Creating a peaceful sanctuary with space to live

I spent most of yesterday re-arranging and de-cluttering the living room at home. I had a hair appointment in the middle of the afternoon, but I'm happy to say that after picking up a few groceries I came home and kept working on it. I am totally stoked with the finished product. 

I've been thinking about doing this for about two weeks - pretty much continuously since the decision to cut off Foxtel, as the TV had to be in a certain spot to reach the aerial cables and all that jazz. Having cruised through the week with no Foxtel or TV, I was finally able to unplug and re-jig. 

It feels good to come home and not feel obligated to plonk in front of the idiot box. I can now honestly say "I don't watch TV". I didn't miss it while I was in Malaysia and I'm not missing it now. If I need information, I can get it from the internet. I don't feel the need to be constantly bombarded with information, advertisements and be hypnotised with suggestions to go and buy the latest whatever!

I had a few criteria for the "new" space, which are:

• I wanted as much free space as possible in the centre of the room so that energy can flow freely
• I must have a peaceful sanctuary on one side of the room
• A reading and lounging area where I don't have my back to the doors and windows (feels like someone is going to sneak up on me, which is bad Feng Shui)
• A dedicated space for my yoga mat where I can practice at home and don't have to roll it up when I'm finished using it. 
• A high space for my shrine, with enough room to get everything I want on it. I also wanted to get the new photo of His Holiness 14th Dalai Lama and offering bowls on it too. 
• Space at shoulder height for my Tibetan Singing Bowl and Tingshas for meditation
• Room for my meditation stool and space to meditate without having to rearrange the room and room for my oil burner so I can have my soy melts burning in the background
• Space to pop out an airbed for any visitors who may wish to stay over, without having to rearrange the whole room

Here's the finished product:

Since I don't watch TV anymore, I was able to move my recliner against a wall and still have a little wall space available to use for shoulder stands, until I have the strength and skill to enter them from my mat. I'm thinking that I could use the grey ottoman now for support instead of the wall as I work my way up from the mat. We'll see. 

The whole house has a totally different vibe and Qi flow about it now. It feels less stuffy, less cluttered, less stagnant and less stifling. I got rid of some furniture and have a massive empty floor space now. I could picnic on the floor if I feel like it, but I won't throw a wok burner on the carpet and cook my veggies on the floor like the last guy living in here did two years ago!

I had already pimped out the space with red accessories, as the boring beige/yellow paint throughout the house really does my head in. There's lots of green (earth energy) on the shrine to balance out the fire energy of the red, just so things don't get too energetic!

They say change is as good as a holiday, and it's nice to walk in the front door and see this first thing.