Creating Space

space to breathe and be

I’ve been remembering just how nourishing space is recently.

Taking little moments to eat my breakfast in the garden, not turning my phone on first thing (as someone who’s guilty of often ticking a few online work jobs off the list before even getting out of bed in the morning, this is a big thing for me!), tending to my plants, riding my bike to work, taking time to write or read, napping, pausing at the beach after class for a swim, or simply to enjoy the space of the sea and the sky!

Space is so important for our wellbeing. It gives the body time to unwind, the breath a chance to be caught, and the mind a moment to process, re-evaluate and settle.

We crave it, and yet so often deny ourselves it, or feel we have to ‘earn it’ — working harder, faster, getting ‘somewhere’ before we’re allowed to stop...Limiting ourselves to the odd week off work, the weekend, our weekly yoga class, or perhaps waiting until the body steps in and commands us to take a break by knocking us off our feet.

Yesterday I sorted through a load of paperwork and files that had been getting out of hand (and that admittedly I’d been putting off). It felt so satisfying to finally sort things a bit and create space on the worktop and table.

We feel it when the clutter gathers — that sense of weight, oppression, the walls drawing in.

Even in that relatively simple act of clearing some papers, I could sense the space in the house and in myself again. My shoulders felt a little lighter, the room felt a little bigger. (Plus we just had a full moon so any releasing done now is extra supported).

In our yoga practice, we make space in the body — by moving it, stretching it, twisting and releasing, using the breath to expand and release. In turn, both enable us to create space in the mind: to think more clearly and feel more like ourselves.

Summer often feels like a time when space becomes more abundant — the longer days, increased daylight and warmer temperatures that naturally support the body in relaxing. It feels aligned with taking a slower pace.

And yet in winter, we naturally draw inward — cooler and shorter days, hunkering down inside, getting cosy and warm, gratefully embracing moments of winter sunshine.

Winter provides space in a different way, maybe because it feels like it’s less of a choice, but an opportunity nevertheless.

Perhaps that's what space gives us: an opportunity to pause long enough to hear ourselves again.

What else might become possible if we allowed ourselves a little more space?