The Inner Sanctuary

Our world is set up to grab our attention, directing it outwardly. Our attention is pulled here and there and in more places than we can keep up with, leading to restlessness, negative emotions, depression, fear, anxiety. The mind is overwhelmed with the outer world. It consumes it and is consumed by it.

When we put our attention on one thing and rest our minds there, intentionally, even for a moment—a sunset, an art piece, the breath, a soothing sound—there is an instantaneous response of relaxation. The body takes an organic breath of relief. A sense of trust in presence arises in the heart. And like a pacifier to an infant, the mind finds solace in the object it pays attention to. The negative emotions, depression, fear and anxiety, do not stand a chance in this atmosphere—in fact, they are unable to coexist within the experience of relaxation.

With that, we can relax into simply being, simply existing.

The Yoga of Awareness

In Yoga, we learn about awareness. We can direct awareness and “focus” or “concentrate.” We can also simply experience awareness and “watch” what arises within it. Both techniques strengthen our minds and establish our agency as living breathing human beings.

In this way, Yoga is a science that teaches us to reverse the world’s yanking of our attention and offers methods to look inwardly—to momentarily put a stop to all the ropes pulling us in different directions and rebel with a firm tug in the inner direction.

If we are ever to unravel the mystery of Life in this ongoing game of tug of war, to unravel our selves and to know our true identities, we must look inwardly. We pull the rope in and keep it there, at least for a short while at a time. And the more we do it, the easier it gets.

The Sacred

Putting our attention on what we feel to be sacred is one way to direct our awareness while elevating ourselves to higher vibrational fields. When I think of something “sacred” in a physical sense, the word “Sanctuary” comes to mind. What is a sanctuary? Some contemporary definitions:

A place of refuge or safety
A nature reserve
A holy place; a temple or church

But must we have a physical Sanctuary to visit to experience the sensation of being in a Sanctuary? No, we do not. With the power of our imagination, we can go within and experience an Inner Sanctuary of our own making. We can visit it anytime we want to or need to, to reclaim our attention and to let ourselves be—to exist in peace.

Our Inner Sanctuaries have the potential to fulfill the contemporary definitions offered above—they are a place of refuge or safety, a nature reserve, and a holy place all at once. We can build our Sanctuaries any way we wish, using whatever resources we can dream up.

And it is never static. The Inner Sanctuary can change moment to moment, each time we call it up and even as we visit it. It’s a place we can come back to at any and every moment.

For me, listening to and creating intentional sound has served as a powerful teleportation device to my Sanctuary. There are many ways to our Inner Sanctuaries, but if you find sound to have an affect on you, I encourage you to find those instruments, use your voice, and call up the Sacred within you each and every day.

Direct your attention for goodness. Experience your awareness for true solace.

You are infinitely more than the outer world will ever acknowledge or admit, since we will only ever find what we’re looking for, when we look within.

With Love,

sandy