I already had a good number of items for the studio ... as a former Manduka employee, I outfitted the yoga studio with a PurpleLite (closest option nowadays is the ProLite) and Black Mat Pro. The floor space? Filled.
It's not really about filling the space with unnecessary items. The truth is, I could practice with nothing but a clean space. However, I want the Ethereal Room to be a place where I want to practice, which means supplementing the space with mats, props and associated materials.
Why two mats? I would love for someone, one day, to share practice space with me. Or even better, the studio can be dual-functional, serving both for my personal practice and administering private practice sessions. Dare to dream.
Since I've been practicing for over ten (10) years, I have already collected a small assortment of props. These were placed in the room, including:
- Wool blanket (quantity 3, color: thunder)
- Round bolster (quantity 1, color: thunder)
- Rectangular bolster (quantity 1, color: thunder)
- Cork yoga block (quantity 1)
- Long yoga strap (quantity 1)
- Short yoga stap (quantity 1) - from Gaiam, the style is so old it's not available any more!
- Eye pillow (quantity 1) - from Manduka, the style is so old it's not available any more!
Already, I adore practicing in a space where props are readily available (i.e., within an arm's length). I have practiced sarvangasana more in the past couple of weeks than I have in the past three (3) years. In other studios, I have avoided shoulderstand altogether, being too fearful of neck injury and knowing that, by the time I skipped across the room to the prop storage area and back to my mat, the teacher would have moved on to the next asana.
Three (3) blankets, a mat and a strap. Yum, yum. My shoulders are blossoming ... which I must confess, I never felt any form of shoulder opening in shoulderstand in the past. Better yet, the posture is not accompanied by worried thoughts of, "Am I killing my neck?"
I digress. Back to the prop list!
Now, I'm all about flowing from the original source (i.e., flowing in and out of postures as they come to mind), but I have prepared the studio with sources of inspiration when I'm just way too damn tired to seek within, recognizing that I have to make this easy if this is to become a habit.
In the corner of the studio is a journal to record thoughts and sequences, a magazine container with the past year's issues from Yoga Journal, a couple CD's from D'ana Baptiste (leftover from my 500 hour teacher training) and a couple of DVDs from Max Strom. And of course, a mini DVD-player and a mini heater.
As I predicted, I would need to go to alternative sources to derive an appropriate sequence. On Saturday, I ran six (6) miles in preparation for a half marathon in March. Getting up the ladder to access the studio was hard enough ... now I was supposed to conjure a brilliant sequence out of thin air? No way.
About a year ago, Jillian Pransky provided a restorative sequence for Yoga Journal called "On Solid Ground", which recommended a series of support mechanisms to allow the practitioner to feel a little more grounded (and perhaps avoid some of the feelings of anxiety that may appear) during the practice. I modified it a bit (I had to include supported shoulderstand!). However, my little prop stash and various items I fashioned into make-shift props didn't even come close to the sheer volume required to support the sequence.
I ask again, how much is too much? I don't mind purchasing additional props, say another block, round and rectangular bolster and maybe a blanket or two. However, I don't want to turn the Ethereal Room which was supposed to be reflective of open space to turn into a cluttered bolster closet.
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