Although the practice of yoga has been around for centuries, it has taken Americans quite some time to fully embrace it. In the past decade, however, yoga studios have popped up in almost every neighborhood of the country, urging us all to get in touch with our inner yogi.
Yoga’s rapid ascension into the ranks of pop culture, while good for us physically and mentally, has also been met with rising prices. This isn’t so exciting for those with tight budgets. If you take a yoga class one to two times a week, you could be creating a $100–200 dent in your wallet each month—that’s money you could use in other spending categories!
The good news is that yoga is one of the many complete mind-and-body exercises that can adapted to a home workout for little to no cost. Using these tips, you can transform your apartment into a relaxing and peaceful yoga studio and save money:
Choose the Right Space
In order to achieve maximum balance during your yoga practice, your apartment floor should be hard. If possible, a natural hardwood floor would be best, as it brings a feeling of nature’s beauty into your studio. If your only room choice has carpeted flooring, the space will still work fine. Just be sure to use your yoga mat.
The lighting within the space is also important. Try to unleash as much natural light as possible, as many yoga practitioners find that sunlight helps to energize them.
With that in mind, you should select a room or space that features hard floors and plenty of windows. If you don’t have a spare bedroom, use the room that works best, whether that’s your living room or your bedroom. Fortunately, you don’t need much space.
Remove the Clutter
In order to relax and focus on your breathing, it’s important that the mind not be distracted by other material objects in the room. For that reason, you’ll want to de-clutter. As an everyday rule, be sure to keep your apartment neat and tidy.
Of course, you may still need to move furniture around to have room for your yoga mat. Even if it’s just for an hour of your routine, try to clear the space in your apartment around your designated studio.
Push any furniture to the side, and make sure you have enough room to do all of the positions in your practice. If you prefer to incorporate inverted positions (in which you may place your feet or legs against the wall), clear the space on the walls as well.
Create Your Atmosphere
Because your yoga studio is within your apartment, you have control over everything that interacts with your senses—from sight to smell to sound. Make the most of this unique advantage by altering the atmosphere in your apartment when it comes time to achieve a little Zen.
You could burn essential oils designed to promote relaxation or unleash energy. Additionally, you may use temperature to find your inner peace. If you can, aim to get the temperature within your apartment between 75-85 degrees, which will allow your muscles to become fully stretched and open up the body.
Lastly, listening to music during your practice may help you focus, so play some music to suit your type of practice and mood. Try relaxing instrumental music if you want to calm your mind and body with a slower Ashtanga practice.
Or perhaps your favorite pop or rock band is what you need if you’re attempting power yoga or a rapid Vinyasa flow practice. You can even shut off Pandora, Spotify, whatever and select instead pure silence. This helps many focus on more challenging poses. Flying crow anyone?
Get the Right Equipment
At the very minimum, you will need a yoga mat and, if you are new to yoga, some instructional videos or websites. Yoga mats are intentionally made thin and are meant to be placed on a hard surface as both of these factors help you maintain balance during difficult poses. You can find a mat online or in sporting goods stores.
Until you’ve become a master yogi, you can use the help of DVDs to get your routine started or try many of the online subscriptions, both of which are very affordable. Some practitioners also like to have a mirror in their studio so they can inspect and adjust their posture.
The great thing about yoga is that the equipment is very apartment friendly and mats and blocks can easily be stored under a bed or in a closet. If you do want to use a mirror, make it a decorative element in your space. That way, it’ll help you during yoga time and look awesome!
Using the space within your apartment to perform yoga at home is the best way to avoid the cost and trouble of getting to the yoga studio, while also being able to enhance the aspects of your routine that give you the most satisfaction, relaxation and peace of mind.
