Since moving to Portland, OR my main practice space has been my livingroom. It is less than ideal with carpet, curious dog, and sometimes present boyfriend. Too many distractions presented themselves, which then turned into excuses. I would plan to practice, then Dan would come home early, so then I wouldn't. Mayson would keep crawling on my mat preventing vinyasa progression, so I would do a twist and savasana so he could safely snuggle against me. I finally realized that two years of distraction, diversion, and excuses was making me into someone who only occasionally will practiced instead of the girl who would trek to the studio or practice in my petless, single-girl livingroom six or seven times a week.
I was left but no choice but to clear out the piles of laundry, tuck away Dan's various outdoor equipment, and eliminate piles of crap from the office. After all of this, I now have a luxurious space on the office floor, and a closing door for practice. No more excuses of dogs and boyfriends. Now I just have to shut the door and switch my focus to practice.
It is by far the best thing I have done for practice purposes in a long time. Now in an hour and a half I can chant, practice, and read a sutra or two. On days that I genuinely don't have time, I can cut everything and sit for 10 minutes of meditation. That is a real motivator to make practice time in itself, because quite frankly meditation is frustrating and hard. I'd much rather find an hour for asana than have 10 minutes of meditation.
