Finding Sacred Space In Every Moment

 

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Full episode transcript below

 

Many of us are really beginning to understand the power of our thoughts. More specifically, we are becoming more aware of our subconscious. These are patterns that were ingrained in you as a young child, or even in previous lifetimes. These are the thoughts and beliefs that you carry with you into adulthood. They dictate your actions and your belief patterns. 

Then there are conscious behaviors where you are thoughtful about your approach to something such as, I'm going to do it this way, because, dot-dot-dot. You know,  you're consciously taking action versus why does this keep happening? That's a subconscious block that's preventing you from reaching whatever it is you're trying to accomplish. 

And like I mentioned, people are realizing that you can change those subconscious beliefs and when you do so, things in your life change. We can initiate this through energy work, bodywork, cultivating your intuition, or engaging in a more spiritual practice. The point is that this goes beyond just positive thinking. Right? And even though that helps, it requires deep self exploration and uncovering in order to heal and transform some of those subconscious or unconscious beliefs. And I can attest to that because that's where I've really been over the last several years; I'd say probably the last decade. 

And during that time is when I started practicing Feng Shui. You begin to learn that your life and your environment is a direct reflection of what's playing out in your mind on an unconscious level. So just like you can begin to alter the conditions of your life by uncovering those subconscious beliefs, you can also accomplish this when you implement changes to your living space. 

At its core, that's really what Feng Shui is. So, when a client comes to me for a consultation, regardless if it's design or Feng Shui, I'm always looking beyond aesthetics. I mean, aesthetics are certainly a part of it, but what is aesthetically pleasing to one person is very different to another because they have a different perception or belief that we're working with. 

So I get to work with people in ways that are so very deeply personal and therefore the transformation is so deep. And, that really makes for a lot more purpose in what I do and how I'm serving. 

And that's what I want to talk about today. We're going to talk about creating sacred space.  A lot of people view sacred spaces as being religious buildings, churches, and synagogues. But also monuments, cemeteries, even parks and nature in general. And those are all certainly spaces that are considered sacred, but sacred space can be anywhere, anytime. And we're going to talk specifically about creating that environment for yourself in your home. 

So to create a sacred space is to simply just claim that it is so. 

The definition of sacred is "made, declared or believed to be holy". So to create sacred space in your home is to declare your home as sacred. You devote your love and appreciation to it, right?  People go to church because they are devoted. They get uplifted from it. They love it. They appreciate it. The environment, the energy that the space creates. The way it makes them feel. That's what keeps them going. And you can create that in your home. So just by claiming your home is sacred, you've started the process. I think understanding this alone is going to shift things immediately for you. It's going to shift the way you think about your home, the way you clean your home, the way you respect your home, your expectations of others living in the home, or visiting your home. 

So, how do we start to shift our perception of our home? Well, you start to treat it as you would treat your own body or your own mind. If you meditate or practice mindfulness in any way, you're showing devotion to that practice. If you work out, maybe you practice yoga or maybe you're even a dancer, you're showing love and appreciation and devotion to your body.

And so you can do this in your home as well, and you do it by treating it respectfully, Things aren't just thrown about. We assign a space for our things and we do our best to keep things in order.  

But let's start maybe with the mind body home connection that I reference a lot. Things that you see with your physical eyes is your perception. And the way I see something, is going to be very different from the way you see something, or the way someone else sees something. Whether that's a physical object, an idea, an opinion, whatever it may be. 

And that's great. That's what makes us all individual and unique human beings. How an object looks to us, appears to us. Does that object carry some sort of energy behind it? 

So being aware of your perception of any physical object or objects is one step in the direction of ensuring we are creating sacred space in our environment. 

What I mean is we should only be keeping things or objects in our spaces that bring a sense of joy, gratitude, remembrance, peace. Things that carry bad memories, uncomfortable emotions, objects we just don't truly love should be removed immediately. You can go room by room and pick up items that are a hard, no. Like, I never liked this, or I just keep moving this thing all around the house; I don't know what to do with it. Those  are clues that you can probably let things go.

Now that we've removed the things that we don't necessarily feel attracted to. We create the space for the room and yourself to breathe a little bit more. You may not realize it, but objects in your home, whether they're photographs, pieces of art, a broken lamp, books that you never read. Anything that you don't love or appreciate is playing around in your subconscious. And so when we remove them from your space, you're removing them from your subconscious mind, whether it's a pattern or feeling or belief. It's gone. 

And once you've made some adjustments and removed the items you no longer want, you might end up with some things that you're on the fence about. You know, you might have a pile of maybes; that's totally okay. I don't want you to run through your home with a giant trash bag on a mission to purge everything. Just be really soft in your approach. Maybe move these "maybe" objects to another area of the home.  Be mindful where you're placing it, however. You might have a certain attachment to something emotionally that you could be aware of or not. And that's also common. If you like it, maybe it holds a certain memory of someone, or a time in your life. I don't know, a picture of you skydiving comes to mind, you know, that doesn't belong on your bedroom, nightstand. Okay. You want to create a more peaceful, quiet energy in your bedroom when you're trying to rest. So maybe a better location for a photograph like that is going to be in a guest bedroom or a game room or family room where it's a good conversation starter. I don't know why that example came to mind, but that's what I mean by start being mindful of where you're placing items and don't place them in places that don't make any sense. And once you start having this awareness, you might start to pick up on the energy of your objects a bit. You'll start to look at something and you don't know why it bothers you, but you know you still want to hang on to it. So maybe it's just a sign that it just needs to move somewhere else. You know it's just not in a good place. 

And then, once we've removed some items, it's now time to be really mindful about what we bring into the home. So when we're out shopping, we are pausing, we're asking, "do I really need this"? "Does this serve a purpose in my home"? You know, the home decor industry is a billion dollar industry. There's a lot of stuff out there. A lot of it's really cute.  But we have to become more mindful when we're out shopping and not just having reactions to purchases. That's what's going to enable us to keep our spaces from becoming cluttered and filled with things that we don't truly love anyway. 

So we've cleared the space. We have intentionally rearranged and now we're becoming more conscious consumers. 

So let's move into a few other examples of creating a sacred space. I think a lot of times meditation space comes to mind for creating sacred space for obvious reasons. It's a place where you're connecting with your spirit, your inner wisdom, God, the Universe, whatever word you choose. You're devoting time and energy to something higher than yourself. And so that is certainly sacred. I do recommend creating that. If you have an entire room, you can dedicate it, that's great, but it's certainly not necessary. You don't even have to call it a meditation space. It could be simply sitting in your favorite chair by the fireplace. It could be the edge of your bed or standing at a window and looking outside for a few minutes. Anywhere you can just take a pause for a few minutes and be present and connect. 

We all create these moments without even realizing it. I can remember my father, he would always stand in the backyard and he would just kind of stare in the distance. Our backyard was all woods and he would just stand there and stare. And he doesn't practice spirituality or he doesn't meditate in the same way I do, but that's his practice, right? So it looks different for everyone. And I think just being a little more aware of what that act of presence is for you will help you engage with it a little bit more.  

Other ways to invite sacred space include your favorite room in your house. Mine is my living room. Specifically, in the summertime, I love the way the afternoon sunlight shines through our living room windows. It's around four o'clock. And when I remember, I make sure I go in there and I sit and I appreciate the moment because I live in a colder climate. And so, I don't get to experience this moment all year round. And especially being in Pittsburgh, we have more cloudy days than sunny. So again, it's sacred to me because I don't get to experience it all the time.

Crafting my morning latte is really sacred to me. My espresso machine, even though I bought it for my husband for father's day, it's kind of become mine. Um, it brings me so much joy. I love making my lattes. I craft one every single day.  I don't know how to do the little foam art, but every once in a while, it just pours in a way that it gives me a little heart or a little kiss, or there's a little object in there. And I feel like they're little notes from the Universe for taking the moment to be so appreciative for my latte. And that's what I mean, that's sacred.  

Another area of my home, and we're experiencing this right now because at the time of this recording, it is February, so it's snowing. And, the way the snow kind of settles on the tree tops. I'm at the bottom of a hill in my neighborhood, so when I look out my back window, I see all of the neighbors kind of above me on the hill, and all I see is their beautiful tree tops. We have really old pin oaks in this neighborhood, and so fresh fallen snow on the trees, that moment is really sacred for me as well.  

So as you hear me talk about this, I hope you're starting to think about how you can go about your day, and what you find to be sacred.  And what's important to remember is that when you are experiencing and appreciating that moment, you're creating an energetic pattern in your home of love and appreciation and an overall vibration of just feeling good. And that's what we're striving for. So that's what I mean about creating sacred space. It isn't creating a meditation space and sitting at your altar and meditating an hour or two hours a day.  That's not what I mean by creating sacred space. It's about creating an energetic pattern of appreciation throughout your home in everyday moments. 

We also talk a lot about balance on this podcast. And so a reminder here that balance can live within, it can live within yourself, and it can live within your home. And the point I'm trying to convey is that don't try to control. I hear things all the time from families and couples like, I try to keep the house clean, but the kids make it impossible. Or, I want to be more orderly, but he or she just doesn't want to change. Devote to your own practice of maintaining a respectful, peaceful home. 

That will play out in your environment eventually, but it might take some time. So just have some awareness that you can't control everything. Words and arguments don't teach. Only action does. So if you can maintain a sense of balance for yourself, it will start to imprint on not only your environment, but those you live with as well. 

And trust me, this is a message for me, just as much as it is for you. I live with two kids under 10, so keeping things the way I like it can be a challenge for sure. 

So I challenge you to take a little assessment through your home. When you have some time this week, maybe when you have just a little bit of alone time, walk through your home and just pay attention. Pay attention to what your eyes land on what the immediate response or reaction is to certain things. Your intuition is going to guide you. And there may even be some things you have out that your response to them may surprise you a bit. The whole point here is to begin to shift the energetic patterns of your space, which in turn begins to shift the subconscious patterns in your mind. And once we make that shift, we really create  sacred space for ourselves.

Feel free to reach out to me and let me know what comes up. You can always reach out to me personally at jsd@jadescottdesign.com

Are you interested in a Feng Shui consultation? The beginning of the year is the perfect time to set up your home energetically so that it supports your goals and aspirations that you've set for yourself. 

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