Whether you have an entire house to yourself, a whole room, or just a small corner to call your own, you can add a little sacredness into any space using the four easy steps I’ve outlined below.
In a world where numbness, stress, and disconnection are deemed “normal”, we need a place to remind us that there’s another way of being. That’s where sacred space comes in.
When you create your own sacred space…
• You make a cerebral and emotional connection to create a robust habit of self care so that it becomes fun, easy, and accessible – rather than just another chore on our never ending to-do list.
• You have a daily reminder that holds you accountable in prioritizing yourself.
• You have an energetic centre with potent power for deep inner-work and reflection to honour yourself, your ancestors and the Earth.
• Your path to awakening, healing, and claiming the power of your womb, your femininity and the Earth makes itself clear.
Let me be clear – creating your sacred space doesn’t have to be some elaborate, expensive, lengthy commitment. It can be easy, uncomplicated, and still be SO effective.
STEP ONE: CREATE AN ALTAR
An altar is a special place in your home, room, or office that connects us to nature, our ancestors, and all that is sacred around us.
It’s a place we come to again and again to meditate, breathe, and connect with all that is. Every time you see your altar, it’s a reminder of your commitment to your practice and the path of self-discovery. Gathering meaningful items in itself is a powerful experience.
STEP TWO:Create a Sacred playlist
Music can reduce anxiety, blood, pressure, and pain while improving sleep quality, mood, mental alertness, and memory.
According to the ancientVedas, the five senses of touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing filter information from our external environment and store them in our manas, known as our sensory memory. So essentially – you become the energy, vibration, and information that your senses take in. The information processed by your senses is used to create the foundation of your thoughts, internal dialogue, and mind.
No wonder it’s so hard to thrive and feel good in a toxic environment – when our senses are inundated with negativity, our manas store the negative energy, and eventually our mind is filled with negative thoughts.
That means the music you listen to has the ability to seriously impact your mental health and overall wellbeing.
So when choosing music to set the tone of your day or ease you into a blissful state of mind, consider the following…
• Music that has positive emotional memories for you (like music you listened to during holidays or happy times in childhood) may be especially powerful.
• Choose songs that have positive lyrics and affirming messages – remember, you become what you listen to!
To keep you groovin’ and movin’ in the right direction today, I’ve made this playlist full of some of my favourite songs you can play while creating your altar, setting up your sacred space,
or moving your beautiful body.
Check out my sacred playlist for inspiration. I have put together a selection of tracks that…..
STEP THREE:
LET YOURSELF BE COMFORTABLE
One of the biggest ways we create stress and tension in our bodies while trying to meditate, practice yoga, or dance is by trying to be perfect!
BUT NOT HERE.
As the poet Mary Oliver says, “You do not have to be good… You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.”
And when speaking about the practice of ritual, that means giving yourself permission to be seriously comfortable by using the support of blankets, bolsters, and props.
If your’e comfortable sitting cross legged on the floor without any support, especially for more than 5 -10 minutes.
When the body is in pain, the mind is distracted.
Know that you never have to meditate, ignore, or push through sensations of pain. Listening to the pain and shifting your position accordingly helps restore trust between you and your body.
So next time you sit down with the intention to connect with yourself, consider these tips to make yourself comfy…
• If you’re sitting crossed legged, place a small blanket underneath your shins and ankles so the bones are cushioned and can relax into the floor
• A firm pillow, bolster, or yoga block underneath the sitz bones of the pelvis untucks the pelvis, increases blood flow to the pelvic organs, and lengthens the low back
• Loose fitting clothes made from breathable fabrics like cotton allow for detoxification through the skin and full, deep, relaxing breaths
• Avoid holding and tensing in the low belly and restricting the breath by switching out those super tight button-up jeans for pants with an elastic waistband.
When we have good posture, it does THIS to our bodies (aka this is why you should care):
• Encourages deeper breath
• Potential for nervous system regulation (due to deeper, fuller breaths)
• Delivers fresh oxygen to our brain, tissues, and organs (again, thanks
to deeper breathing)
• Increases blood flow to pelvic organs, encouraging womb healing
• Decreases stress hormones
• Encourages hormone balance which in turn, supports a healthy menstrual cycle
• Makes us feel better; more in our bodies, more aligned with gravity
Simple changes in our posture can make a BIG difference in the way we experience life. Just listen to one student’s experience of using support under her pelvis…
Having a beautiful, shining altar is wonderful. Feeling uplifted and inspired by music is incredible. Cultivating a space that is fully yours at home can be life changing.
STEP FOUR:
Tend to our sacred Body
As we spend all this time tending to our external environment, many of us forget that the TRUE sacred space we’re looking for is inside.
As the Buddhist Saint Sahara once said, “Within my body are all the sacred places of the world… I have not encountered another temple as blissful as my own body.”
Many of us spend our entire lives traveling the world, scrolling Google, and devouring books in search of answers.
And yet when we have the courage to feel an emotion, take a deep breath, and bring our awareness to a sensation, our journey starts to unravel faster than we ever thought possible – right before our eyes.
You don’t need a blueprint of someone else’s journey to success.
Rather, you need the tools to safely, comfortably, and fully be in your body. That’s what embodiment means – being in your body.
When you’re embodied, you don’t need someone else to show you the way. Based on the information you’ve gathered from your body, you already know.
When I understood this, my life seriously changed. Not only did I lose 30 pounds without changing anything in my diet, I also noticed my quality of life improved drastically.
All of a sudden, my body didn’t feel like a cage. I didn’t feel like a stranger in a foreign land. I felt confident, present, and able to meet challenges in life as they flowed to me.
And I’m not the only one to experience these benefits… Body-based awareness can improve social relationships, sleep, memory, and digestive ability while healing trauma, anxiety, and depression.
We put so much pressure on ourselves to heal, but just being in our bodies without distraction is healing.
Rather than projecting yourself out of your body or imaging yourself in a “happy place”, body-based awareness invites you to find presence through bringing your awareness to what’s happening inside.
So next time you sit down at your
altar, integrate these trauma-informed embodiment tips to help you go inside:
• Know that opening or closing your eyes is always an option – if feels too overwhelming
to have the eyes closed, keep them open and instead focus on drawing your attention inside of your body
• Notice your five senses….
SIGHT – if the eyes are open, what do they see? If they’re closed, how does the deprivation of external shapes, colors, and objects feel?
SMELL – observe the entrance of your nostrils, both left and right. Does one feel more open than the other? What is the temperature of the air moving in and out?
TASTE – notice the shape of your jaw, the space between your teeth, and finally, the current state of your tongue. How does the tongue feel? Is the tongue wet or dry?
TOUCH – take note of the ground beneath you, the clothes touching your skin, and everything that connects with your body from the outside. Can you notice now, the touch coming from inside? The gentle caress of your lungs filling and pressing against your ribs? The pulse of your heart?
HEARING – listen to the sounds outside of the room you’re in; the wind blowing outside of your home, the bird chirping, the horns honking. Then notice the sounds inside of the room you’re in, finally – drawing your attention to the subtle sounds inside of
your own body. Notice the gentle saaa of the breath, the movement of liquid in your stomach, and the silence behind it all.
As modern people, we are more walled-off from sensation and disconnected from our innate body-based wisdom more than ever before.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
We go back to those old patterns, habits, and relationships that we know deep down don’t serve us.
These four simple tools I’ve outlined for you can seriously change your life, you just have to commit to using them as frequently as you can, preferably everyday.
Trust me, I know showing up for yourself like this is easier said than done…
When we walk this path alone, it can feel like we’re constantly swimming upstream…
Sooner or later, we get discouraged and distracted, and eventually stop…
But not for you anymore, my love.
