My husband plays the guitar. When we moved into our new house, he set up all his music equipment in a nook on the second floor, where it mostly gathered dust. Finally he was inspired to hang his guitar on the wall not far from his seat at the dining room table. Now anytime he had a musical idea, his guitar was just a step or two away, and he started making music again. The idea worked so well that before long we moved his mixer and turntables onto a nice piece of furniture we had on that same wall (I was very committed to that point- it had to look nice if it was going to be in the dining room). Now almost every day he spends time making music, and the upstairs nook continues to be a storage area for musical instruments and equipment not currently in use.
I also have a spot for my daily practice. It’s in the office where I do most of my work, literally one step from where I am typing this right now. Our house is quite small, so there’s not a lot of extra space for me to spread out, but there’s room for a meditation cushion and a tiny table just big enough for whatever book I am reading as part of my daily practice. It helps that from my spot I have a view of a windowsill covered with plants, and a tree where sometimes birds and squirrels alight.
It’s amazing what a difference it makes. My desk is a place of busy-ness and problem solving, but when I take that step and seat myself on my meditation cushion I enter a space that is just-right for my practice; It feels like a whole different room. Because I come back to this spot day after day for a single purpose, it’s like the body knows and remembers what is coming, and as soon as I enter my spot, I start to sink into a meditative or prayerful frame of mind.
What kind of spot would you want for your practice? One of my friends has a painting practice, so she has a little bag with everything she needs always ready, a portable spot that comes with her wherever she goes. Another friend loves to sit in her comfy chair in front of a window with a view of a beautiful old tree. Your spot doesn’t have to look any certain way. You don’t need any fancy gear. The idea is to make it easy to slip into your practice whenever you are ready. As you shape your space, allow yourself to be like the puppy who walks in circles getting his bed just-so before he lies down. The more you use this space, the more it will start to take on a quality of sacred space and the easier it will become to slip into your practice like a favorite pair of shoes.
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