How do you feel when you enter your home? Does it feel like a haven, a place to retreat to? Making your home into a sacred space can be the difference between feeling calm or feeling even more stressed out and frazzled. Studies show that creating a sacred living space even lowers your cortisol which is the stress hormone. Too much cortisol causes imbalanced sleep, abnormal blood sugar levels, and even weight gain.
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Here are 5 ways to make your home feel sacred:
1. Bring elements of nature into your house.
Nature is alive with soul and intelligence. When you connect with nature, you connect with all of life. When you bring nature into your house, you bond with life itself. Being in nature makes us feel happier and is good for our well-being. Go on a nature walk and collect interesting twigs, leaves, sea shells, stones, feathers, and pine cones to bring into your house. Also, don’t forget to open those blinds and let the light from outside stream in.
2. Create an altar in your home to honor everything you love.
You don’t have to be a spiritual person to create an altar, although if you are, this is a good way to honor your spiritual beliefs. It’s good to have a place to retreat to when you are in your home, and creating an altar creates this space. This space should be filled with energy and aliveness. Fill it with your favorite items that have meaning to you, flowers, crystals, some of the elements you collected from nature, candles, and incense. Use spiritual objects to invite spiritual energy in. Surround the space with comfortable cushions and scarves or a favorite chair. Keep a journal and pens in the space, and use it to offer up gratitude, blessings, and to reconnect with yourself.
3. Get rid of stuff you don’t need.
When is the last time you had a major clean out of your home? Chances are, it’s been a while. It’s so easy to collect stuff that we don’t need which fills our house and our head space with cluttered energy. One of my favorite blogs, Becoming Minimalist, has a great list of “101 Physical Things That Can Be Reduced In Your Home”. Getting rid of old stuff is a great way of clearing space for new things and changes to arrive. Do this on a regular basis.
4. Smudge your house.
Smudging is a powerful cleansing ritual from the Native Americans. Our homes are filled with energy, and smudging is a wonderful way to clear out old, stagnant, and negative energy. You just need a smudge stick (a bundle of herbs, usually sage, cedar, or sweet grass), matches, and a ceramic bowl or saucer. Crack a window in each room of your house. Start by lighting the smudge stick. Hold it inside the bowl or saucer and walk around each room of your house. While you are smudging, hold the intention that all negative energies and spirits are leaving your home.
5. Create a spa-like environment in your home.
Have you noticed how entering a luxury hotel room makes you feel? You can easily create this sacred atmosphere in your own home. Trust me, you are worth it! Indulge in the fluffiest towels you can find (and don’t wait five years to replace them). Buy fragrant soaps and luxurious linens for your bed. Buy a fluffy bath robe. Put candles everywhere. Get an essential oil diffuser and let it fill your home with the scent of grapefruit and basil. If you are in such a rush that you can’t take the time to luxuriate in ordinary experiences every day, is this really the life you want to be living? Something as simple as taking a few extra minutes to light candles during your morning routine or for your breakfast (please, tell me you take the time to eat breakfast) can set a better tone for your entire day.
Featured photo credit: terriem via photopin cc
Great ideas! Home should be a place to unwind and relax. Smudging is an interesting idea too I hadn’t thought of!
Yes, I love smudging. You can definitely feel the energy change afterwords!