My favorite place to meditate and practice yoga is outdoors, under the big blue sky and beneath the trees’ rustling leaves. I hardly can wait to stand in Mountain Pose and take in that first deep breath, feel the wind press against my face as I lean into it, my feet firmly planted on four points each, trying to find balance and connection with and from the naturally uneven ground beneath me, and relax. I am at home camping and travelling, and I have a deep affection for yoga and meditation: I am spiritually connected to them as they spiritually connect me. So it is utterly befitting that I find peace and joy just outside of our camper in the woods, wilderness and wood smoke, among tent campers and RVers, from below the underbellies of birds and sky and branches on this long distance journey of ours. Yoke and union through camping.

My ability to practice yoga and meditation has increased dramatically since we have ventured out on our U.S. roadtrip. I had hoped that would be true as we were approaching our goal of tiny living. It was my intention to reach a place of engaging in things that I love with the people I love more often, implementing quality over quantity after so many years of diverted attention and leaching energy. Within this approximately 208 feet of living space, plus an endless expanse on the outside, I can exist in ways that I could not in a large brick-and-mortar space and all of the responsibilities that come with it. With the turn of my head, or simply walking a foot or two, I can serve meals, give hugs and kisses, touch, check in with or speak to Scot or Luna, because I don’t have very far to go; I can find them, feel them, see them, exist with them more intimately.

I only occasionally have to clean our one small bathroom. Sweeping the floor is easy and rewarding, because there isn’t much of it, and most of what I sweep comes from our having been outside doing what brings us joy. Our dishes are few, as well as our assortment of clothes. Staying tidy is a quick task, leaving much more time to do other things, like hike, swim, practice yoga or meditate.

As a result, I now am reclaiming time for myself. I am rejuvenating, because a tiny space and tiny living require much less of me, and now I — we — have much more. I have practiced yoga and meditation more often and consistently since we have begun travelling, much more than I ever was able to do when we had lots more stuff, when we were still part of the regular world of things and doing. Finding peace and balance in a small space gifts to me the ability to maintain and sustain peace and balance through yoga and meditation, even if it’s just for a few minutes. It can be practiced daily, because the daily routine has shifted from doing to being. I do not have to wait for retirement to do what I really want to do. I can do it now through tiny living and travel.

We have noted in a previous post that offloading one’s abundance and entering the world of tiny living and fulltime travel is not for everyone, but I would like to emphasize that the kickbacks can be huge. What becomes possible is the experience of oneness with self, connection with nature and the world, intimacy at higher levels, and a pathway for the revelation of the soul. It continues to make clear one’s understanding of what is necessary and what is unnecessary, what can be and what does not have to happen, and that anything can happen. It is incredibly freeing, this being untethered.

Just sayin’.