Even before the COVID-19 or the Wuhan virus pandemic forced a large segment of the population to stay at home, many were already considering using that extra room in their garages. With an increasing focus on health and wellness, one of the best ways to utilize your garage is to turn it into a peaceful yoga studio.
The benefits of yoga have been well-documented by the medical community worldwide including the American Osteopathic Association and Harvard University. It offers physical and mental health benefits for people of all ages, and for folks suffering from a chronic condition or recovering from surgery, yoga can speed up healing.
It doesn’t hurt that doing yoga can be made into a fun family activity. Introducing yoga to your kids helps establish healthy habits at an early age. It can enhance your little one’s flexibility, coordination, and strength while encouraging self-esteem and body awareness.
Long story short, yoga is good for you. And if you have a garage in your home in Hollywood Hills, you don’t have to drive miles away and wade through traffic to reap its benefits. Setting up a yoga studio in your home is super easy and cheap – you don’t need any excessive equipment, just a mat. You can even invite some friends over, start up your own yoga class, and enjoy a collective wellness activity with people you love.
In this post, our garage storage designers at Garage Excell have compiled a list of things you can do to create a tranquil, no-nonsense yoga studio in your garage.
7 Tips To Convert Your Garage Into A Yoga Studio
#Choose the Right Flooring
Just because you’re going to be sitting down on a mat doesn’t mean any flooring will do. Most garages have unfinished cement flooring, which might be good for a workshop but won’t work for your yoga endeavors.
Just think about the yoga studios you’ve been to in the past or you can go to Pinterest to refresh your memory. You’d notice that these spaces generally don’t have carpets. Your yoga mat should be able to grip the floor because you want to be safe while doing poses like the warrior or downward dog; an unfinished cement or carpeted surface won’t provide that grip.
Tiles, hardwood, and epoxy garage flooring are all good options. At Garage Excell, we offer solid color, full-chip, and partial-chip polyaspartic epoxy flooring systems that offer excellent durability and safety for garage floors. These floors are thick and provide a lot of traction, while hiding scratches and wear-and-tear over the lifetime of your floor.
If you go for tiles, make sure they are not too slippery. Remember, yoga requires the ability to focus, deep breathing, and mindful concentration. Your surroundings should be muted so as to not cause any distractions. Choose the flooring accordingly.
#Install Some Insulation
A damp, dark, and cold garage can adversely impact your yoga routine so invest in garage insulation if you haven’t already done so. This step is particularly important if you want to do hatha or ashtanga yoga. These yoga practices call for a comfortable space along with supple and loose muscles. If you do such exercises in a cold environment, you risk straining your muscles and suffering serious injury.
#Hang Up Some Relevant Art Pieces
Nothing sets the mood like a couple of theme-appropriate wall hangings. To create a Zen-like atmosphere in your yoga studio, consider hanging up paintings of natural scenery like green landscapes, mountains, and waterfalls. You can hang them up on the walls or over your garage storage system or behind the shelving units.
You can also go with some posters or frames with inspirational affirmations to help you get into a peaceful state. Everybody does yoga differently, and having your own yoga studio means you can do up the space as you like.
#Invest In a Quality Garage Storage System
As we mentioned earlier, yoga usually doesn’t require a lot of equipment. If you are a beginner, a simple yoga mat will be more than enough. But since you are setting up a studio dedicated to yoga or fitness as a whole, it makes sense to have some garage storage space for equipment you’ll use as well.
For example, if you have children, consider installing a few garage wall cabinets to create a small but fun space for your kids in the garage. This way, when you are completing your yoga sessions, your little ones can be near you but have enough to stay busy (or distracted!) on their own.
If you don’t have any custom garage cabinets, you can have Slatwall panels with hooks and bins installed. This is a good option for smaller garages with limited space. Just roll up your mat and store it upright in a deep bin, and hang your sweatbands, towels, and other equipment on the hoods.
Some people like to use blocks for their relaxing yoga poses; you can store them on a shelf or inside your garage storage bin.
#Weather-Proof the Garage Door
Honestly, where you are going to use your West Hills garage as a yoga studio or anything else, weather-proofing the garage door is an important step. Even if the cooling or heating system in your house extends to your garage – which is highly unlikely – you do not want to run up the energy bill by cranking up your thermostat.
And while you’re at it, make sure the weather seal or weather-stripping around the door and windows in your garage is in good shape. If it’s worn-out, hot or cold air can blow inside through the gaps underneath the doors and around the windows.
#Choose a Neutral or Earthy Shade for the Walls
Are your garage walls too whitewashed, too bare, or just too ugly right now? An unsightly wall doesn’t make a tranquil studio space, buddy. So, while you are setting up your yoga haven, you might want to paint the walls an earthy hue as well.
Pick a color that will match your garage epoxy flooring as well as any wall hangings or decorations you have in mind. We personally love blues for yoga because this color just invokes feelings of calm and serenity. Color psychology also says that blue increases productivity and focus. Consider a livable, slightly muted blue with a hint of green – you don’t want a popping blue or a baby blue. Unless you do.
An earthy green, soft lavender, seafoam, and gray with a hint of blue are also good options. Go by your instinct; if it makes you feel peaceful, it’s probably the right option for you.
#Use Natural Lighting
Natural light is the best kind of lighting for a yoga studio in Hollywood Hills. If you have the budget, have a couple of large windows installed in your garage. This way, you will be able to enjoy sunlight filtering in during the day and save on electricity at the same time.
But what if you want to do yoga in the evening? We recommend buying a standing lamp and putting it in one corner of the garage. Regular garage lights are often too limited or too harsh to offer a peaceful atmosphere. You can dim the lamp to provide a soft white or yellow glow during your practice.
Let Garage Excell Design the Yoga Studio Of Your Dreams!
If turning your messy and dusty garage sounds hard, contact our experts at Garage Excell to do all the work for you. We have 13+ years of experience in converting residential garages into man caves, recreational centers, home offices, yoga studios, workshops, and even bedrooms. We will work closely with you to realize your vision and create a stylish and functional yoga space in your budget. Call us at 877-573-6637 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation.