We all want to feel peaceful and relaxed at home and turn it into our sanctuary.
Most of us are practicing some form of spiritual or religious ritual at home from time to time or daily, but very few of us have a sacred space in our homes for meditating, reading religious texts or spiritual books, prayer, or burning incense.
The first time I visited India, I was surprised to see a sacred space in every home I went to. This space was reserved for burning incense, lighting candles, prayer and meditation, mala beads meditation, chanting the mantras… In bigger homes there was even a separate room devoted to spiritual practice.
As I was practicing my mala beads meditation each day in this sacred space in my Indian home, I noticed how peaceful and focused I was all the time. There were no distractions, I could sit with my back straight, burn the incense, meditate and pray for longer periods of time. And the soothing scent of incense was filling the entire home, making the environment so calming. After my prayer, the whole home felt cleansed.
This helped me to create a routine of doing my spiritual practice regularly, and to stay focused during meditation and prayer. I loved the concept of having a sacred space in my home. It got me thinking about how many of us are holding the Bible or other holy book “just like that” in some rack, drawer or among other books. Not to mention thinking where to sit to meditate, where to burn incense, and praying anywhere (like on the bed).
If you want to create your own sacred space in your home, here are some simple steps you can follow:
Take a look at your home and find a corner in any room where there’s the least chance you’ll get disturbed.
Once you find “the spot” where you will create the sacred space, set up a small table or rack or any “lifted” area with an empty surface where you can place the “sacred,” spiritual, religious items you wish to keep there.
Clean the space, and if you wish you can put a beautiful cloth over it.
Now, think about the objects you want to place in your sacred space area. Depending on your religious and spiritual beliefs it can be anything that represents sacred, holy, divine, bliss, or spirituality to you. Select all the items for your sacred space, like holy icons, holy texts and books, spiritual books, pictures depicting the Divine, crosses, Buddha statues, mala beads, prayer books, candles, incense, sage for cleansing the home, crystals, or anything else you desire… Remember, the most important thing is that it represents the Divine and Sacred to you!
Once you have selected all the items for your sacred space, be creative and place them in the order you wish. You can even add some flowers or scented candles or lamps to make it even more beautiful. If you enjoy reading Holy texts or any other books related to awakening the spirit, diving deep into your essence, spirituality, etc… you can place them there also.
Once your sacred space is ready, place a meditation pillow or a comfortable stool in the space so you can sit while reading or meditating. You can make it as cozy and chill as you like. It’s important that you feel comfortable, so that you can sit for longer periods of time.
Set a daily routine of meditation or prayer or reading in your sacred space. It’s much easier to stick to your spiritual practice if you have a time planned for it and make it a routine. If you have enough space you can even practice yoga in the same room, if you wish to. You can use this space for journaling as well. You can make your meditation, yoga, prayer, or reading practice even more peaceful and soul fulfilling if you play some relaxing music in the background.
