Pick a Space that Reminds You to Commit

It is so important to pick a room that reminds you to commit to your practice. It may be a room or an area in a room. You may need to put a mat, a pillow and a candle or a small gong at the foot of your bed. Or you may convert an entire to room into your peaceful space. Whatever you choose, make sure it is a room that “confronts” and invites you. This is not a space to be ignored or entered into only when you think about it. It should be a space that triggers your senses and causes you to pause and calm yourself. It must say to you, drop everything, stop everything, take pause, breathe and be present NOW. Consider this space as your tool to confront your stress, to confront the tension in your body and have it confront you where you are most likely to be in it, where you are most likely to settle in it. This pause and calm must happen regularly and should, therefore, be front and foremost in your area of living.

I personally like all of my rooms to serve as triggers to my peaceful state of mind. I like my tranquility to flow from one room to another, from one object to another. When I am in any room in my home, I am immersed in a peaceful state. Mindfulness comes easily because it has been integrated into how I live.

Know that what you create in one space and how you are in that space, expands. Begin in one space, the space that confronts you. Now close your eyes, take a deep breath and say the following:

I will commit to creating an external environment that protects my contemplative practice and nurtures my transformation. I will commit to entering this environment at least twice a day to nurture my intention and attention.