8 Tips to create a sacred space for your meditation practice

Every space is sacred when infused with love, kindness, and compassion. God, the Divine or Infinite Intelligence, is present in everything and everyone.

We are busy living life, and we forget that we enter a sacred space every time we slow down, stop and take a deep juicy breath.

When thinking about sacred space, most people visualize a place outside of themselves, and they are not wrong.

However, for me, a sacred space is something internal. A place I enter every time I begin my meditation practice in the morning.

When starting something new, most people begin with a shopping list. This is a manouvre to gain extra time before actually stepping in and taking the bull by the horns, so to speak.

To feel that you have given it your all, you can buy the most expensive yoga mat or cushion to sit on, fancy candles or incense, essential oils (orange for grounding and lavender for relaxing), and a few sparkling crystals around you that can increase your relaxation.

However, you don't have to.

For your everyday meditation practice, what you need is the followings:

1. Willingness to connect with your internal sacred space

Every morning I start my practice with 3 deep breaths, and after the last deep breath, I notice how my energy drops from my head into my heart space. Right away, I arrive in my sacred space.

2. Openness to be with what is

I'm going to be audacious here and say that we all go through suffering in one way or another. Everyone walks around with their personal dose of suffering. This happens mainly because we resist what is. Our persona or Ego is pushing away what is.

3. Patience to sense and feel reverence for your life and this moment

The monkey mind jumps around from one place to the other. There is a constant push-pull within us at all times. During a meditation practice, after slowing down the mind and thoughts, we can experience a sense of openness and spaciousness rising from within if we are patient, and in a moment of clarity, we become aware that we are neither early nor late. We are precisely where we need to be. This is the power of the internal sacred space.

4. Acceptance and love for yourself

Not all meditation practices are peaceful and relaxing. Painful feelings and emotions often resurface because space was opened up for them. In your internal sacred space, you are always loved and accepted by the most crucial person in your life: YOURSELF.

5. Compassion for yourself

We are humans, and inevitably we make mistakes. Going through life without errors is like not having the full life experience. Nonetheless, we carry a lot of guilt and shame because of our mistakes, and this is the moment when we need to extend compassion for ourselves.

6. Lightness for yourself

From the mind point of view, life is a serious business. The constant need for survival. What if, for once, you would drop the need for survival and embrace humour, lightness, and fun? How would you feel about it?

7. Intention to focus on during your practice.

Without an intention, the mind can quickly wander off. Setting an intention at the beginning of the practice gives the mind something to focus on. For your intention, you can choose one word only, like peace or love.

8. A friendly and comfortable place to sit

I usually meditate in my bed every morning as soon as I wake up. I use the toilet first and then come back straight into my bed, prop up my pillow, roll back my shoulders, release any tension in my neck, keep my back nice and straight, set the timer for 45 min, and dive into my sacred space.

Being super rigid about your practice only creates impediments and obstacles. Puts you off and makes you postpone your practice.

Keep things simple, and it will be much easier to follow through..