Create Harmony

Even a Small Space Can Become Your Gateway to Inner Peace

• Sally

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You know that feeling when your mind is racing, your notifications won't stop buzzing, and finding even five minutes of quiet feels impossible? That's exactly why creating a dedicated meditation space might be the game-changer your wellbeing needs.

In this soul-soothing conversation, we explore how to carve out a sanctuary within your home—no matter how limited your space might be. Whether it's a cozy corner in your bedroom, a repurposed closet filled with prayer notes, or simply a comfortable chair near a window, the physical environment you create can dramatically enhance your ability to find inner stillness. We dive into the elements that make a meditation space effective: from selecting calming colors and soft lighting to incorporating gentle sounds and aromatic elements that engage all your senses.

What makes this approach so powerful isn't just the aesthetic appeal, but how a dedicated space begins to train your brain. When you consistently return to the same spot for quiet reflection, your mind starts to associate that physical location with mental stillness—making it progressively easier to drop into a meditative state even on your most scattered days. The examples shared range from elaborate sunrooms filled with plants to the simplicity of a single chair with prayer beads, demonstrating that effective meditation spaces reflect personal preferences rather than rigid rules.

Ready to design your own gateway to tranquility? Listen now to discover how creating room for meditation—both literally and figuratively—might be the most important gift you give yourself this year. Your sanctuary awaits.

To learn more, go to mycreateharmony.com

Speaker 2:

Welcome back to Create Harmony. So when life gets noisy and busy and it seems like chaos and conflict are the dominant narrative, this is a place where we shift the conversation back to things that lift your spirits and clear your mind. In our world it's easy to lose focus on what's really important, but right here we dwell on how to incorporate more goodness and gratitude into your life. We will refresh your life and soothe your soul. So this is episode 120, and I am your host, sally Burlington. So today we are going to talk about how to create your own meditation room, or at least a space for quiet reflection and prayer. So when I say meditation, some of you are thinking oh no, I can't do it. I don't want to sit in silence. But this can be a variety of different things as it applies to your life. It can include breath work, it can be stress relief, it can be enhanced mindfulness or just overall well-being. So it's, I think for me, and I'm sure for you, it's challenging to find the time and energy to meditate, which is a strange comment, because meditation is literally sitting still and being quiet. So it seems like it wouldn't take a lot of energy for that, but it is harder than it seems. Seems like it wouldn't take a lot of energy for that, but it is harder than it seems. So finding quiet in this life is ever more difficult because we spend so much time with our devices, prompting us to come back and check on things, and we've trained our brains to expect constant stimulation to go back and one more time, look at our device and also have a lot of constant interaction with our devices. So to make the most of your meditation practice, it's ideal to sort of retrain your brain to think about a space. If you have a dedicated space that fosters tranquility and concentration, this will serve as a reminder and it'll prompt your brain to settle down and release tension. So a meditation room can be a place of sanctuary, a place where you retreat from the chaos of everyday life and find peace within.

Speaker 2:

The first step in this process of finding a meditation space is selecting the right space, and ideally this should be a quiet area of your home where you can be undisturbed. It doesn't have to be big or elaborate, but it needs to make you feel peaceful. So here's some factors you might wanna consider you might want privacy. Choose a room where you don't think you'll be interrupted or a space. It doesn't have to be a whole room, but just a space in a room where you think that you can tell your family members and your pets, to give you a little bit of privacy. You might want some natural light in this space. That might enhance your meditation experience and you'll feel more connected to nature. So maybe by a window or even outside, on a porch, somewhere where you feel like you can connect with nature, might be inspiring and make you want to come back. The room does not need to be large, as I said, even a small corner can suffice, as long as you create the aura of peace in that space. So you want to create a space that will draw you back into it.

Speaker 2:

One of the steps to getting a meditation practice going or a prayer practice, if you want to use it for that is to create a space that draws you back in. So the decor of your meditation space should promote calm and relaxation. So you're going to want to choose colors that are soothing. You maybe would choose like soft blues and greens. Some people feel more comfortable in a very neutral palette, very neutral environment. You want to avoid bright colors or things that are jarring that might distract you, unless that's your jam. If you think hot pink will draw you back, then go for that, but just keep in mind that the decor of the room is important. Keep the furniture to a minimum. You just maybe want a comfortable chair or even like a meditation cushion. You might want a small table for a candle or some incense, something like like that, something to enhance your sense of smell. You could incorporate some plants. If you're not able, particularly if you're not able to be near a window with natural light, you could put some plants to create some nature and tranquility in your room. And whatever artwork you choose Needs to be something that inspires peacefulness, so you don't want to clutter up your walls with too many images and lots of loud, stimulating things. This kind of goes back to the concept of house hushing, when we talked about, like quieting your decor so that it is more peaceful. That's the kind of vibe you want in your meditation and prayer space. So you want to use soft lighting, maybe a candle or a dim lamp. You could create a serene atmosphere. This might be a great place to use some fairy lights or something like that, just to give yourself a very calming lighting.

Speaker 2:

There are some other ways you can appeal to your senses. In your space you could add a sound element, so like a small water fountain or a wind chime or maybe a speaker that you could put on soft music or nature sounds. For example, where I go to get acupuncture, they always have these bird sounds in the lobby, and the lobby is not a place where there are actually birds, but the fact that those bird sounds are going in there is calming. It makes you feel at ease. So you maybe want to add that to your space. Again, you want to add some scents in terms of smells, candles, essential oils that will help create a calming environment and the scents that you might choose. Some things might be like lavender or sandalwood or eucalyptus, if you have things that hold significance for you. Maybe you put a little cross or some prayer beads, a meaningful object, something to enhance your practice, and you might want to incorporate stretching or movement into your routine. So maybe you make a little space where you could put a yoga mat and you could stretch and then begin your process of meditation or prayer.

Speaker 2:

You want to keep your meditation room a place of peace, so cleanliness is important. You don't want to sit over there in a dusty you know dirty, cluttery space. So keep your room clean and free of clutter and tidy. That helps clear your mind. And, lastly, you want to establish a routine. Maybe you want to do this at the same time every day. That habit can reinforce your practice and really make you feel like you've entered a retreat when you go into that space.

Speaker 2:

So here's my example. I have several different spaces in my house that I go for quiet reflection. I work from home, so my office has a really cozy chair near the window and I often use this for writing in my journal or reflecting. I do have a little set of prayer beads that sits in my office as a source of inspiration and that helps me focus on prayer in my space. Another place for sanctuary for me is my sunroom. I've shown the mural of my sunroom. There's a lovely mural and it's filled with lots of plants and it really kind of feels garden-y in there. I put a candle in there often when I'm spending time quiet time and sometimes I add some creative elements into my meditation and prayer time. I have like adult coloring books. I love jigsaw puzzles. Many of you have heard me describe my puzzle table area, so I'm in a season where it's easier for me to find quiet, except for the fact that we're having a construction project in our backyard. But I'm not raising children and I work flexible hours, so my season is a little easier. But even if you are in a more intense season, you can still create a space for yourself.

Speaker 2:

So your meditation room should reflect your personality, your personal taste, your preferences. You want to customize it, so choose some elements that relate to your personality. This might include your favorite color and your favorite object and your favorite sense that you find particularly soothing, and it's okay to just experiment. You maybe paint the walls blue of your space and then later you think I don't really like that, so it's okay to just experiment. You maybe paint the walls blue of your space and then later you think I don't really like that, so I'm going to reconfigure it to find out what works best for me. You might want to use some inspirational quotes or some images that uplift your spirits and deepen your practice One time. Here's another example One time there was someone from our church that showed a video of their prayer closet that's what they called it.

Speaker 2:

It is literally like a little closet, a small closet within their house that was devoted to prayer. It looked like really maybe only one person could be in there at a time. They had a comfy chair just sitting in the middle of a closet. Then there were post-it notes all over the walls with prayers written on them. Everywhere you look, there were post-it notes all over the walls with prayers written on them. So, like everywhere you look, there were post-it notes of these prayers and I thought that was a really neat way to do it. That helped them focus their family focus on prayer and meditation.

Speaker 2:

So I urge you to think outside the box for your space. Maybe yours is a bench in your backyard, maybe you have a cozy nook on the side of your family room, a front porch with a stoop that has a single chair, and, like the examples that I gave, there could be several different places that you do that, in that you just have a little section where you go to if you need to change it up often, so a dedicated space. There are really a lot of great benefits. You're going to have more focus and concentration there. You're going to have more focus and concentration there. You're going to have more consistency if you begin to draw yourself back over and over again, and a serene environment can enhance stress-relieving benefits of meditation. So a dedicated space helps foster mindfulness and really deepen your practice. So, all that to say, it takes practice to train your brain to come back to this pattern and creating a room it's rewarding and it can significantly enhance your habits. And these are steps you can take to curate your tranquility.

Speaker 2:

So for our closing today, I'm gonna to leave you with these thoughts and questions.

Speaker 2:

This is going to be sort of like some thoughts and reflection questions for you to think about. Wouldn't it feel good if you knew how to access peace? Wouldn't you be happier if your mind could settle more easily into stillness? Don't you deserve some time to rest your soul and soothe your spirit? And how can you make this a bigger part of your life? The answer is right in front of you. All you have to do is reach out and embrace it. Will it be easy every day? Of course not, but it will be worth it if you learn how to rediscover peace over and over, even on days that things are more stressful. This is a habit you form and you can do yourself a favor by making room in your life, literally and figuratively, for this. May it be so. Thanks so much for joining us today as we discussed how you want to create a dedicated reflection space. I can't wait to see where this idea goes in your life and hope you'll come back next week to shift the conversation back towards joy and goodness. And until next time, peace.

Speaker 1:

Thank you you.

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Sally Burlington

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