The Studio as Ritual Space

This week I went to Stevee's class at the Lodge again. It's really hard to equate the Lodge with "sacred space", but I guess you have to work with what you get. Honestly, it might say something about how yoga is seen in our culture by the way that it's relegated to a random room that doesn't even have full privacy. Stevee does her best to make the space a more relaxing environment. She dims the lights, and does encourage all those in attendance to move closer to the front, or rather the area where she has set up her mat. Much of the atmosphere that is created can be credited soley to her, and the manner with which she uses her voice. Unfortuntely, it really does end with that. The kitchen workers don't shut the slide down window all the way so they can at any point just look through and stare at the individuals in the class. They also play music and have conversations very loudly. This does make it quite hard to consentrate, clear your mind, and remain in the moment. Yet again, you work with what you have I guess. Decorations wise there's not much to work with either. With the exception of mats, blocks, etc. which can't actually be considered decorations there is nothing within the room that would even hint at a yoga studio. Obviously this is because its a borrowed, or better yet a shared space. Due to that fact it would make it quite hard to decorate and give the room a more spiritual and ritualistic feel to it. Even with all these problems I do try my best to ignore the distractions from the other room. I've found this is done best for me by just focusing on my breathing and Stevee's voice, and then kind of zoning into those two things for the duration of the class.