Ralphie Rough Road

One of the challenges I faced when making this move to the country was home office/yoga space.  As I mentioned in my previous post our new place gave us a lot of extra outdoor space but our indoor space was reduced almost by half.  While living in Speedway I had the privilege of turning an entire spare bedroom into my home office.  This also became my quiet place for daily Yoga & meditation.  I must admit I was not too keen on giving it up.  That particular room had plenty of room to spread out and a door to shut when I needed some undisturbed time.

The cabin being half the size and a completely open floor plan presented its challenges.

Challenge #1:  Where would my desk fit best along with our other furniture? 

After some fiddling around we found the perfect spot for the desk.  It fit very nicely, my desk chair would be out-of-the-way when not in use and it allowed space for a yoga mat (with a minor conversion).  Plus I had a window close for outdoor views, a wall to hang/view my photographs from our travels and an added bonus of the wood burning stove next to my “office”.  Suddenly this space was transformed and my concerns quickly dissipated.

My home office with photos surrounding me and a warm fireplace, who could ask for more?

Challenge #2:  How would I deal with an open office and numerous possible distractions?

I must admit this is a challenge I am still dealing with.  Many times I find myself sitting down to work and then the distractions start.  Is it time for lunch?  I would really love to try out that homemade pizza recipe.  My latest Stephen King novel is calling my name.  A hike would be awesome right about now.  Significant other giving me some love, cannot say no to that.  Glass of wine anyone?  You get the idea.  Other times I can become engrossed in my work with no problem.  At this point I am still working on a schedule that works best for me.  One that is flexible enough to allow for “work time” and “play time”.  After moving out here I am finding my interests expanding daily.   There are many things I want to try my hand at. Working for myself had given me the freedom to do just that.

For me not having a dedicated room has presented a challenge but I also really enjoy the openness of my new “home office”.  I am slowly but surely creating boundaries for myself and treating that particular space as my office surrounded by the comfort of my new cozy cabin.

Challenge #3:  Where would yoga fit into this scenario?

Yoga is a very important part of my life.  When deciding on whether to make this move, having space for yoga was a very real consideration.  I enjoy outdoor yoga so I knew once the weather warmed up I would probably be doing most of my yoga outdoors. But I still had to consider indoor yoga for the winter months.  Again with the open floor plan finding a quiet space to practice not only yoga but meditation presented a challenge.  My solution ended up being an easy one.

There are many times I have the cabin to myself.  Shane has his own space for his shop, affording me plenty of quiet space.  I came up with a quick conversion to allow space for a yoga session.  My yoga sessions require a computer or tablet as I use a website for yoga classes.  Yogaglo.com if you are interested.  (This is not an affiliate link, but I have been using Yogaglo for three years and I love it).  With a move of my desk chair and a quick roll up of my desk rug I have an instant yoga space!  I even cleared out a spot in my desk space for my yoga gear, mat, blocks, etc.  It literally takes less than 2 minutes to convert the floor space of my home office to yoga floor space.  Thus the space now serves dual purpose.

For those times when I do not have the space to myself or I simply do not want an audience I have found another solution. Our bedroom upstairs has become known to us as the “Treehouse”, because of its height among the trees.  After looking at the space I determined there is plenty of space to put down a yoga mat and get yogified.  (yes I made that word up) With my tablet in tow and an extra yoga mat stored upstairs I have an additional instant yoga space.  Again utilizing a space for dual purpose.

When I look back at our old house, there was a lot of extra room and in turn space that was not used on a regular basis if at all.  Now I find myself using the space available in our new place in new inventive ways.  Nothing is wasted.  Plus it is a complete breeze to clean!  Which I have found is a constant battle living in a wooded property.  There is no shortage of leaves, mud, and spiders making new webs.