How to Truly Create Space
It was in a hot yoga class that I first heard the phrase. “Create space,” the instructor says after calling out our next pose.
At first, I brushed it off. I was too busy trying to, you know, do the pose. The twisting and contorting and all that work was taking my attention, and I didn’t give a second’s thought to what it meant to actually create space.
But after a few more classes, after a few instructors giving me tips and helping me twist or fold deeper, I realized the advice to create space was powerful. The next time I heard those words in class, I took them seriously. I took a deeper breath. I stretched wider. I adjusted my body to move into the pose better, and I felt such a difference. I felt my shoulders open up, my knees bend further, my ribs expand as I pushed up into a backbend.
Creating space changed everything.
I took 21 hot yoga classes in the month of July, a month that was full of travel and a long list of work responsibilities and many evening activities. It seemed impossible to spend that much time at the yoga studio… but I created space. I woke up earlier than usual to make it to the 6 am class. I shifted plans with friends around so I could still hang out but then head to the studio afterward. I planned my errands around when I’d already be in that area of town.
Creating space changed everything.
I’m realizing just how true this is in all areas of my life.
