Space and Time

I am finding more and more that these two things are closely tied together in determining whether I have a daily asana practice or not.  One without the other means that I won’t practice asanas that day.  My problem used to be that I just couldn’t seem to find the time to practice asanas but now the problem is that I can’t find the space.  I get daily news alerts from Google on anything Yoga related, last Friday two USA Today articles dealing with making space for Yoga landed in my mailbox.  The first article is about a couple that turned the guest house behind their home into a designated Yoga room.  Most of us don’t have the luxury of having a spare guest house hanging around that can be turned into a dedicated Yoga space.  The second article talks about making a much smaller Yoga space.  I would love dearly to be able to section off a small part of the house just for me and my asana practice but that’s just not possible with four young children.

I have been trying to think of how I can create a dedicated space that would allow me to be downstairs today, upstairs tomorrow and locked in my bedroom the following day.  Downstairs in the family room is my ideal location currently.  The floor is covered with a berber carpet and has plenty of room for a full range of movement.  The upstairs front room affords a similar space as does my bedroom; however, both the upstairs and the bedroom have thick shag carpeting.  There is nothing better than lying on the floor upstairs and taking a nap in the sunshine on that lush shag but trying to practice on shag is a nightmare at best.  I remembered something which has helped me come to a possible solution.  Some of the instructors on the DVDs that I purchased a few years ago were using plywood so they had a stable practice area while practicing on sand dunes, grassy knolls and similar outdoor terrain.  Why not do the same thing for myself but make it hinged for easier storage?  That would allow me to practice on those shag carpets without hesitation.  Finding space to practice would no longer be an issue.

Knowing I couldn’t be the only one to have thought of such a thing, I turned to the Internet to see if anyone makes such a thing.  It turns out that the Asana Floor Company does just that.  There is one problem that I have with their product though, it’s only 72" long.  That leaves me only one inch of play when I’m in svasana.  It’s also a bit pricey.  I can buy the lumber and hardware to make my own for less than half their asking price.  Which route will I go?  I’m not sure currently.  I’ll likely measure my mat (I’ve a feeling that it’s longer than 72") and give the prospect of building my own some more thought before making a decision either way.

Namasté