The urban yogi at home

Over the last 6 months or so, I have done most of my yoga at home.

In a perfect world, I would live on a tropical island so I could wake up every morning and do yoga at home, on my front balcony, overlooking the sea and breathing in the salty, fresh air. My morning practice would look omething like this, I think:

Source: www.oneworldretreat.com

In the real world, though, I live in a small apartment just outside the Sydney CBD. It isn't near the beach. It doesn't have a garden or even a courtyard. Our balcony just barely fits a few pot plants.

So when I read articles about creating your own, special place in your home to practice yoga in, I feel like I have failed before I have even begun.

I do have room to do yoga at home - just barely, mind you. I usually do it in the spare room, which has a lounge/bed futon thing in it for visitors in it as well as the stuff that wouldn't fit anywhere else and most of my husband's clothes (because I have pretty much taken over the entire wardrobe in the main bedroom thanks to online shopping, a slightly addictive personality and my love for pretty things). But I can lay my mat out fully, it has a clear wall for me to do inversions against, and there is just enough space to move through most yoga sequences (unless one of my cats gets in the way).

LingLing and I doing yoga in the spare room

It is less than ideal though. Space issues aside, it gets pretty hot in there - especially if I keep the door shut. The last time that I left the door open to let in some cool air through, my savasana was interrupted by the sounds of Cylons attacking humans. (Not an actual invasion - just my husband entertaining himself while I did my practice by watching Battlestar Galactica. Again. And kinda loud.) So yeah, I keep the door shut now and just deal with the heat.

When I am home alone, I practice downstairs in the living room with the doors to the balcony open which means I can enjoy a beautiful breeze while I work up a sweat doing my vinyasa. To make our tiny home a bit nicer, we have put lots of plants on the balcony - and most of them have actually managed to survive. I like to face the windows when I am practicing down there so I have a bit of nature to look out over. Not quite a tropical paradise, but it is nice and green, especially in summer.

My lovely but small living room (and Wookie the tabby)

There is still street noise to contend with - the neighbour's Harley Davidson, the kids across the street shouting and laughing, dogs barking etc. Also, when I am doing floor work I can see all the dust-bunnies under the TV cabinet. And again, the cats occasionally get in the way. (Their favourite trick is to walk underneath me while I am in down dog and then curl up for a nap in the middle of my mat.)

But having a regular at-home yoga practice is still one of the greatest things I have ever done for my yoga.

For a start, it fits in with my life. I do my yoga when I am ready for it, and not the other way around. This is particularly good for when things get busy at work or I have lots of social commitments on. And my sessions can be as long or as short as I have time for.

It also lets me focus on whatever is important to me. If I am stressed out and need to get grounded, I can do a great restorative class with lots of holds and concentration on the breath. And if I have oodles of energy, I can do a vigorous, sweaty vinyasa or ashtanga class. It also lets me work around any injuries that I may be experiencing. The online yoga studio, YogaGlo is perfect for this because it lets you search classes by body part or by the type of class I am wanting to do.

And while I might not have the perfect space in my house for doing my yoga, just rolling out my mat and stopping to take some time for myself makes any space feel pretty special. Even if I happen to be surrounded by laundry and cat fur.