Sacred Space Design 101: Mind. Body. Spirit. Environment.

 When I first started my yoga teacher training my daughter was only 8 months old. I was pretty

tired to say the least. I remember waking up and thinking holy shit I am so tired how am going

to practice yoga today. So instead of actually getting out of bed I would lie there and visualize

my practice. What I would say, how I would teach it and demonstrate to the class. Then I would

do some breathing and maybe even drift back to sleep. Clearly far from perfect but it worked

​for me. I was on the path...the imperfect, perfect path. Even now when I am thinking about my

classes for the week I will lie there and visualize what I'd like to teach. It's a motivating way to

begin each week or each day.

I have a talk coming up tomorrow evening called Sacred Space Design which will soon be an

online course. Needless to say I've been collecting from my personal experience bank and my

outside inspiration bank to create a symphony of words that will translate as a means to

designing your mind, body, spirit, environment. I've been spending a decent amount of time

visualizing this class while lying in bed (insert winking emoji)...doing the work in a seemingly

​lazy yet productive way!

The idea of sacred space design has been in the back of my mind since my 4 years in design

school almost 20 years ago. The design process is a beautiful thing and to see it come to life is

even more beautiful. As my studies continued and progressed after college toward natural

health and yoga, I started making connections between interior design and mind, body, spirit

design.

This week the connections connected again when I bought the book Jesus, Buddha, Krishna,

and LaoTzu, the parallel sayings by Richard Hooper. The evidence of parallels in spiritual and

religious traditions has always fascinated me and boggled my mind a bit. Boggled my mind

because I can't understand the divide among humanity due to religious and spiritual beliefs.

There are so many commonalities with the most important one being Love is all there is.
​

I've been reading small samples of the book in class this week and one of the parallels I'm

loving are:

If you think the Kingdom of God is above you, then birds will find it first. If you think it is in the

ocean, then fish will discover it before you do. Look...the Kingdom of God is within you and all

around you. - Jesus

When one's heart focused on yoga [union] and recognizing all things as equal, then you will see

the Self within - and within all begins. - Krishna

The Way is not in the sky; the Way is in the heart. - Buddha

One can know the world without ever leaving home. The Way can be recognized without a

window. - Lao Tzu

Are you starting to see that yoga is not just the physical practice, hence the visualzing while in

bed? The physical practice is very important, especially for people like you and I who lead busy

lives and need to settle the body before we can settle the mind.

When I read about the idea of the Kingdom of God within from Thich Nhat Hanh and

Yogananda  I was like...THAT'S IT!! I had felt this way since I was a child especially when I was

at CCD learning about how it was a separate place. It never made sense to me that

something so wonderful would be separate from something so wonderful as us human

​beings.

And then forget it! When I found Yoga and Buddhism it was like having all of my questions

answered, {in kind of a confusing way that makes sense over time.}. Like Krishna said when we

focus our heart on Union which is Yoga we shift into that place within ourselves that recognizes

that you and I are the same. Not only the same but we inter-are. We cannot exist without one

another.

The Way is not in the sky; the Way is in the heart. - Buddha. How refreshing is that! Ok, maybe

a little overwhelming at first to think we have the ability to focus, open, and radiate this peace

from the inside out. In a world where we are so bombarded by outside influence we always

have the ability to close our eyes and come back to our hearts. To connect to our earth and our

fellow humans, to mold and design this sacredness that exists within and around us.

One can know the world without ever leaving home. - Lao Tzu.

Do you see wisdom in these words, all of them that I have presented here? To me, these words

represent a journey. You'd have to be pretty enlightened to understand their meaning right off

the bat.

This is why WE practice yoga...so that we can understand these words through experience.

Even if you had never seen these words today but practiced some kind of yoga {Union} you

would understand their meaning deep in your mind, your body, your soul, and it would

reflect into your environment and relationships.

The point of this Practice, this sacred space design, is to let you know if you are reading

this, it's because you care about peace, you care about consciousness, you care about being

​an awakened human even if you you decide to stay in bed and visualize yourself doing Yoga.

Give yourself some credit, you are on the journey, you are molding your sacred space. It doesn't

need to be bright lights and angelic harps to be on the path. It means you are DOING THE

WORK. Doing the work to water the seeds and pull the weeds. Aware of your breath, aware of

your thoughts. Invite it all in and be kind to yourself. Replace your self judgement with

observation and love. Replace your should's with AM. Hug your anxiety and it will soon fade.

Breath in peace and rest and then get off your ass and work for it.  

Visualize the best for yourself and those you love. Feel it in every cell of your being. Maybe

fear and doubt creep in SO WHAT. Invite them in and hold hands with them. They don't have to

make any decisions for you whatsoever!! Let them watch the alchemy as you mold the design

of your mind, body, spirit, and environment.

You are sacred. What you create is sacred. What you radiate is sacred. We are all sacred

space designers.

Namaste and Love,

Jennifer

P.S. In the sacred space design course I will give you very specific ways to layout your design to creating a life of fulfillment and joy in mind, body, spirit, and environment.