Tag Archives: #sacred

A Sacred Space

You must have a room, or a certain hour of the day, or so where you do not know what is in the morning paper. A place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are, and what you might be. At first, you may find nothing’s happening, but if you have a sacred place and use it, something will happen.

Joseph Campbell

Over the past year I’ve taken my meditation practice more seriously and it’s possibly one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. The feature photo for this post is often used in my work with Zen Habits and from the first moment I laid eyes on it, I knew I wanted a part of my life to resemble that photo. It’s an accurate assessment to say, this photo planted a seed.

To make this photo a reality in my life, it was necessary to create space for it to arrive. I tried various areas in my home and even meditated outdoors when the weather cooperated, but couldn’t find THE right space until I looked toward the ultimate sacred space, which is my bedroom. It made sense to use a space already considered sacred, just on a smaller, more intimate scale.

It was important to see if I was serious about this practice before investing any money in it, or if it proved to be more difficult than imagined and wasn’t for me, so for a while I sat on a large floor pillow type cushion that I already owned. Within a few weeks, I truly enjoyed meditating and began seeing the well-being benefits of it such as, increased focus, clarity of mind and a prolonged feeling of calm. Taking time to meditate I began to see it spill over into my everyday which picked up a flow by offering serenity within the productivity.

I researched meditation cushions and even purchased a couple, but sent them back to the store. It’s so important for your bum to be comfortable, especially during prolonged periods of meditation. The cushion should feel supportive by keeping your back straight and your bum cradled. Crushed buckwheat hulls are recommended as the filler for adequate comfort and durability.

Mindful Zafu Cushion by Pure Chakra

The rug and floor pillar are by World Market and the 5′ floor pillar emanates a warm glow during overcast days. What’s used as a small, wood table is an old foot stool from a local Antique Shoppe. Palo Santo is lit to clear the air of this sacred space before meditating. The small dish you see is actually one of my pottery pieces from the class I took last year that you can read about here.

May the seeds in your heart lift and guide you into a sacred space.

Relax while I read this to you.

Feature Photo by Jared Rice on Unsplash

A Sacred Space Isn’t Only For Humans

I questioned my sanity for a moment, but what my heart prompted me to do, worked out beautifully. Our dogs don’t do well with thunderstorms, but one of them is even scared of rain. I found her curled up in my room and it was simply raining, but to her, it probably sounded like much more.

My room is the only room in the house that doesn’t smell like a Voluspa candle. It’s my sacred space and Winnie (doggo) knows it’s sacred. When she gets spooked, she hides in the bathroom, but when she needs comfort, I’ll find her in my room. She knows I’ll disassemble my meditation area just for her to lay on the rug, but today she was laying on the hardwood floor near the window. I picked up the box of incense cones and chose the one that carries a ‘mindfulness’ scent.

Jembrana Incense

Once I lit the incense and placed it in it’s holder, it dawned on me I’d just lit incense for a dog. 😂

My room is the only room that smells like incense since my daughter moved out. We had this little bedtime ritual where my daughter would light a stick of incense before going to bed. I would already be in my bed, but the smell of the incense would drift down to my room and I’d fall asleep peacefully. That feeling of sacredness works for dogs too. Walking by my room, Winnie was stretched out and looked relaxed even though large drops of rain pelleted the tin roof.

It seems being cradled in a sacred space isn’t only for humans.