Creating a Sacred Space

Creating a Sacred Space

The importance of creating a sacred space for mindfulness practices.

To carry out any activity we create a conducive space where all essential articles, objects or the required furniture, and equipment and tools are made available and the space is ensured that it is not cluttered and there is a free and appropriate flow of all the required five elements of nature - ether, air, fire/light, water/humidity and earth.

For example for cooking we need a kitchen where, water taps for washing, cleaning are available. stove, oven, food processor, cutlery, tumblers, utensils and other objects are available and are kept handy. Otherwise we get stressed out while cooking and might as well spoil the food. 

To sleep well we design our bedroom with comfortable bed, mattress and set the bedroom at right temperature.

Similarly we need to design a space that is quite conducive - which enables and enhances our formal mindfulness or meditative practices. As the practice involves with mind the space should be free from any unwanted objects and kept as much empty as possible. The space can also be made in such a way where we might keep objects of inspiration, may be a small statue, photographs of a Guru or an awakened/enlightened soul, a lamp or a candle, some very soft incense and may be some flowers. Dimensionally speaking about it, it can be anywhere from a minimum of 4ft x 4ft to any measurement on the higher side.

A good chair or cushion and props for sitting still for a longer duration of time would enable our practices and enhance them.

We use mainly three tools for our mindfulness practices apart from the cushions.

First one is the mind, second one is our body and third one is the breath that flows through our body.

Our bodies create certain memory based upon its environment - the objects, the floor and the surroundings it comes in contact with. Considering this aspect, we also need to have a dedicated space, personalized cushions, seating arrangements and mostly empty space in the area that we use for our practices.

When we enter this sacred space for meditation or mindfulness practices, it is very important that we set our intentions for how long we practice and ensure that we let go all thoughts, etc., for such a duration. In Sanskrit this is called as sankalpa सङ्कल्प. When we have the sacred space, the setting of intention becomes easy and over a period of time it also becomes a habit as it gets registered deep in the psyche and we automatically try to focus more on the practice rather than on something else.

It is very important that we anchor our mind onto our breath during mindfulness practices for it is very challenging to still the wandering mind. A sacred space also makes it easy for stilling the mind. One can use different breathing techniques initially to anchor the mind and then follow the natural flow of breath and probably go beyond breath.

Try making your own sacred space and reap the benefits that it adds to your mindfulness or meditation practices.