How to Create Your Sanctuary of Calm at Home

2020 continues to challenge us in unimaginable ways, beyond the global pandemic, we’re also in the midst of a contentious election season in the U.S., global economic inequities, and an ever-changing climate due to environmental damage.

How do we create space for calm in a chaotic world? Well, we begin by building a personal sanctuary, an inner garden which sustains us in spite of life’s obstacles.

Mark Nepo, poet, thinker and speaker reminds us: “Everything in life opens and closes, sheds and renews. We are no different. Listening in its endless forms is the way we stay open, the way we stay in a relationship, the way we refresh who we are and what we're doing.”

Laura, our founder, recently shared what mindful tools and practices fill her home sanctuary with our Instagram community. And while it’s always beneficial to understand what helps others, it’s essential to cultivate your own healing practices.

Healing with Sound

Our founder, Laura, taps into the healing vibration of music.

Stay with us as we share suggestions for fostering a holistic sanctuary at home, and staying consistent with your wellness practices.

Begin with intention. Why do you want to create this sanctuary? What are you hoping to gain from this daily practice? Will you begin and end your day in the sanctuary, or jumpstart your day with this sacred time?

I suggest meditating first, whether in silence or with soft music. Sit with these questions. Feel the essence of the words in your consciousness, and then write from a space of expansive awareness, releasing all judgement and self-criticism.

Accept where you are in this moment, honoring what you need. Grounding ourselves by first setting an intention or intentions helps us remain committed to a holistic lifestyle.

Choosing what Goes Into Your Sanctuary: After setting your intention / intentions, it’s time to begin creating your home sanctuary by choosing mindful products and practices which nourish you fully.

Ask yourself how each piece filling your sanctuary comes into alignment with these intentions. We suggest focusing on tools for the body, mind, and spirit.

Care for you by mindfully sipping our teas. You can find blends for grounding energetically after a meal, reducing inflammation and nourishing the gut, dealing with cramps and bloating, releasing anxiety, increasing focus and more.

Also, choose from an array of our curated sanctuary boxes, which also contain offerings of love such as handcrafted candles by Spiritualista Boutique, affirmation cards, and Zen bowls by New York-based Ceramist, Jonathan Castro of Jonathan Castro Designs. This is a meditative practice; we welcome ease and flow and cultivate clarity and presence of mind which liberates.

Meditation. Stillness is a gift. Welcome this time through meditation, whether you enjoy silence or guided sessions from apps like Shine (created by women of color), InsightTimer or Headspace, allow this ritual to enrich your whole self, and walk into deeper self-love and awareness. Each breathe is miraculous, a love letter to the spirit.

Embrace the healing vibration of music. Music transcends barriers, and has the ability to help us connect on a higher vibrational level. Choose songs which pour beauty and gratitude into your soul. Artists like Beautiful Chorus (Be Here Now and Faith’s Hymn) India Arie (I am Light) are a balm for the soul. You can also create your own sanctuary playlist on Spotify, or your phone like the one I made uplifting gratitude for the Women Creatives Chat community at a recent workshop.

Reflecting on the Journey through Journaling. We are often overwhelmed with the frantic pace of modern life. Journaling is a way to reflect, not simply react to the circumstances around us. The act of writing our thoughts, desires, sorrows, and joy is deep and sacred communion with the self. You can start by picking up a notebook, pen and paper, and write what comes to mind, this technique is often called brain dumping because you’re releasing what’s on the mind without writing prompts.

If you prefer more structure, choose a journal which matches your intentions. One of my favorites is Spoken Black Girl’s Self Love & Healing Journal. While there are questions to help jumpstart your writing, there is also space for free-form journaling.

Read to Water the Soul. Maya Angelou once said “Words are things…They get on the walls. They get in your wallpaper. They get in your rugs, in your upholstery, and your clothes, and finally in to you.”

Often we begin our days ingesting words which may induce anxiety - from news headlines to streams of social media posts - all of it is energetic vibrational frequency.

Begin to shift your consciousness with words which both awaken and inspire you on this journey; the work of writers like Mark Nepo, whose daily devotional, Book of Awakening, call us to embody the lessons of life, and Lalah Delia’s book, Vibrate Higher Daily; Insight Timer teacher and creative Sarah Blondin urges us to listen to the heart with reverence in her first literary offering, Heart Minded-How to Hold Yourself and Others in Love.

Recognize the beauty and divinity present within your being.

Give yourself a lasting gift of spaciousness and peace within a home sanctuary. I leave you, beloveds, with my grounding mantra: “You are worthy of the life you imagine.”

Now make space for this belief in not only thought, but daily action. We love how our sis Hjordys Perez Matos is centering time for reflection and self-care. You can do it, too! Time is precious. Build your sanctuary.

Every Moment is Precious.

Embody presence.

Are you excited to create your sanctuary? What are you bringing to your sacred space? Share with us in the comments!