Creating the environment for sacred space
Whether you are looking for self-care, want to take your meditation, prayer, bath, or journaling to the next level, are holding ceremony, or are looking to bring more reverence into your life through regular spiritual practice, setting up the environment for yourself can be a gamechanger in your ability to ground, center, and connect.
What do I mean by “setting up the environment”? Simply, take the time to intentionally prepare your physical space so that your mental, emotional and spiritual self is supported and your time and space are amplified.
This can look like any or all of the following:
Clean the environment
Clean up your space. Put things away, organize, clear away clutter, dust, run the sweeper, anything to make the environment clean and clear from distraction.
Marie Kondo’s The Lifechanging Magic of Tidying Up was an international bestseller for a reason. Your environment plays a huge role in your mental state. When things are cluttered, dirty, or just messy overall, your mental body picks up on that and is affected by it. You know just how true this is, especially if you have kids! That’s the last thing we want when trying to find peace, clarity, insight, and spiritual connection in our practices.
Energetically cleanse (yourself and your space)
There are certainly times when it’s necessary to clear the energy in your physical space - after a negative interaction, illness, breakup, bad day, or any other general funk. But a clearing of the energetic environment before finding space and stillness, or to bring more flow or positive energy, works wonders too.
There are many ways to clear the energy in your home, office, or any environment. One of the most common is smudging, which has been used in many cultures but most notably in Native American traditions and refers to burning herbs to heal, clear a space, and in ceremony. Common plants and herbs include sage, cedar, palo santo, sweetgrass, yerba santa, rosemary, mugwort, juniper, resins, incenses, and sandalwood.
Smokeless options like Florida Water Spray or various smudge sprays that are infused with these herbs are also available.
Salt can be used similarly to cleanse your environment as well as yourself. Sprinkling salt around the perimeter of your home or dissolving salt in bowls of water around your home will help as well.
For yourself, daily salt baths or showers are particularly effective in cleansing any stuck or attached energies from yourself or others from the day.
Beautify your space
An alter is a great way to do this or you can simply bring in special, beautiful, or natural pieces that are significant to you or your background or culture. When we surround ourselves with beauty - whatever that means to us - it infuses beauty into our being and mental state.
This might include a beautiful shawl or cloth to put items on, bringing in fresh or dried flowers or plants, lighting a candle, burning incense or herbs, having prayer beads or crystals nearby, using essential oils on yourself or in a diffuser, playing a singing bowl or other ceremonial instrument, placing photographs, or images that are significant to you around.
Whatever you do, make it beautiful and meaningful to you.
Physical Movement
Nothing quiets the mind quite like a bit of physical movement or exercise ahead of time. Whether it’s a workout, going on a walk, doing yoga, or even a few stretches in advance, physical movement breaks up an overactive mind, repetitive thoughts, stuck energies, as well as any worries or concerns. None of which you want getting in the way of your sacred time.
Have a journal nearby
It’s a great idea to keep a journal nearby when you will be practicing self-care, meditation, prayer, stillness, or reflection. You will be able to capture any insights, moments of clarity, ideas, or truths that arise. You can also use your phone to capture thoughts as well.
Sent an intention
We know that form follows thought. “Energy flows where attention goes”, as they say. And so use the power of your thoughts to your advantage. I read recently that an intention is the end result you would like. Taking a moment to set an intention before whatever type of sacred space you are seeking will influence your experience for the better.
In practice
Ahead of my ceremony held on the Summer Solstice, I recorded a timelapse version of me setting sacred space, in this instance outdoors.
It looks a bit wild happening so quickly but this video demonstrates what a simple approach for preparing your space might look like. Ultimately the goal of all of this is to help you enter into presence and reverence with ease. Link to time-lapse video.
The opening photo shows a different environment that I created for a ceremony I was partaking in. The point is, there is no right or wrong way it should look.
Experiment, have fun, make it your own.
