Create Your Sacred Space

In Phoenix / Paradise Valley, we have a wonderful, spiritual retreat. It consists of the sacral buildings; the church, chapels, dorms, but it also has a huge, enclosed, desert area. While walking the paths, day or night, you can come upon benches hidden in the trees, a labyrinth, gazebos, sculptures, and bunnies hopping here and there. Every time I’m coming here I find peace and comfort. Watching a full Moon, while surrounded by wilderness, magnifies this magical experience.

This space was designated for contemplation: the spirit of this place helps me to get in touch with a deeper dimension within.

 (update 2020: the place has been “cleaned up” and restored;  the charming swing and the herb garden were turned into a parking lot 🙁 so part of the charm is gone…) 

“We are multidimensional spiritual beings”  Dr. Robert Anthony

I feel deep gratitude for the presence of this dimension in my life, and I feel what a difference it makes on all levels, when I’m in touch with it.

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Even though it’s great to have places like this near, in my experience it’s important to create our

OWN PERSONAL SACRED SPACE.  For a DAILY practice.

And especially if you feel disconnected… if you feel depressed, if you feel you no longer know who you are… if you feel  heartache, forgot what’s joy…

This is a sign: your Soul craves Sacred Space.

Your Soul needs sacred silence. A ritual. A practice of returning to peace. 

Have you noticed how hard it is to find solitude these days? Disconnect from the noise? Be alone and have time to tune in?

It takes effort, setting priorities, self talk, being ok with other people being disappointed with us.

The elements of a personal sacred space.

I don’t think this will apply to every person. You need to TUNE IN and decide how do you want to spend the 10? 60? minutes daily to restore your self spiritually and emotionally. For me this is essential:

1. Something for the senses: a candle (or a set of electric candled that give warm light)
2. Essential oils or an incense. I use the essential oils diffuser that you plug in to a contact during the day and in the evening I use the stone diffuser where the oil is heated with a candle. When I use an incense I love when the air is thick with smoke. Not sure if it’s healthy so don’t take it as an advice…
3. Sound: I play mantras or meditative music. I may sit in silence and use my singing bowl.
4. The phone is in the airplane mode (a blessing!) PURPOSE? I want to create a sense of timelessness as if… no time exists. So I don’t have to think about TheNextThing. (There are always so many NextThings! ) I know this is hard. I rarely reach this state for a long time. But I know this is what restores me most. If it seems unattainable to you, that’s because you probably really need it…
5. If someone is at home I place a sign on the door. Flood, fire, blood – it’s  ok to disturb me, everything else can wait.  But i prefer when I am completely alone. This is what I loved about traveling alone… you are in a hotel room, nobody knows where you are… I know some of you dream about it! That’s how tired some are…
6. A tea – lots of it. Winter: ginger lemon. Linden, honey. Summer ice cold water.  Or chamomile. Autumn (or Heartache) – Hawthorne, rose. So comforting…
7. If you have a space for altar as I do – it’s good when there is something you love to look at and it gives you a sense of sacredness. It can be an orchid, or a frame with a meaningful picture.

What you do in the space is up to you…

I can simply meditate, contemplate and read one of my spiritual books,  like this. 

The most important is that you are alone: that you take a break from CONSTANTLY RESPONDING to others and to the devices. That you listen in, tune in to what wants to come up FROM WITHIN  YOU.  What happens within is very personal.

There is nothing specific that supposed to happen.

You are creating your own sacred space. Your own experience. The benefits and the nonaction required are not instagrammable or necessarily instantly gratifying. It’s a practice. Like brushing the teeth, taking a shower, eating good food. Only – for the Soul.

You could as well create such experience  in nature: camp alone, ride alone, hike alone – the meditative time in nature intensifies the experience (unless we are on the phone) I treasure the memory of my own solitary trips when this was the purpose (however I’d not say it was always safe… your call) But having your sacred space at home, when you are alone,  also means that you don’t need to control anything that comes up: anger, unprocessed grief, if you are in the beginning of your healing journey stuff may need to clear up, before you connect DEEPLY with your INNER PEACE. It’s there. 

Anyway, in addition to the benefits unique to you…

…here is how our Sacred Space can benefit us

• • it allows for spending time alone, which is essential for hearing our own voice, inner wisdom, our genius, or simply – for sanity
  • it lowers blood pressure, releases stress
  • it get’s us in touch with the dimension bigger than us
  • it creates a sense of  balance
  • it builds a reservoir of peace (meditation helps that too)
  • it allows to create a sense of timelessness and thru this a state of deep inner healing

How did you create your own sacred space? And what has changed since you did?