When I follow yoga videos the teachers often mention creating space in a part of the body. I’d like to know what is meant by space.
Please keep in mind I’ve only been doing this about a month.
Thank you and best wishes 
sort of :
creating a space in mind …
empty space …
Relaxed …
in The theta state …
with Nonmeasurable Sets of love .
When a teacher employs a term or instruction that is not clear or clarified it is best to ask that person what they mean. I would not be able to read the mind of the teacher in question.
It seemed to be a pose opening up space in a particular part of the body. I’ve heard in mentioned by several teachers. I thought it was a common term.
Great question as I hear this a lot.
Gordon’s answer is of course on point.
I heard Kathyrin Budig once extrapolate on her use of the term.
Make space for yourself
Make space for your breath
Make space for your practice
Then there is Bryan Kest who often speaks of making space in the spine by, lengthening and elongating it.
Then again I like the idea of making a sacred space as often as I can in my practice and on and off my mat.
Yes, making the space appears akin to making room for an idea to begin with that can eventually become a real part of the body amidst the seen and the unseen.
On a divergent note, in Yoga, space means a lot more. The ordinary sense of ‘space between 2 objects’ (space = void) or the ‘space program’ (space = infinite expanse beyond the skies) is not where Yoga rests.
Of the five basic elements of matter Akash is the subtlest and it is sometimes translated as Ether. In my view, the closest English word to Akash is Space, that is omnipotent, live and intelligent. Space in Yoga does not separate two objects, it connects them. Space is analogus to the nucleus in each atom. Vibrations emerge here in each atom that create the sound of AUM which can be heard in silence. It is from such space that fire, air, water and earth emrge (in that sequence).
Imagine you’re doing Trikonasana/Triangle…as you lean over to the side there is a tendency in beginners to let the area around the waist just to collapse in on itself whereas you should be trying to create space between the arm-pit and the hip, keeping it long…
Or imagine Paschimottanasana/Seated Forward fold: as you fold forward, don’t just let the front of the body sag but keep it lengthened between the pubic bone and the collar-bones. That’s what I understand to be ‘creating space’ in the body.
Perhaps there is a difference between ?making? space and ?allowing? space.
Talking about space, I have a great experience that I want to share…
I’ve always had problem balancing when I did half moon pose (Ardha Chandrasana), so i didn’t quite understand how one’s supposed to feel in that pose . Then one day my teacher showed the class to put one foot on the wall to help balancing, then using a block to lift up the other side of the body and fully expand the other leg and arm out. Wow, and all of a sudden I could feel the balance, and so much SPACE and FREEDOM in my whole body. It was almost a blissful moment!
I believe a lot of yoga poses that involve balance and expansion give you that amazing feeling. And once you experienced it, you’d know it’s possible to feel spacious and free - even in life’s stormy and difficult moments.
To me, it’s just magical.
[QUOTE=InnerAthlete;66363]When a teacher employs a term or instruction that is not clear or clarified it is best to ask that person what they mean. I would not be able to read the mind of the teacher in question.[/QUOTE]
Seriously? This is your response?
you know darn well what ‘creating space’ means, you’re a 500 hour certified Purna Yoga instructor and need need further clarification?
doesn’t say much for Purna Yoga.
and you know they can’t ask their $15/hour instructor b/c the OP is talking about videos.
and furthermore, don’t play the ‘there’s more to yoga than asana’ as you know the OP is talking about the physical postures.
your act is really old.
It is evident that “space” has more than one meaning in yoga!. But if you were getting instruction from a DVD, they more likely mean as you come into a pose, use proper alignment and lengthen to create space for movement. Or as Ray said, allow. While on the physical level this is true (so as not to compress) on a more spiritual level as Suhas said, space in yoga, means more. Much depends on your practice, whether purely asana (and that’s fine, if that’s what you want) or yoga.
I was just watching anything I could find and someone here pointed me to yogaglo. I like it. I like the meditation and the asana. I just want to familiarize myself with it some before I go to a class. Classes are hard for me too because I work 4pm till 4am. There is a 5:45am class at my gym but I am so tired if I try to wait up for it. There is another class about an hour away the has a 2pm Sunday class I could keep up with. Once I can do basic things I’ll go. I love it so much but I have trouble with basic things like childs pose with my arms pulled back behind me. I tend to land on my forehead. 
I’m 43 and I’ve fallen in love with what I’m doing. It’s just going to take me awhile to get up to speed.
I heard somewhere in something I read or watched, ’ all we have is where we are right now to start’. I’m starting! I know where I want to go but I imagine it will be a lifelong practice now 
Thanks to everyone who has been kind enough to help me.
Just in gentle response to the above critique…
I believe I’ve earned the right to reply as I see fit based on a variety of variables. If that is “old” or unsatisfying to some then it is, of course their right to not read my replies.
It is relatively apparent that the language used by yoga teachers (a group which has me as a member) is often flowery, delivered with a lillt, or has been passed along as jargon without much behind it. It is for this reason that we, as teachers of yoga, remain vigilant in refining and honing the art of using words to convey.
With that in mind I try not to assume why one teacher uses a term in any one particular instance. It is really quite inappropriate of me to assert what another human being means or intends with their words, let alone another yoga teacher whom I do not know nor have I studied with.
As for my reply relative to my training (I’m actually trained at the 2,000-hour level)… Reply is not always suited to someone else’s idea of teaching. In some cases I opt to reply in a manner that will stimulate thought on the part of the student rather then spell everything out. Other times, not so much.
Sometimes we, as students of yoga, need to have a thorough explanation and other times we need to contemplate a morsel which seems less than complete. For those with a different style…I respect that and hope for the same in return. I don’t really have an “act”. I’ve tried to reply earnestly and mindfully in each of my 2,900 replies.