Hone Your Home

- before we begin, yes, I will use the world's cutest cat as clickbait and yes I also used her in my last post - her name is Tish, short for Morticia - but this post starts not with her but with her housemate, the dog...

Home? 

I was watching my dog last night, her name is Charlie.

I was on the couch and she was on her favourite footstool with my legs wrapped around her body and it struck me that she was HOME.

When I sit in my rocking chair, she is right there on her small bed next to me.

At night she sleeps on a bigger bed at the foot of our bed but probably her favourite “home” is a manky, mangy, circular bed that no longer has its stuffing (too many times thru the wash). It’s small enough that she oozes over the edges when she’s in it but she loves it and gets cheesed off if the cat commandeers it which frequently happens

I admit that Charlie’s a spoiled thing - she does have five + dog beds - but don’t we all have places or spaces that make us feel at home?

HOME helps give us our identity and sense of self. Can we identify what specifically brings us comfort in the spaces we label as home?

I’m proposing that we can have many homes within our house/living arrangements and that creating spaces that nurture us is good for our overall health.

I'm also proposing that we can support our Pilates practice by making sure that we look forward to hanging out in the space where we lay our mats before we lie down on our mats.

If you’re Charlie, all you need to do to find home is to lie on something soft that's near me - she's a mama's dog (at present she’s under the dining room table lying next to my foot) But if you’re not a spoiled dog what should you do?

Curate Your Space 

I’m talking a bit Marie Kondo: surround yourself with things that bring you joy, and

A bit Woo: your energy will feed off the things you surround yourself with.

Ask yourself this, do you have things that you’ve carried with you from house to house, maybe over decades?

When you look at them do they

- Ground you?

- Bring up the good feels?

- Remind you of where you were or who you were with when you acquired them?

Here are some of mine:

1. A ginormous bowl that I got on an epic road trip with my sis when my kiddo was an infant. (there’s a somewhat funny story about baby poop resembling mushy peas and how I tried to tell the difference but that’s a whole other post). Right now the bowl holds a few of our hats 

2. A tile that was a present from a dear friend many years ago that reminds me not only our almost 30 year friendship but also the beauty of nature, and an amazing, celebratory trip to Japan with the hubby from some years back 

And 3. These two butterflies: one painted by my kiddo on a cheap canvas from Spotlight and the other a splurgy birthday present, to me from me, bought at a gallery in Southern Utah; I loved it so much and couldn’t imagine leaving it behind. When I look at both of these all I feel is love (to the kid but also myself)

My Pilates mat mostly lives in the guest bedroom that I’ve been doing my online teaching from for over a year and sometimes it moves to my verandah.

Both these spaces feel like home

The verandah has some amazing views, plants I haven’t killed yet ;-), and is peaceful as all get out

The bedroom is not an ideal space to teach from at all! (so no photo, lol)

I can’t count the number of times that I’ve kicked the closet door demonstrating Single Leg Circles or Corkscrew, I have a Rube Goldberg set up on top of my desk so that I can stand to teach, and I'm constantly moving my iPad around so that I can be seen demonstrating.

But...

The bedroom has a couple of paintings done by a friend that I just love.

One is leaning against the wall on top of the mattress which is also leaning up against the wall - as I said not ideal - but looking at the colours in the paintings as well as seeing the detritus of my teaching life (mostly tidy) in place makes me happy.

Because I’m happy and it feels like home, I look forward to spending time in there connecting to my Pilates community.

(I hope that my sense of "home" somehow travels through my computer connection and helps my clients stay grounded and present in their bodies. Is this true? I’ll have to ask them)

What’s the space like where you practice your Pilates?

Can you make it more of a home if it’s not one yet?

Of course I’m not an interior designer (maybe in my next life?) but you can add just a couple of small things: a photo or treasured knickknack, maybe a candle, so that when you’re in the space you don’t mind being there and half the battle of a home practice, which for me is actually getting down on my mat, is taken care of.

And now I get to create a new home

I’m so excited that the floors of my almost finished Pilates studio are in because now I’m one step closer to creating a space that I’ll be happy to teach from for many years to come

I can’t wait to curate this space with not only the practical things that support me as a Pilates teacher: my reformer/tower unit, low chair, all of my balls & barrels & various other props, my books, and my anatomy charts, but also to add the things that will bring me joy by linking me to people & to memories.

It doesn’t take much to create a home (or many micro homes) and we have the power to create and nurture our selves by doing so.

So...

Go out and get curating!

xBec

Want more? This post speaks to similar topics 

Spatchcock Charlie wanting the best of both worlds, lol

all photos by moi'

The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this blog are not intended to amount to advice and Rebecca Forde disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this post