Creating Space For Meditation

Welcome. I'm Bex, and I'm just going to talk a little bit about creating a sacred space, a sacred meditation spot, and I'm going to be really clear. Your meditation spot could be your seat that is in your body wherever you go. I like a dedicated place in my home, and I like to have a team that surrounds me and supports me so that I know I have a sustainable ritual in my daily meditation practice. This is something I've been cultivating over years, and in the course of the time that I've spent meditating, I've noticed that having the right cushion for me at home makes a difference. Just to light on that, at home, in my bedroom, I have my mat out. I have a beautiful... I call it my zen shaggy. It's laid on top of it, and a zafu, a cushion, and a shawl, and it's right in front of an altar. You don't have to have any of those things. You could sit at the edge of a chair. You could lay down in your bed. It's just for me. It gives me a landing spot. I'm going to share with you some of my favorite tips and tools that support me. The first is that I like to light something. I like for my senses to be aroused when I'm sitting, and I like sage. It's known for clearing space before this practice, right? Before I do these practices, I light sage. It smells wonderful. I have it in my bag, believe it or not, I carry it in whatever bag I have, and palo santo. It comes from a tree stick. It just grounds me. You can think, ah, she's crazy. That's a little hooey-wooey, but that lighting, that sound of the match, all of that is part of my practice that gets me seated. Obviously, I don't do this when I'm on a plane. I don't like my match, but I'm bringing that into my seated practice. I have something that I light that lights that sense up, and then something that I touch. For me, it's my very, very special mala. These mala beads were made for me by a friend, my friend Sasha. They have specific crystals on them for manifesting and clearing and grounding. If you want to know more about malas, there are lots of japa meditations on yoga anytime, and you can check that out. I sometimes will just wear this, and it's a reminder for me, oh, did you sit today? Did you meditate? When I personally use it, I might use each bead for a word or a statement. That would be how I love my mala, and I do it. I wrap myself in a shawl. I have this one, and the other one is at home. It's by my seft sisters, and I wrap myself in it every time, and I feel like I'm a little bit cloaked in all of my good devas, all of my good mojo when I'm sitting. Even if I've had a really challenging meditation, I have this, and it's steeped and marinated in my sitting practice. I'll wrap myself, and I'll sit and close my eyes, and I integrate all of that. I might light a candle, and because I'm in front of my altars, I have some of my deities.

Then finally, I use mantra, and I really use that a lot. For me, there are three ways I use mantra. I use I am statements. I'm free. I'm here. I'm breathing. Or may I? May I be free? May I be here? May I be breathing? It really depends on the day. One of my favorites, personally, is may I heal. I don't specifically say an area of my body. May I heal? Or I work with a word I'll pick from my angel cards, because I like to have angel cards. What guidance do I need today? Oh, yeah, liberation. I'll just read in my mind over and over, repeat, liberation, liberation, liberation, or whatever word comes up, wisdom.

So, those are just my personal favorite things for cultivating a meditation spot, and in that spot is the invitation. I know I don't need anything to sit, just concentration and commitment, and yet at home, I create that space so that it's saying, come to me. Come to me, and then when I'm traveling, if I'm bringing my shawl or my mala or my scents, right? Some people like to put oil on their wrists, smell it, and then they go from there. So, I hope that's helpful for you in creating a sustainable ritual in meditation. I know for me meditation yields a huge benefit, and here's how I know. I'll leave you with this. When I don't meditate, one of my kids, maybe my husband, will say, did you sit today? Maybe go upstairs, sit, right? The quality of my clarity and my joy comes from being still and carving out that time. There's no text, there's no email, there's no outer conversation that's more important than the inward breathing and embracing the stillness. So, good luck. Namaste.