Wednesday, February 08, 2006
calm hOme tO practice
Someone who visited mOmentOm yOga's studio recently said about the place, with a tone of surprise, "It's beginning to feel more like a home now!"
Why does a yogi spend so much time on interior deco?
There's an important reason for every effort that has been spent to make our studio feel like home. Yoga practice is a personal experience. When we practice together, there are no strangers because we have shared something private, intimate and very real. This is why there is a very special connection between me and the friends I have made in yoga classes. We may not even know each other's names but we have been with each other during breakthroughs in our internal worlds. We have been there together when we each experienced in our yoga practice a sense of unity with other beings. We sensed, innately, that we are all family.
Our studio is an extension of this idea. Yoga is not my business, it is my life. Wouldn't you spend time to build your life and to make it better? This is why mopping, cleaning, fixing are all done with tender loving care -- it is all part of living with purpose. My life or studio is not to be worked at to make me look good in front of others -- my life is to be shared, it is home to others who need care. For this, everyday, it is worth the effort to make it better, a better home for all of us.
"House Rules". . . or some steps to make our home even cozier:
. . . yogis can use either their own yoga mats or the studio's mats. If you are using the studio's mats, please do bring a towel so that you can cover the mat with it.
. . . after class, please roll up the yoga mats neatly, rubberband them and replace them in the containers with tender loving care for the next yogi (which could very well be you!) to use them.
. . . please do not put food or drink containers in the washroom bin. It is hard to move all the ants and insects out of the way yogic-ly or compassionately (without killing).
. . . keeping energy usage low is not just a matter of saving money, it is a matter of conserving the earth's resources. This is the responsibility of every global citizen. Yogis can help in the effort by switching on the washroom/toilet's lights on only when you need them and switching them off as soon as you're done with them. We hope yogis will understand that is is also why we only turn on the air-conditioning units when class is about the start and we turn off the units as soon as class is over.