Sacred Space

When I first started my daily practice of yoga, I lived in a tiny apartment with 2 small children and my husband. I rolled my mat out half under the dining/kitchen table and felt so awkward, trying to do this “stupid practice”. My love for yoga and this amazing path, thank goodness, was greater than my Ego telling me how stupid I was.

In reflection, as I kept practicing intermittently, building year after year, my spaces and life started to change. We rented a house in Sydney where I had much more space, then we bought our first house. I had pretty much let go of my practice and again found myself with no space. Here is where Yoga Teacher Training came in, and again I got back to my daily practice and regretted the time I had spent away from the mat. Within a few months of beginning my practice we bought a beautiful home with the most glorious place to practice Yoga.

8 years down the track I have finally made a beautiful space for myself, that I now share with you. OMG I love this life and that I can share my discoveries with you. I trust my years of fighting myself and creating this ritual in my life will now assist you to create space and ritual for you in your life, without having to go through the same hardship.

For me, this quiet morning ritual is the most important time of my day. When I skip this great start I never feel quite right. *Humans respond to ritual in so many positives way.

For me this early morning ritual brings, space and quietness to begin my day. I have no electronic devices and light a candle. I have paintings and trinkets, photos and maybe put on a soft tune, all things I love in this sacred space to remind me to embody myself before I greet anyone else in my day. This brings mindfulness, present moment awareness to the table instantly.

As I light this candle in the dark a beautiful soft light fills the room and it is just me and my mat. My world, with no demands. Time to be quiet. Time to ground into myself and feel where I’m at for the day.

We are different people everyday, one day wiser, when we wake up in the morning. I notice on the mat what I need and through movement and breath I can find my boundaries and my energy levels for the day. I go into my day with focus and all the intel that then lets me know how I can show up for others on that day and what kindness and care I need to show myself.

There is a very poignant little saying “As within, so without. As above, so below” As we begin to create this space for ourselves internally through our practice of Yoga, we begin to create space for ourselves externally. Now, this happened for me in so many other ways than my living space. I have built beautiful friendships, and have begun to move more easily towards a life where I feel my full potential and openness to my personal growth everyday. I can take responsibility for my life and I can handle what ever comes my way.

What is your morning ritual? There are many rules and regulations scientifically about how many days it takes to create a habit and a ritual. I’m not to sciencey. I just know this is what is best for me, so I do it. Sometimes I have a sleep in, because I know how I feel, what my needs are and what my boundaries are. I also know I have missed a day of honouring not just myself but the gratitude I feel for my life when I create this space. This gets me up the next day. Light a candle and begin!!! Trust me, its worth it.

Namaste

Madhu