How to create a yoga shala at home
Words: Emma Vidgen // @emma_vee
Photographer: Mavis Jean, Joseph Shubin, Kattherine Lu, Leeroy T
Before this year, my home yoga shala didn’t get a lot of love. Even calling it a shala would probably be a bit of a stretch. In reality, my home yoga set-up didn’t get much more thought than, “Where is there a bit of floorspace and some blank wall for Viparita Karani?”
Then 2020 happened and going to a studio became hard, sometimes impossible. With restrictions limiting (at times, completely preventing) access to yoga studios, having a decent set up at home suddenly felt like the difference between maintaining a regular practice and letting it slide.
When I started to think about who to interview about elevating a space using all of our senses, Jackie Alexander was the first person who came to mind. Who better to ask than the COO and co-founder of New York, Melbourne and Sydney-based yoga studio Humming Puppy.
Humming Puppy’s Sydney studio
Humming Puppy’s studios are the stuff of legend. From the second you set foot inside, every detail is considered and intentional; you feel immediately welcome and relaxed. It smells good, it looks good, but most importantly, it just feels good. I’ve blown in after a bad day and felt the tension just melt away; and that was before I even hit the mat!
Then there’s the classes themselves, which are just as epic as the interiors. The studio has a custom-designed soundscape – a deeply meditative hum tuned to the Schumann Resonance (the frequency of the earth itself, to help ground and support) and a 40hz hum – a frequency associated with Gamma brainwaves which is associated with peak performance.
One silver lining to these intense times is that you can now get the hum at home. “You can access ‘the hum’ via our on-demand platform as part of our subscription. ‘The hum’ continues to play throughout all our online classes and is available to listen to on its own so you can design your own practice with ‘the hum’ as your sound track or meditate along with ‘the hum’ in your own home,” says Jackie.
Here Jackie shares her top tips for creating an at-home shala you’ll want to practice in.
“I think the most important thing with creating an at home practice is to make the most of the space you have and the conditions around you,” says Jackie. “If you don’t have the space to practice asana then sitting in meditation or doing various pranayama practices are also great tools that don’t require any space. Even just a few minutes a day can provide the body, mind and spirit with what it needs to feel calm and centred.”
STEP one: TIDY UP…AND MAKE IT A LITTLE BIT EXTRA
If you’re setting up inside, choose a space and time of the day where and when you will be least distracted. I always like to make sure that my surroundings are free from clutter and then try to make the space feel as special as possible by lighting candles, dimming the lights (if in the evening) having things around me that inspire me in particular I love to have plants nearby. Many people like having their favourite crystals, incense or a favourite essential oil in a burner and using palo santo or sage to clear the space before the practice. If you are using scents be cautious that they aren’t too overpowering.
STEP TWO: PROP YOURSELF UP
Props are not just for beginners and are my absolute favourite thing to use in any practice, I always have them handy no matter what style of practice I’m working with. Props help to support you to come into a more supported, deeper and fuller expression of many poses and enhance your practice.
Not everyone has access to a full range of yoga equipment like you would when attending studio classes. If you don’t have a mat that’s ok I know plenty of people who practice on the floor (carpet and some surfaces can be slippery so please do be cautious) yoga blocks or bolsters can be substituted for cans and sturdy hard cover books and cushions, pillows or rolled up blankets can double as bolsters. Yoga straps can be substituted with belts, long towels or even a skipping rope!
Make sure you have whatever you’re using for props handy if you don’t have yoga blocks or bolsters for example you can improvise. Cans and sturdy hard cover books make for good blocks and cushions, pillows or rolled up blankets or towels can double as bolsters.
STEP THREE: GET THE LIGHT RIGHT
Lighting has always been carefully considered in each of our studios and I believe has a real impact on how you feel and connect to your practice. It’s not always easy or possible to have perfectly curated lighting, make the most of what you have. In the evening dim the lights if possible or turn them off and use lamps or candles instead (please be mindful of what type of candles you use, non toxic lead-free are best and be mindful where you place them for safety reasons). During the day maybe draw the blinds/sheers or choose a time to practice when the sunlight isn’t directly in your face.
Our shalas have always been dark and dimly lit to enhance your ability to connect to a more meditative state of mind. The lights become brighter during more active classes to help elevate the energy and are then reduced again towards the end of the practice to support rest in savasana.
step FOUR: choose a soundtrack
Sound has always been an important element of our yoga classes. Our hum was designed to create a sense of meditative grounding through the specific frequencies applied to ‘the hum’. Many playlists using modern music are lots of fun but can be a distraction or can take students out of their practice by reminding them of particular events or people in their lives.
I always like to make sure there are no vocals. I love the sound of rolling oms or IKSRE is currently one of my favourite artists for yoga and meditation.
TAKE YOUR SPACE TO THE NEXT LEVEL WITH… A LITTLE GREENERY
Flowers and or plants feature in our studios and have always been a beautiful addition to the communal spaces. I’ve always loved being creative with the various fresh, dried and preserved flowers through the arrangements and think they really bring our spaces to life.
My favourite flower of all time would be the flowers that blossom on the magnolia trees, I dream of having a huge magnolia tree in my garden one day!
“At Humming Puppy we have used the same scent at all three studios since we opened our first studio in Melbourne in 2015. The scent is a lovely reminder that you have arrived at Humming Puppy no matter where you are in the world,” says Jackie. The scent used is Sacred Dreaming by an Australian company called Perfect Potions. “It’s a blend of various plants and flowers but we love the geranium vibe we get from it.”
EXPERIENCE HUMMING PUPPY AT HOME
Humming Puppy is bringing its unique offering of soundscaped yoga flows to your place! “We currently have over 200 classes across a variety of levels from beginners to advanced including a number of pregnancy specific classes for expecting mamas out there,” Jackie says. “Our platform is user friendly and set up much the same as Netflix; classes are searchable by teacher, class length and studio location. It was also very important to us that the online offering was accessible particularly during these challenging times when many are in need of the practices on offer.”
Humming Puppy’s online offering will be an ongoing addition. “Even when COVID-19 has come and gone because we have recognised that our community extends well beyond the four walls of our studios,” says Jackie.
