I've been giving my daughter's room a bit of an upgrade. To be honest when we moved here 7 years ago the IKEA mirrored door wardrobe wasn't given much thought at all.
In lockdown we painted all the walls dark grey having been inspired by Abigail Ahern's, 'Paint it Black' concept. Some of you might remember this was the backdrop for my online classes and where I started 'yogaeverydamnday'.
Now I've done a full circle and gone back to whites and neutrals. But the main purpose for this project was to create better storage solutions and make a 'proper' place for everything. Creating a cleaner, calmer environment.
This made me think about the significance of this in the yoga tradition, specifically Shaucha - the first Niyama.
To put this in context, from Yoga Basics, The second limb of Patanjali’s eight-limbed yoga system contains the five internal practices of Niyama (observance). These practices extend the ethical codes of conduct provided in his first limb, the Yamas, to the practicing yogi’s internal environment of body, mind, and spirit. The practice of Niyama helps us maintain a positive environment in which to thrive and gives us the self-discipline, humility, and inner-strength necessary to progress along the path of yoga.
The first Niyama, Shaucha literally means cleanliness and purifying and as with a lot of Sanskrit means much more than the obvious literal translations.
From https://himalayaninstitute.org/online/shaucha-part-1-purifying-body-home/ , written by Irene Petryszak.
Shaucha involves cleansing and purifying on two levels—physical and mental—so that we can have clean, orderly surroundings; a healthy, energetic body; a clear, tranquil mind; and a pure heart..... there are lots of practical things we can do to help this too. Like living with less clutter and making a cleaner more organised environment.
It also links to the concept 'Slow Living' which I've shared before in previous blogs and the Kinfolk Books, especially Kinfolk Home, which I've been greatly inspired by. This is about keeping things which bring you joy and getting rid of stuff which doesn't serve you.
For me this supports a much more sustainable lifestyle away from fast fashion, fast food and the many other mass produced cheap products we can all too easily surround ourselves with.
Ultimately, it's all about being more mindful which transcends into everything. (This is how yoga works). Even to the refurbishment of a bed room. I'll share more photos when it's finished. Here's my instagram post if you're interested in linen home furnishings. All the the poles, rings and hooks have been re used.
Namaste
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