Where do you go for peace or solace? One of my common answers would be to go outdoors. However, I need to have a place in the house that is my place of calm and comfort. Call it an altar perhaps, but this is my place of Ahhhhhhhh.
Meditation is so individual. While I have taught meditation skills for many years, that experience has taught me clearly that what works for me may not work for you. It’s important to learn how to calm and comfort yourself. That is a inside job. People come to me for a meditation group and then leave thinking “well, that was nice.” But I don’t follow them home (thank goodness. 😉)
Once you’re home, what gives you that reminder to pause? That’s what this magic altar is for me. It reminds me to take a few moments and pause. I light the candle (which smells like my grandma, no less… yeah, that’s probably another story 😉) and I sit and settle in. I might pick up a stone, or a shell. I might burn a bit of sage. I might repeat a mantra to myself. Then I sit in silence, calming my mind until I can hear something besides that busy brain.
Does it work every time? Nope. After decades of practice, some nights I’m just tired and need to go to sleep. Sometimes I stop here first thing in the morning or mid-day when I’m feeling anxious. How your calming, centering, meditation practice works is so up to you. But it’s having a place that seems so important to me. Funny how it calls to me when I most need it.
Your space might be just a crystal and an inspiring book of quotes. Or a cup of tea in front of the patio window. Whatever you do, make it a place of things you love, things that calm you. Things to touch, things to smell, to hear, to imagine, to inspire. Make room for your quiet, your calm, your comfort… and it will come, in time, with practice.
have fun
❤️