Tag Archives: meditation

How to Create an Altar or Sacred Space

Ultimately, the whole world is one’s altar. One’s sacred space is a place within, that we can tune into at any time to feel connected to our own True Self. However, there is something so nurturing and simply sacred about having a physical altar that we can turn to for daily inspiration and energy.

So here are some guidelines and inspiration to get you started on creating your own individual altar and sacred space!

WHAT IS AN ALTAR

Altars are sacred, defined spaces used in wisdom traditions, world religions and in the personal homes of spiritual seekers of all backgrounds from around the world.

An altar is a space that one may go to daily to recharge with positivity, gain inspiration for living a spirited life. One’s altar acts as a mirror and outer manifestation of our own Divine inner world to help us stay connected with our own Highest Self and the Absolute Oneness that connects us all.

Altars are sacred spaces often devoted to spiritual practices such as yoga, meditation, reflection, prayer, chanting, introspection, ritual, worship, or enjoyed simply as a space of sheer beauty, embodying the peace and calm one may seek.

Personal altars may range from being very simple or quite elaborate, and are created with items and elements of personal inspiration based on ones own individual path or lineage, preferences and reminders of Divinity.

WHY YOU SHOULD HAVE AN ALTAR

Creating sacred space for yourself is a sure way to nourish your soul! Creating a peaceful, calm, nurturing external environment, naturally our inner world begins to make this shift also.

An altar space is a safe, inspiring, nourishing space we can go to daily for inspiration, peace, to connect with our own innate wisdom and indulge in introspection.

In time, we begin to build a relationship with our altar. As we sit before the altar in spiritual practices (sadhana,) we begin to charge our altar with positive and healing energy. In turn, the altar items build and contain that energy and reflect it back to us as we practice within its proximity.

In this way, the altar is a constant reflection of our practices, love and devotion towards living a spirited life, and we are benefited greatly from this exchange.

INSPIRATION FOR HOW TO CREATE AN ALTAR

The possibilities for your altar creation are endless— use your intuition and listen to your heart when desiring your own unique sacred space!

You can set up your altar anywhere, but ideally you might choose the most comfortable, quiet and peaceful area of your home— and preferably a space where you could close the door and not be disturbed.

The foundation of your altar can be anything from a small table, platform, plate or tray, piece of fabric or dharba mat on the floor or a shelf you have.

To adorn your altar, based on your own beliefs, traditions, inspiration and intentions, choose objects, images or substances that personally connect you to your own True Self and remind you of Divinity.

Here are some examples:

+ Images of your Beloveds— your teachers, people of inspiration, saints, deities/archetypes, your family, partner etc.
+ Idols (murthis) of your own personal form of God (Ishta Devata)— Jesus Christ, Krishna, Shiva, Buddha, Allah, Saraswati, Angels, totem animals etc.
+ Items of inspiration that you feel connected to such as a seashell or feather you brought back from a life-changing adventure, beautiful art, tarot cards, books etc.
+ Delight your senses with textures, sights, smells, sounds. For example, in your space you can have cozy pillows, blankets or fabrics you love or mala beads for touch, the smell of your favorite aromatherapy oils diffusing, nourishing sounds of nature or soothing music to bring you into harmony, and plants, beautiful things or art that feed your eyes!
+ Include colors that invoke positive feelings within you and help you to feel precisely how you want to feel in that space.
+ Words of wisdom. You may write down and include a personal prayer, intention, affirmation, favorite inspirational quote, gratitude list or favorite mantra.
+ Invite the 5 elements. For example, you may wish to include:

Water = fresh or holy water contained in a vessel, or a small water fountain
Earth = plants, flowers, gemstones, crystals, mala beads
Fire = candles, ghee/oil lamps
Air = burning incense, sage, palo santo
Ether/Space = burn camphor, the invisible scent of flowers, chant Om, singing bowl

BONUS ALTAR CREATION TIPS

+ Try to set up your altar in a way that allows you to sit facing East or North for spiritual practices— the most auspicious directions.

+ When possible, choose metals or combined metals like gold, silver, copper or brass for idols (murthis,) as they hold a charge more than substances like wood or stone.

+ Turn your personal space into a sanctuary by clearing out clutter, mess, or unnecessary items from the space around your altar.

+ Create and initiate your altar with a grateful heart and feed your altar with love and appreciation every time you see it.

ALTAR MAINTENANCE

Here are a few tips to help preserve and build the energy of your altar space so you can receive even more benefit from the altar!

+ Never point your feet towards the altar.
+ Only items that are new and clean should be put on the altar (new incense, candles, even clean the altar with new paper towel each time, or have a special cloth used only for cleaning altar.)
+ Never place sacred objects directly on the floor— you may use a cloth underneath as a barrier if necessary.
+ Avoid moving your altar or altar objects around unnecessarily. Keeping your altar fixed helps to prevent dissipating the energy preserved within it.
+ Keep it clean— regularly wipe any incense remnants, dust, candle wax drips.
+ Avoid placing mundane objects on the altar such as cups, phones, lighters, pens etc.
+ The fragrance and beauty of elements of nature such as flowers, are given as offerings to the Divine and are not meant to be intentionally smelled.
+ Put nature back into nature— altar objects absorb the energy of offerings such as flowers and give energy back to the flower – in this way, the flowers given to the altar are considered sacred and should be put back into nature, not thrown in the garbage.

Now it’s time to get started on creating your own personal altar and sacred space! What will you include on your altar?

Categorized as Beginner's Yoga, Meditation, Uncategorized, Yogic LifestyleTagged as altar, meditation, sacred space

How to Develop a Daily Yoga Practice

There are endless benefits to developing a daily yoga practice or spiritual practice. Many people know these benefits and want to create a daily practice, but perhaps don’t know what to do, how to do it, or how to maintain a daily practice long term.

This is a common challenge I hear from students and one that I myself have experienced through years of practice. In yoga, we call our daily yoga or spiritual pratice, sadhana. Here are four ways to overcome challenges on the path of sadhana so you can develop a daily practice and experience greater degrees of love, freedom, peace, and bliss in your life

1. Take the conditions out of your practice.

Sometimes, we are perfectionists in life and how we approach our practice is no different. We think that in order to be a yogi or develop a sadhana, we must have several hours a day, be stress free with little or no responsibility, endless energy, and have a tranquil, well decorated yoga room dedicated to practice. We place so much emphasis on perfection that we may fluctuate between practicing intensely for a short period of time, to then not practicing at all for a few days, weeks or months.

Troubleshoot common challenges to creating a daily practice:

+ “I don’t have time to practice.” | Do what you can, 5 or 10 minutes is enough.
+ “My house is too messy.” | Clean it up or don’t worry about it. Yoga is a practice of our inner experience, so the outer world isn’t too important for the practice.
+ “I’m too busy.” | Do your best to carve out time to practice. And practice mindfulness as you go through your busy day.
+ “I don’t have enough money to go to a class.” | Develop a home practice for free.
+ “I don’t know what to do.” | Go to a class at your local studio or do a free online yoga video or guided meditation.
+ “I’m too tired or lazy to practice.” | Great, honor how you feel, and try a more gently practice like yin yoga, restorative, yoga nidra or meditate to restore you. You may feel more energized after!
+ “I prefer to practice in the morning/evening and I was busy during that time.” | Creating a routine is valuable, but it’s important to also be flexible with your practice. Practicing at a different time of the day is better than not practicing at all.

2. Make yoga your path.

Transform your practice into your path. Make yoga not only something you do, but how you live your life. Invite mindfulness, peace, and breath into all that you do and even the most mundane of tasks become sacred acts of devotion and union, which is the meaning of the word yoga in Sanskrit.

While asana, the physical poses of yoga, and meditation are important and valuable pieces of the yoga puzzle, there is more to yoga than these alone. In Patanjali’s 8 Limbs of Yoga in the Yoga Sutras, the two founding limbs of yoga, the Yamas and Niyamas, are a code of morals and ethics which allow us to interact peacefully with the outer world, and with our inner experience. The Yamas teach us a path of non-violence, honesty, non-stealing, moderation, and non-attachment. The Niyamas encourage us to live a life of purity, contentment, self-discipline, self-study and surrender. As Dharma Mittra says, “no Yama, no yoga.” If all you do is practice non-violence, ahimsa, the first of the Yamas as your spiritual practice— you are already a great yogi.

Transform your practice from an act of discipline into an act of devotion and your practice becomes an empowering, sacred infinite opportunity and choice to connect with yourself, and unite with Divinity.

3. Create ease in your practice.

Life, yoga and meditation can be challenging enough, no need to make things harder than they need to be. The practice of yoga is powerful, but subtle. Give yourself the permission to be gentle with yourself and your practice. When we push ourselves too hard with our practice, we may exhaust ourselves and then feel resistance to practicing. Practice as much as possible— but consistent, shorter, more frequent practices will benefit you more than longer, more intense practices done less frequently.

Create a practice that is simple, peaceful and that you enjoy doing and you may feel more drawn to practicing regularly. If slowing down your practice helps—do it. If using props or sitting in a chair while you meditate allows you to feel more comfortable—allow it to be. If doing less yoga postures and more meditation, chanting, or breathing exercises feels good— do this. If you prefer meditating in the morning/evening/before/after asana, yoga postures— do as you wish.

4. Develop a ritual.

As much as possible, try to create a daily routine – or better yet, make it a ritual. Sculpt out time every day to practice, even if it’s only five or ten minutes. And as best as you can, try to make it consistent. Developing a routine time to practice gives instructions to your subconscious and may allow you to go deeper with practice.

Explore the infinity of yoga— There is an infinite depth to yoga that extends far beyond the physical postures. Yoga is the Yamas and Niyamas, the ethical and more code of yoga, yoga is Bhakthi— a path of love and devotion, Karma— a path of selfless service, Raja— a path of self-discipline, and Jnana— a path of self-inquiry and realization. Yoga is chanting mantra, meditation, prayer, pranayama, mindfulness, and union.

Having a sadhana sequence that you follow is very helpful in creating a routine. Through practice, your subconscious will begin to memorize what your practice guides you to find within yourself and you will be able to reveal it with more ease, depth and clarity.

Consistency is key. You will benefit more from shorter, more frequent practices, than longer and more intense sessions practiced less frequently.

Here is a beginner-friendly Sadhana practice that you may practice every day. Modify it as you wish and for what your schedule allows to make it your own.

Create space | Enter Practice
+ Set up/clean altar. + Light candle and incense. + Get mat and props for meditation and asana.
+ Come into meditation seat. Ground, centre, withdraw inwardly (Pratyahara)
+ Open practice with Om x 3 + Set intention (Sankalpa) | Say Prayer | Gratitude
+ Chin Mudra: hands are palms facing up in the lap in with the thumbs and index finger connected.

Pranayama
+ Watch the breath + Ujjayi Pranayama + Nadi Shodhana Pranayama

Concentration | Meditation
+ Drishti: navel, heart, space between the eyebrows
+ Watch the gap between the breaths
+ Mantra repetition: Om Namah Shivaya, Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha, Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
+ Steep in the Bliss of simply Being

Return | Close Practice
+ Om x 3 | Restate intention | Gratitude | Return

Creating a daily yoga practice or spiritual practice is one of the greatest gifts you can offer yourself to experience greater degrees of peace, freedom, love, bliss and truth in your life. Take the conditions out of your practice, make your yoga your path, create a practice you love to do, and make a daily ritual of if. Develop a daily yoga practice today!

Categorized as Beginner's Yoga, Meditation, Uncategorized, yoga, yoga off the mat, Yogic LifestyleTagged as chanting, meditation, practice, sadhana, yin yoga, yoga nidra, yoga practice

Grounding Meditation

This meditation is incredibly powerful when you are feeling disconnected, anxious or restless. When life gets too busy, when you find your thoughts are all over the place, or your days just feel chaotic.

Grounding is our anchor in life, and without this anchor, we float around aimlessly, tossed about by the winds and waves of life.

This grounding meditation guides you into grounding your energy, focusing your mind and connects you intimately with the love and support of Mother earth so you can feel connected, secure, clear and so incredibly calm.

Full “Inner Devotions” Meditation Series; to be released soon.

Categorized as Beginner's Yoga, Meditation, Uncategorized, yogaTagged as grounding, meditation