Home Dojo/Meditation Room
With all the room flipping we’ve been doing, I’ve been thinking about how rooms have their own individual “feel” to them.
Has this ever happened to you? You walk into a gorgeously decorated room, something beautiful enough to grace the covers of a home decorating magazine – and standing there, surrounded by all that beauty, you feel cold, empty. Something’s missing.
Or maybe you’ve walked into a small, untidy room that most certainly wouldn’t be found in a home decor magazine (unless it’s the “before” picture), and immediately you were grabbed by a sense of coziness or a feeling that warms your heart.
It’s a feeling you can’t explain, but it’s one you undeniably experience.
For example, I’ve always felt a sense of peace in the rooms that hold my favorite reading spots. Even though they are a far cry, physically, from an actual library, I get the same feeling sitting in these rooms as I do at my local library.
Recently I’ve had quite a few people talk to me about one thing they’ve always loved about my husband’s dojo (martial arts training room). They walk in, and they’re embraced by a sense of serenity and calm.
So I’ve been thinking about what it is that makes a room feel a certain way. This feeling of serenity and calm isn’t something every dojo has. One of my husband’s friends, a blackbelt who has studied his art for many years, told me that of all the dojos he’s visited, our dojo is the only one that’s felt this way to him.
And if it’s not the elements that rooms have in common – the furniture, the floor coverings, the wall coverings, the windows – then what is it? I mean, all dojos have more or less the same trappings, but they don’t all offer this sense of serenity and calm.
I have a theory about this.
In his classes, my husband doesn’t teach just the physical aspects of the martial arts. For him, the martial arts is all about working with energy, and this is something that forms a core part of his teaching.
I think this is what has always transformed the places where he’s taught into oases of serenity. People often think of the martial arts as being about fighting, but there’s more to it than that and it is this “more” that has always captured my husband’s interest.
So I have no doubts that people will continue to feel the same way about the dojo at its new locations.
And since one of the new dojo locations is at our home, in our new dojo/meditation room, I’m very excited by this. Because now my home will also be a place of serenity and calm!
Do you have rooms in your house that reflect a certain type of energy? Rooms where you feel particularly peaceful and calm?
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
The room is beautiful! I love the color you painted the walls. I think I want to move into your place! My place is so blah! We rent right now, I can’t wait until we buy a house (hopefully this year) so I can paint pretty rooms!
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My studio, even though I still have lots of organization to do, storage to set up, etc., feels this way to me. The front/main room of my old apartment also felt cozy and welcoming even when it was a mess. I think some of it comes from an imprint of the person who sets up the space and uses it a lot. Even if it’s not conscious, we create thresholds in our spaces. We make them ours. Spaces that don’t “belong” to someone, aren’t used much, are set up just to be show pieces lack that belonging and so lack the calm or cozy or serene feelings that make some spaces especially welcoming and wonderful.
I want a dojo room in my home! Is that an actual picture of the one in your home? It is absolutely beautiful!
I definitely know what you mean about rooms having certain feelings. My mom’s house always feels cozy no matter what; I guess kind of like your husband does to his dojo, my mom always brings a sort of cozy peace to her home.
I wish I had the magic touch to bring a cozy feeling to my apartment!
.-= Audrey/brizmus´s last blog ..Review: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben Winters =-.
Yes, that’s a picture of the one that’s now in our home. It really is lovely, Audrey – even more so than I envisioned!
I’ve been thinking that magic touch is always within us, and we just have to learn to let it out. And the moment we let it out, our surroundings are transformed. They might look the same, but there’s more to them than meets the eye!
I think rooms take on the personalities of their “owners,” so your husband must be a great instructor.
Thad dojo does look like it should be amazingly peaceful and I love the color. Now what I would have expected.
I have been working toward letting go of more things I don’t want or need to encourage the feeling of calm in my apartment. I think the bedroom accomplished this most. It tends to be my headquarters and I do everything from there.
.-= Nicole´s last blog ..Sunday Salon – Back From The Reading Dumps – February 21, 2010 =-.
February has been such a month of decluttering for us, Nicole. I think it’s created a lot of fresh energy in all the rooms downstairs. We lugged a lot of stuff upstairs though! So that’s next on the agenda
I always like it when the bedroom feels like a sanctuary. Ours isn’t there yet – too much of the downstairs clutter is in there. But soon!
Wow, what a beautiful space. Even through the net it feels welcoming.
My office is cozy to me. I don’t know how others feel about it, but it’s where I do 90% of my NaNo writing and therefore has a bit of energy that wraps around me when I go in there.
I also like the kitchen. I’m at the counter now. But maybe that has something to do with the proximity to the fridge?
.-= Cat Woods´s last blog ..100 Legos =-.
I don’t have quite that feeling of good energy in my office yet, Cat. But I will. Now that I’m seeing all of this “in action” so to speak, I want to have these good feelings in all of my surroundings. I want them even when I’m out and about!
I think proximity to a fridge, especially a fridge filled with goodies, is always a good idea.
Hi Belle,
I haven’t had much time to visit the past two weeks so I came over to read this and the last post. In my opinion, you have created two very serene and calm rooms. The other word that comes to mind is cheerful plus pleasant. I can imagine sparkling conversation around your dining room table. I can also hear encouraging and supportive words in your dojo/meditation room. Your posts emanate the energy you are receiving from your renovated rooms.
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Love the colour & the plants. Rooms definitely have an energy. Being a teacher, I worry about the energy of my room. I think I’ve achieved a kind of comfortable chaos that is welcoming and not intimidating… I hope!
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Hmmm, the only room where I feel the energy you speak of is my studio/workshop, and it is not a constant thing. Right now, there is tremendous energy in there because I am working on some pieces which I think have great potential. The wood is really nice (and from a tree of a home 4 doors down!) and I think I am doing good by the wood-gods.
I think the energy at the dojo comes from a couple of things. Firstly, no one in there is intent on beating the stuffing out of anyone else. The blackbelts are not hunting down newer members and newer members feel and feed off their (the blackbelts) willingness and guide and support them. Second, and perhaps more importantly, it comes from Sensei. He sets the tone of the classes and the attitudes of all the students. He helps bring out the best in us which we, in turn, try to pass on to other members, no matter what rank anyone is.
.-= Steve´s last blog ..Smaller Pieces =-.
Steve, did you know that he actually sees the energy moving during classes? Especially in aikido. It’s quite amazing when he describes it. Do you remember ni-kajo from aikido? (Not sure of the spelling). He is truly the master of this, no force applied at all and yet – bam – you’re down on the ground with no clue how you got there. That’s the energy in action.
He also does reiki and EFT. The reiki is so handy for me!
I think plants definitely add warmth to a room. Also sunlight. I always call our house “the corporate headquarters” because of the flooring. The tile, which alternates between bone colored and black colored, just looks so much like it should be in a corporation instead of a home, so I think flooring can affect mood as well. I can’t tell what yours is like but the overall effect looks very warm and peaceful. You have some nice touches around too like the sculptures that add warmth and interest. But mostly I would say sunlight and plants just make it feel so positive!
.-= rhapsodyinbooks´s last blog ..Black History Month: Review of “Stonewall Jackson’s Black Sunday School” by Rickey E. Pittman; Illustrated by Lynn Hosegood =-.
I’m lucky because I have a very green thumb. So plants play a large part in most rooms of our house – and in rooms where there’s little sunlight, I love fresh-cut greenery and flowers.
I must admit, I don’t envy you the tile flooring. We have wood or laminate flooring in almost every room except the old kitchen (now new sitting room), where we have dark green tiles (which I find quite cold). I’d love to get rid of them and have pine floors there instead!
On the floor of the new dojo we’re using mats. I’d prefer the laminate that’s underneath but to function as a dojo, the mats are necessary. Luckily they’re green and not brown!
What a beautiful room. I don’t really have any “peaceful” rooms in my house, more cozy.
Wow — I can sense the peacefulness right from the photo. We don’t have very many rooms, but each has a personality.
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