Do you have an altar, a shrine or sacred corner of your home, inside or outside, that is meaningful to you?

What do you keep there? do you ever use this spot to help lower your stress? Does it work for you?

I have a sacred spot in my mind. I can go there when ever I need to. It is not a physical place, as much as a mental place. Sometimes when I can't find the mental place, I go for a car ride, that helps me find my mental place. So I guess my car.

I have acutally had people close to me that know me say they saw me leave to where ever it is I go. I can give every appearance of still being in attendance but just check out. I do this when a situation gets to the point that I need to be somewhere else and can't turn and leave. It comes from having a temper so bad that I had to figure out ways to deal with it. Jilly, are you American Indian or Mexican? I appalogize if I am way off the mark.

I am a mutt, the Italian is the easiest to see. There is also Irish, Russian and Hungarian.

I like the idea of a sacred spot in your mind and i know what you mean when people say they can see you 'check out.' I used this trick when i was at the dentist having my wisdom teeth recently pulled. I 'checked out' and went to one of my favorite trails in the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately i seem to have scared my nurse, as she got weirded out, shook me, and asked if i was okay.

I said, "i'm fine; I'm hiking in the Grand Canyon."

Has she not seen that before? I am sure people do this kind of thing all the time to go away from physical pain.

Do you know how people know? How does your face change? Do you get pale, or do your features go slack...or something else? I'd like to know what the nurse thought she saw when she was unnerved by me.

I have never see anyone else do it, so I don't know.

I've seen this happen to people. I think it's in the eyes. Like, they just glaze over and don't look at anything specifically. To me, eyes are everything about a person, you can tell so much when you look at them.

I don't have a shrine or anything, but I have the shower. (Not the most eco friendly place, but hey, it works lol) For me, it's like as it cleans my body, it cleans my mind and calms me down.

oh yeah, me to on the shower, especially when I need a good cry.

I agree about the shower - awesome place for a cry or to make a sacred safe spot. Bathrooms are my favorite rooms.

BLR, I also get that safe, cozy feeling from my car also. It's like my own private universe.

My sacred spot is a small altar i threw together next to my yoga mat. I have a small stone Buddha head, incense, a copper incense box that I received from my husband on our first date, a sort of blue crinkly crystal ball, my bible in a handmade box from my MIL, a brass incense holder from India, The Tao of Wisdom, and some smooth worry stones. I also have a special medallion Lisa made for me to bring me serenity.

I might add a few other things to this area as I get my storage in CA emptied.

When I do my five minute meditation I choose one item to sit in front of me for a focal point.

I agree the shower is a great place to let yourself feel emotions and be "safe".

My bedroom is kept very dark because I'm often sleeping during the day (I do a lot of work at night). So it's very cozy with the shades all pulled, thick blankets, my journal on the headboard with my multiple pens, and so on. It's very peaceful in there, like heading into my cave. So I like that. I try to meditate for a while before I fall asleep.

I keep wanting to set up a yoga / quiet area in James' room now that he's doing his college stuff at his Dad's. I will try to find the time to do that in the next month.

That sounds like a cozy bedroom, Lisa! We don't have an actual bed - we are sleeping on an old eggcrate the floor - so all my bedside things are just sitting on the floor beside my side of the 'bed.' It's okay for now.

I like that idea very much, that is very Japanese, to have a low-to-the-floor bed Now you just need a way to roll / fold it up to put it away during the day!

Hmmm. I wonder how we could do that? The eggcrate is extremely old and floppy, and we have a ton of blankets and pillows all over the place. It's like a nest. Maybe I could flump the whole thing up against the wall and put something heavy on it to hold it down, so it doesn't come flumping backwards. nah. I think it would be too much work. Unless i attached some straps to the wall to hold it in place, and just unsnap it when it's sleep/naptime?

Lisa, did you set up a yoga area in James' room yet?

Jilly those air mattresses are very comfy! I slept on one for about 6 months. And you can put your egg crate thing on top of it, for more comfort,

I bought mine at Acadamy Surplus store. I paid less than $20 for a double, and the larger ones are also very reasonable.

I was only teasing about the roll it up part - that's how they do it in Japan. They lay out a futon at night, and in the day they roll it up and put it in a closet. So the entire room becomes useful during the day.

If you don't need the space, then having a nest is quite lovely!

Yes on the yoga space but I've only used it once so far. I'll have to take a photo sometime!

Dinah - that's a great idea about the air mattress!

Tweetymom, that is a neat idea about the air mattresses. I will look into that. It would make my nest even cozier.

Yeah, Lisa, i know you were teasing, but the idea was worth serious consideration. The nest takes up the entire room. There is literally no room for a single piece of furniture. Which is fine as there are built-in dressers against one wall. Thank goodness.

I will have to take a photo. It's rather unique.

So you're saying that the whole room is your "sleep nest"? That sounds lovely!

Yeah, it's kind of neat like that. We curl up under a million blankets and pillows, with a dog on each outside edge of our floor space. Dan has a tiny corner of floor for his lamp, books and clock, and I have a sliver of floor by the door for my lamp, books, lotion and water jug.

I would not say it's a very 'grown-up' room, but the cozy factor has a certain charm, like a child's playroom.

I do like the mental image of an entire room being a padded "bed area" full of blankets and pillows! It sounds very cozy

Maybe you could put up a pair of shelves, so that your things can be off the floor, and the entire floor is bed?

That would be cool.

Now that I am back in the RV, I need to figure out some kind of little shrine or sacred space in here. Each inch is at premium. Any ideas?

You could make a FLAT shrine. Get some cardboard and then print out your favorite images on regular paper. Tape or glue them onto the cardboard in a way you have meaning with. Now you can put that on the wall any time you want to focus on a shrine!