In 2015, my partner and I made the decision to move to Tasmania and had started to look at properties. I had a clear vision - I wanted lots of trees, great views and a peaceful setting. When we drove into the property that would eventually become our home, I took one look at the enormous shed and thought "that would make a great yoga studio".
Whilst my partner and I tossed around ideas for turning the shed into part yoga studio, part workshop/man cave, we dithered and procrastinated for a few years. It wasn't until 2018 that we started to get more serious. However finding a builder in Hobart is not an easy exercise and the dream simply stayed in idea phase.
I have noticed in life that once you get clear on your dreams and goals and then serious about bringing them to life, that roadblocks start to fall away. For example, one Monday I had a recollection that my hairdresser's husband was a builder, and that I should call her the next day (as she wasn't open on Mondays) to get his number. That very same day, my hairdresser rang me! She needed to change my next appointment and her husband happened to be standing next to her, so we arranged a time for him to come and view the site and talk about the project. Thankfully, Mike was available due to another project falling through, and within 10 days he had started.
Our first step was tidying the shed - there was stuff scattered everywhere!
Based on the smell, we suspected that we had Tasmanian Devils living under the shed, and had the Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPIPWE) come and set up a camera. Sure enough, we discovered a Mum and 3 pups were using the shed as their nursery.
When we pulled out an internal wall, we found that they had not just made a den underneath the shed, but in fact inside the walls!
New internal walls were erected and plastered and we soon had the shape of the yoga studio. The roller door was replaced with a glass sliding door and bigger windows were installed to make the most of the view.
I figured that we could paint the studio ourselves. After the first few hours I realised that I had completely underestimated the scale of this job. For a few weeks, I spent every spare waking moment painting. I learnt some valuable lessons about accepting help, after being very humbled by offers of help from family, friends, students and neighbours.
In the meantime the family of devils relocated themselves to a shallow corner underneath the shed, and seemed completely undisturbed by the hammering, drilling, sawing, swearing and other noise around them. In fact, I was in the workshop one day and could clearly hear the devils snoring below my feet!
The main studio room was finished 24 hours before hosting a Day Retreat there, and the feedback has been terrific. We have now completed the bathroom spruce up (thankfully all just cosmetic) and the next step will be to repaint and tidy the commercial kitchen that was already there. And finally add a deck so that we can step outside for afternoon tea after yoga.
It was so fulfilling to see this vision materialise exactly as I had imagined it. It's a peaceful, calming, light and bright space. The ideas are already flowing - private lessons, wellness packages or custom day retreats for birthdays, hens afternoons or special occasions. If you would like to enquire, please get in touch via danielle@santosha.com.au. I look forward to welcoming you to the Yoga Shack soon.
