We love the feeling we get when we step inside a professional yoga studio and know we’re about to commit quality time to our physical and mental wellbeing.

With everything going on in the world right now, though, it’s incredibly helpful to have a calming area within our own homes where we can stretch, unwind, and be more mindful. Follow a few tips to create the perfect yoga sanctuary for yourself today.

Choose a Distraction-Free, Suitable Space

For starters, search for the best spot to set up your home studio. While an entire room to dedicate to yoga is the easiest option, you can do your exercises pretty much anywhere. For instance, set up in a section of porch, an attic, underutilized space above the garage, a home office, outdoor shed, or even a large walk-in closet, amongst other places.

Make sure the area you select has enough room for you to practice yoga comfortably. Allocating around 21 square feet is a good place to start. However, put your mat down in a space and test some poses to ensure you won’t smack your leg, head, or arms into walls or furniture when you’re stretching out.

Another criterion for choosing a space is finding somewhere that you can keep as a dedicated zone for you, and that will be quiet and away from distractions, such as the TV or the busy kitchen area. No matter which room of the house you decide to set up in, put away technology, such as your smartphone or tablet, unless you’re using one of these devices to access online yoga classes. If you do want a gadget there, at least turn call, email, and message notifications off while practicing so you don’t get distracted.

Declutter

The space you do yoga in needs to be not only functional but also feel calming. One way to achieve this result is to remove anything from the area that doesn’t serve a specific need, either for your practice or to create a zen-like atmosphere, such as essential oil diffusers, or house plants that improve air quality. Keep your at-home studio uncluttered.

Be purposeful, too, as far as the things you choose to surround yourself with. Think of this as a prime time to get some decluttering practice in and say goodbye to items you should have parted with earlier. If you’re using part of a room, rather than an entire one, it pays to set up a divider or other partition so you can’t see the “stuff” accumulated nearby.

Get the Temperature and Air Flow Right

To enjoy your yoga sessions and really get into the right mindset for them, you don’t want to spend much of your time frustrated by being too hot or cold. As such, find a space that will work naturally for you temperature-wise or that you can adjust to suit your needs.

For example, install quality ceiling fans to move hot air around, open windows, or utilize a reverse-cycle air conditioner or heating unit as needed. Pay attention to airflow, too. It’s wise to set yourself up in an area with a helpful cross breeze where possible.

Select a Neutral Color Palette

There’s a reason why all the yoga studios you’ve taken classes in are fitted out with light, neutral colors – they suit these kinds of exercises. To fully relax into your yoga practice at home, then, it’s critical to decorate with warm whites, soft grays, or other muted, cooler tones within the room you workout in.

You want subtle shades that recede into the background rather than demanding attention, so you feel soothed and calm. Stick with this neutral color palette on the walls, floor, ceiling, and in the furnishings you have in the space.

Stock Up on Props

Lastly, stock up on appropriate props for your home yoga studio. Keep everything you need together in the room, so you don’t have to pause to go and fetch anything, and you’re always ready to go whenever you have some time available to stretch.

There’s no need to go crazy with the shopping, but it pays to outfit your space with essentials such as a quality yoga mat, a strap, a bolster, a block, a towel, and a blanket for meditation time at the end of your practice. Keep a water bottle handy, too.

Setting up a dedicated spot for you to stretch your body and soothe your mind is a worthwhile activity to complete in the full-on year that is 2020. Enjoy designing this special space but, even more importantly, enjoy using it.