you should use the opportunity to engage all of your senses in a way that is pleasing to you and beneficial to your practice. A gentle background sound can really help to focus your mind and bring you peace. Soft music or a recording of nature sounds, or even a tiny tabletop waterfall bubbling away can be a great way to add a dimension of sound into your studio.
Scent should be approached carefully; since it is so closely tied to memory, scents can have unexpected effects. Choose something that will make you feel at peace—vanilla is a common choice for this, but it might differ for you based on personal experience. Incense or candles both work wonderfully for this, but make sure the scent doesn’t end up overwhelming the space, as that is bound to have a detrimental effect. If you have allergies, something more passive such as an oil diffuser might be better.
7.) Get an Eco-Friendly Yoga Mat
To further your connection to the natural world as well as nurturing both your own health, and the health of the planet, consider bringing a 100% eco-friendly yoga mat into your sacred space. Our Chakra Hemp Yoga Mat was specifically designed to help inspire you to open your chakras and allow for the easy and peaceful flow of prana throughout them; a perfect way to bring intention into your new studio practice.
The best thing: They come from the earth, they go back into the earth! The mat is 100% biodegradable, so by buying it you aren't increasing your carbon footprint. These hemt mats don’t contain any PVC, EVA, or synthetic rubber, making your mat both kind to the earth and you as well!
