The Mindful Home: Find Your Inner Zen, No Matter Where You Live
The practice of yoga or meditation need not depend on having the perfect studio, as these inspiring spaces reveal
Don’t let not having the perfect space available for yoga, meditation or contemplation stop you – there are plenty of nooks, rooms and outdoor escapes that can be just as useful. After all, the best places are simply those that encourage you to make your chosen form of mindfulness a regular practice. In celebration of International Yoga Day on June 21, browse these ideas to inspire a little more Zen in your life.
Next best thing: A converted attic or spare room set up for regular practice still gives you that feeling of getting away from it all, especially if there’s a door that can be closed to keep out any household noise.
Still fabulous: Keeping an area of your living space free of furniture and clutter ensures you can roll out your mat whenever the mood strikes, without having to rearrange the room. This lovely spot is all the more enticing for its abundance of natural light – so keep that in mind if you’re scouting around your own house for downward dog locations.
Shake things up: Instead of catching up for coffee or a drink, why not organise a regular yoga catch-up with two of your friends? You’ll all feel the better for it… and can chat over chai at the end.
Meditation
Ideal: A meditation pavilion surrounded by the sounds of nature makes it easy to find your centre. This one is lined with mesh screens for distraction-free tuning in.
Ideal: A meditation pavilion surrounded by the sounds of nature makes it easy to find your centre. This one is lined with mesh screens for distraction-free tuning in.
Still fabulous: If there’s no room inside for a dedicated meditation zone, why not take it outside? A platform and pergola tucked into the garden is hard to beat on fine-weather days… and you can just switch locations when it rains.
Shake things up: If you’re relying on sheer willpower to keep stray thoughts at bay, consider keeping your meditation routine fresh and engaging with a variety of guided mediations. Podcasts and meditation apps such as Smiling Mind, Flowing and Insight are sources of endless inspiration.
Create your own spiritual retreat at home
Create your own spiritual retreat at home
Reading
Ideal: Losing yourself in a book is as good as escaping into another world and leaving your worries behind you. A beautiful spot in the sun is the ideal, particularly if it’s in your own spacious parents’ retreat, with a view.
Ideal: Losing yourself in a book is as good as escaping into another world and leaving your worries behind you. A beautiful spot in the sun is the ideal, particularly if it’s in your own spacious parents’ retreat, with a view.
Next best thing: Closing in a porch to create a reading nook is well worth considering. Make it as comfortable as this one, and you’ll want to devour novel after novel. And why not? A little me-time is never a bad thing.
Still fabulous: There’s nothing wrong with crawling back into bed during the day for a little light reading. The cosier the better.
Browse more bedroom photos
Browse more bedroom photos
Contemplation
Ideal: A Japanese garden sets the scene for some serious Zen-itude, as this New Zealand oasis reveals.
Ideal: A Japanese garden sets the scene for some serious Zen-itude, as this New Zealand oasis reveals.
Next best thing: A mossy wall in a light-filled space is sure to inspire calmness. This meditation studio in Manhattan was designed to provide a quiet space free of distraction. Moss-viewing as a calming activity is becoming more popular by the day for its stress-relieving benefits. In Japan, there are even moss-viewing tours to gaze upon this green natural wonder.
Still fabulous: Take an unhurried walk in nature, even if it’s in your own backyard; it can bring the same kinds of relief from the pressures of everyday life. Focus on your breathing as you walk, pull out a weed here and there, and take the time to look at the perfect symmetry found in leaves, fronds and flowers.
Mindfulness
Ideal: The practice of living in the present is made easier when you have something to focus on – your breathing, the sights and sounds of your surrounds… or the pleasing curves of a labyrinth. Walking a labyrinth slowly and mindfully has been quieting minds since ancient times.
Mindful living made easy
Ideal: The practice of living in the present is made easier when you have something to focus on – your breathing, the sights and sounds of your surrounds… or the pleasing curves of a labyrinth. Walking a labyrinth slowly and mindfully has been quieting minds since ancient times.
Mindful living made easy
Next best thing: You needn’t go to the trouble (and expense) of paving an actual labyrinth if you can DIY something similar with pebbles and stones. Still mesmerising, still meditative.
Still fabulous: A smaller-scale reflexology pathway can stimulate acupressure points on your feet for stress relief and wellbeing. Breathe through any discomfort and take a pause on the larger stones when you need to… it is said to become easier over time. Reflexology walking paths are common in China – in gardens at home, at resorts, in public parks and at the base of walking trails so people can relieve any soreness in their feet and legs after a hike.
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Browse more outdoor ideas
Ideal: We’d all like a spacious yoga studio we can escape to in search of inner peace. If the outlook is as serene as this one, tranquillity is sure to follow.