7 Tips for Creating a Home Sanctuary That Feels Amazing

Is your daily life starting to become anything but an amazing experience? It may be time to invest in creating a home sanctuary that symbolizes exactly how you would prefer to feel.

When it seems like the whole world needs a change for the better, it may be better to start with what you can change.

Your home.

Make your home into a home sanctuary and find a place that you find amazing and look forward to experiencing every day.

What Exactly is a Sanctuary?

Merriam-Webster.com defines sanctuary in two ways.  One is as “a consecrated place”.  In this way, the space is looked at as one that is sacred, holy, and deemed for a special purpose.

Another definition is “a place of refuge and protection”. From this perspective, the inhabitants are otherwise exposed to negative experiences or people, and a sanctuary provides a respite from this exposure.

In both ways, a sanctuary can provide a place for its guest to be brought to a safe place of peace, calm, and opportunity for an elevated point of being. 

A sanctuary is a special place of focus, care, and healing.

So Why is a Home Sanctuary Important?

Your home sanctuary is important because it serves to honor you, protect you, and elevate your state of being with peace and internal harmony.

When you designate space and regular intention to restore yourself and realign with your center, you

• Create a healthier mental state and mindset
• Promote a more peaceful emotional state of being, and
• Influence an improved condition of your physical body

When you use your home, or a space within it, as your home sanctuary, you are inviting all these benefits of wholeness and centeredness into your daily life.

The result is easily an amazing experience.

You are surrounding yourself with an emotionally, physically, and mentally healthy environment specially curated by you.

Where Do I Begin to Create a Home Sanctuary?

An important first step in creating your home sanctuary is to determine the exact space you will designate as your sanctuary.

This can be your entire home.  Or, if this is too much of an undertaking, you can use a certain room or even a corner of a room.

The amount of space is not as important as the designation of a specific space that will be retained for your sacred purpose.

Once you have defined the space to be used, here are some tips:

How to maintain your sanctuary’s elevated purpose

• Regularly refer to the space as your sanctuary.  Naming your space is claiming your space.  It reinforces that you have redefined its purpose differently than what it was before.  If you reside with others, remind them to also honor this space as special and sacred to you.

• Keep your home sanctuary neat and orderly.  Regular use of any space can lead to clutter and disorganization.  However, keeping your space in its best form demonstrates your honoring of its bigger purpose. 

Also, viewing clutter and messiness tends to keep your mind overly active on needing to take action.  Eliminate clutter from your view. Even doing so temporarily (i.e. covering it up!) allows the mind to calm and slip easier into relaxation.

• Determine your intended use of the space.  If your home sanctuary is your entire home, create an inviting, calming, or invigorating atmosphere in every room. 

If you have designated a room or specific space, reserve creating a special atmosphere in that location only.  

• Decide how often you will visit your sanctuary. Will you intentionally schedule time in your space every day or use it as a respite when you have had particularly tough days? There is no required frequency. Just ensure that it is always ready to receive you for its intended purpose.

No matter what space you designate as your home sanctuary, consider the entire space and the state of being you intend to have once you are within it.  

Choose soothing colors, pleasant décor, and even adjust the temperature to ensure that you are comfortable. The goal is to regularly feel welcomed by the space when creating a home sanctuary.

7 Tips for an Amazing Home Sanctuary

#1 Dress in Honor of Your Sanctuary

Often when people enter a sacred place, they will come wearing special garments that serve to honor and recognize it with reverance.

You may choose to adopt this practice.

Wear special clothing to remind you that you have created your home sanctuary with special intentions.

Honor your sanctuary simply by immediately changing your clothes once you arrive home from work.  Envision that you are removing the stresses of the day and embracing the love and relaxation of your home.

Make a daily practice to bath, put on your most relaxing clothes, and then visit your sanctuary immediately after. 

Imagine that you have washed away anything that did not serve you in your day. 

Your clothing then symbolizes the first step towards you covering yourself with all things that lead to you becoming whole again.   

#2 Incorporate the Benefits of Sound Healing

Sound healing or sound therapy uses sound as a means to improve physical and mental health and well-being. 

Try different variations and instruments for sound and see what form promotes a sense of personal healing for you.

Regular practice of sound healing can elevate the effectiveness of your home sanctuary by creating peace and balance.

Explore sound through instruments

Singing bowls have been used since ancient times for ceremony and healing. 

Depending upon their size and method of use, you can generate soft or very intense sound waves that fill the space substantially.  The effects of using singing bowls as a means of sound therapy can include a reduction in stress and anxiety or improved mood.    

Wind chimes are whimsical, light-sounding instruments that can be used inside or outside of your home.

Any movement of air will cause the chimes to sound, so don’t feel limited to only outside wind. 

When choosing the right wind chime for your space, test before you buy. As they each sing a melody with every air blown, choose a melody that inspires calm and relaxation in you.

Tuning forks are handheld instruments that you can use to create a sound of a certain frequency. 

Unweighted tuning forks are best when you look to create a more audible sound. 

Strike your fork to initiate your relaxation practice in your sanctuary. Or strike them walking through your space to cleanse stress or the unwanted energy from the atmosphere.

You can also gently move the forks all around your body as a means of cleansing yourself with sound.

Use music to enrich your experience

Playing relaxing music is a common method of introducing sound healing to your home sanctuary. 

Incorporate your connection with nature by playing sounds of ocean waves or singing birds.

Envoke a sense of ceremony and sacred presence by playing Gregorian chanting .

Use any music that is pleasing to you such as instrumentals, soft jazz, or your favorite love songs. 

Your choice of music is endless and is beest applied when it inspires a lifted feeling for you.

Affirmation music is a specific form of sound healing that blends positive words and intentional affirmation with pleasing music. 

In the growing arena of affirmation music, there are many artists to choose from such as Toni Jones, Beautiful Chorus, or Mayestra. These artist blend thoughtful, high-vibration lyrics with penetrating music.

Try any of these forms of sound healing or auditory stimulation to enhance your home sanctuary environment.

#3 Use Visual Stimulation to Create Calm and Focus

You can create a home sanctuary mood based on how you decorate your space.

• Hang pictures or place photos of serene, nature-filled views. 

• Post affirmations or quotes that remind you of the state of being you choose to regularly possess.

• Surround your space with family photos that spark joy and recall pleasant memories.

Candles can also be an excellent visual stimulus for your space. 

Not only can you decorate with beautiful candles that are visually pleasing.  But you can also light your candle and use its flame to practice attentive focus.  

Candle gazing is a meditative practice that helps increase your attention and awareness. This can train your ability to release unwanted thoughts by practicing mindfulness on intentional positive thoughts.

#4 Take an Opportunity for Positive Reflection

Creating a home sanctuary will often include reserved quiet time to reflect on your thoughts and feelings.

You receive thoughts and opinions about your life from others every day. But it is even more important to explore your own interpretations. Give yourself the space for this internal exploration.

• Create a serene environment free of noise, alarms, ring tones, or alerts
• Inform others in the home of your need for quiet and no distractions
• Use your time to reflect intentionally on the positives within your day. What happened that was important to you? How was your day pleasing or memorable?
• Challenge yourself with ways you could have improved your day if things did not go well
• Reflect on how you could see or approach things differently to create positive out of perceived negative events

Seeing your day and interpreting its meaning to you can provide you with more insight. 

With this insight, you can choose different actions in the future.

Feel empowered to purposefully create more pleasing moments and overall focus on an elevated sense of being.

Using a journal can serve as a means to record your thoughts, feelings, and insights.

Capture learnings and patterns in your thoughts and behavior that would otherwise go unseen.

If you find using a journal difficult or foreign, use journaling prompts to assist with the self-exploration process. See this post on using journal prompts for self worth as an example.

Practice positive self-reflection daily. It will attune your sense of optimism and positivity with life within your mind and when interacting with the outside world.

#5 Meditate

Meditation has become a commonly referred to practice for achieving improved well-being. 

It is said to improve relaxation and focus, reduce anxiety, reduce stress, and stimulate creative ability.

If you have not explored meditation before, it can be difficult to sit in quiet and remove all thoughts.

There are different tools that can assist with learning the meditative process.

• Guided meditation is a form of meditation where a skilled practitioner guides you through the meditative process. You will listen and follow their words and phrases to help quiet and clear your mind.  Your guide may also instruct you to bring positive images and situations to mind as a form of relaxation.

• Sound machines or meditative music can be used to provide a point of focus.  When focusing on these sounds intently, you will abandon other thoughts and more easily reach a meditative state.

As with all things, meditation takes practice and developing your own personal form to do it well. Your home sanctuary can be a perfect place to develop your discipline and perfect your practice.

#6 Reprogram Your Mindset

Use your home sanctuary as a place to reset negative thought patterns or a negative self-talk habit.

• Use affirmations to build a practice of positive word patterns in place of your otherwise unproductive thinking. Psychologydictionary.org defines affirmation as “a brief phrase which is spoken again and again….to plant seeds of happy and positive notions, conceptions, and attitudes into one’s psyche”. Regular use of affirmations is thought to create new thought patterns thereby increasing positive speech, actions and interpretations.

• Mala beads or japamala are another means of creating new thought patterns and improving your mindset.  These beads can support you to be more methodical, organized, and intentional with the repeating of words, prayers, or mantras for better well-being.  

Mala beads can serve as a compliment to your affirmation or positive thought regimen. 

You can use your mala beads as a means to encourage positive repetition. You can create a ceremonious practice by restating your words at the touch of each bead on the strand.

#7 Perform a Relaxation Ritual

The act of ritual is to create a consistent and repeated set of actions for a defined purpose.  

Creating a relaxation ritual within your home sanctuary brings purpose to your space. It also sets an intention of relaxation in performing the corresponding actions.

Any of the suggestions throughout this post can be combined to create your relaxation ritual.

As example, you can

1. Take a relaxing bath
2. Adorn yourself with a robe or special garments
3. Enter your home sanctuary space
4. Light a candle
5. Meditate to clear your mind
6. Journal for 5 minutes to note any positive impressions
7. Say a positive affirmation while using your mala beads
8. Strike a tuning fork to close your relaxation ritual

With purpose defined and taking specific actions, you have created a relaxation ritual.

Elevate your practice by adding sacred elements to the process

• Dedicate certain soaps or bathing salts for your cleansing
• Use a particular scent or color for your candle
• Choose a particular form of meditation
• Find a special journal or writing utensil for your journaling practice
• Use a pillow or chair specifically for your ritual or practice

Your home sanctuary should feel like a relaxation ritual itself. And the actions you take within it can further engrain its purpose into your daily life.

Conclusion

When the stress and anxiety of day-to-day life weigh too heavily on your shoulders, creating a home sanctuary can be a much-needed means to replenish yourself and your spirit.

A home sanctuary is a designated space that is meant to protect you from unwanted interactions and provide you with a space for calm, relaxation, and healing.  With regular use and engaging in practices supporting this goal, you will experience life benefits that expand well beyond the walls of your home. And you will feel amazing!

Looking for more ways to improve how you feel every day?  Take a look at these posts or subscribe today to receive the latest on Work Life Balance:

• How to FEEL YOUR SOUL in Life, Even at Work
• The Practical Guide on How to Improve Your Work Life Balance Today

If you have discovered ways to live life better not covered in this post, please share for everyone to learn in the Comments section below.