Meditation is one of the eight limbs of our yoga practice. For a lot of people, meditation is intimidating. We must sit still, quiet the mind, and breathe; and repeat. That’s challenging stuff. Even more challenging is trying to meditate in a room, in an environment, or a space that is not filled with some kind of warmth, love, and positive energy that we can easily connect to. You know what it feels like when you walk into a house that feels “warm”? That’s what you want your sacred space or the place you will sit and meditate or pray to feel like. Inanimate and animate objects carry all different kinds of energy and we want to fill our sacred space with inanimate objects that carry the energies of love, warmth, and connection. Think of your sacred space as your soul space. You will go to your sacred space to feed your soul.
It doesn’t take a lot of money, energy or time to create your sacred space. The most important thing here is to not let your resistance get the best of you and just do it. When you create your sacred space you must be completely present because the energy you have when you create your space will go into the space itself. This is a fun and creative endeavor. Below are some suggestions to get you started, but remember this is your sacred space and most importantly fill it with things that connect with you in a positive and enlightening way.
Preparing to make the sacred space:
- Find a place where no one can disturb you – away from electronics, phones, TVs, and kids (use a spot in the closet if you need to!).
- Purchase a mat or meditation cushion to sit on. You don’t have to go buy an expensive meditation cushion. As a temporary measure you can use your yoga mat, but eventually you will want to invest in a mat or rug for your sacred space. This piece is vitally important. Just like when we roll out our yoga mat and create our sacred space on the mat to practice yoga, the mat/rug/cushion we choose for our sacred space also carries important symbolism. It’s a place where you sit and start clean and fresh each time you sit, breath, and meditate or pray. It’s a place to let go and start anew. The mat we sit on represents our journey to enlightenment, a higher level of consciousness and awareness, and our connection to the divine. Each time we devote time to our meditation practice and connect to our higher Self, we open energy channels and spaces within to receive divine guidance, and as a result our mat and sacred space will be imbibed with this energy.
- Place inanimate objects around your sacred space that have meaning to you, that you can connect with in a positive way, and that inspire you to be your highest Self. Here are some examples that I use personally: dried flowers, fresh bamboo, rocks and stones, pictures, paintings, crosses, Buddhas, mala beads, driftwood, incense, etc. The best place to find some things for your space is outside. My son and I love to find rocks, driftwood and shells. My space is filled with the energy of that moment of love and connection with my son.
- Have a prayer shawl handy, not only for energy purposes, but to keep warm if there is a draft.
- Place a couple of books that offer food for thought in condensed form. It could be a book of inspirational quotes, the Yoga Sutras, the Bible, or another sacred text that you connect with.
- Always treat the space as sacred. Enforce boundaries in your space.
Here is an example of my sacred space:
When you prepare your sacred space you are already setting your mindset into a level of awareness that is taking you a few notches up the consciousness journey. Your sacred space is an evolving process, you may find some things work for you and some things don’t. Keep your receptors open to divine guidance to know what to add or take away. What does that mean? You know when guidance is working through you, you just know it and so many times we “kill” it because we allow the ego to rule instead of our essence. You ever talk your way out of something that really felt right, but regret it? Yep, that’s your ego “killing” your divine guidance. You will nip that sapsucker in the bud a lot in your sacred space.
So once your creativity starts budding and you start building your soul space, go sit in your sacred space and bask in the amazing energy that you created and will create in that space. Each time you approach the space your mind already starts winding down in slower motion mode because you have set up the space to encourage the release and expression of certain chemicals and energies in your body that signal it’s time to slow down, to breathe, and to meditate or pray.
The art of making your sacred space is more about the intention and quality of awareness you put into it, than the actual objects you use for the space. And now the real works begins, sitting in our soul space and nourishing ourselves by committing to the time every day to set our intention and meditate/pray.
I will do a follow-up piece next week on Intention and Meditation in our daily lives, so stayed wired in.
Om Shanti Om ~ Athea
