Creating a home altar serves as a focal place to practice asana, meditate and set your intention for the day.
The purpose of an altar is to create a sacred space that allows you to reconnect whether you are doing asana poses, sitting for meditation and pranayama or simply pausing for a brief moment to set an intention for your day.
Here’s a simple checklist for creating your home altar.
Identify Your Space
It could be a corner of your yoga room, the edge of your dresser, a shelf amongst your books or a small tray placed at the foot of your yoga mat. The space is somewhere that you immediately feel at ease and comfortable.
Clean Your Space
Clear the clutter. Relocate, donate or release excess items from the space. Keeping the area tidy, clean and bright will energize the space.
Cleanse Your Space
Smudge sage or burn some incense to clear negative & stagnant energy
Select and Arrange your Favorite Items
An altar is an evolving and changing sacred space. There are no rules about what to place at an altar as it is personal to you.
The best starting point is to gather personal items that you love, that inspire you and give meaning to your practice.
Items to consider for your home altar
-Photographs of loved ones in frames you’ve chosen
-Symbolic images that hold meaning for you
-A candle or incense burner
-Artworks you love
-Mala necklace that you may like to wear or use as part of your meditation practice
-A small, handmade box to store your incense, sage, candles & matches
-A favorite bowl or dish
-A treasured piece of jewelry or trinket
Creating a home altar serves as a focal place to practice asana, meditate and set your intention for the day.
-A sculpture of a deity that inspires you
-Book of favorite quotes
-Handwritten note, quote or inspiration word for the day
-Element of nature such as a fresh flower in a small vase, shell, crystal or fruit
-A card or postcard that has personal meaning
-Small journal for your personal observations and notes
-A singing bowl for use in meditation
Other useful items for your space are a meditation cushion or bench and a shawl or scarf that you may like to drape over your shoulders while meditating. Using the same shawl is said to absorb the positive energy from your meditations over time.
A home altar is a very personal space curated by you with items that you love and that hold meaning for you. Create a home altar to enrich your practice whether it is a single flower in a simple vase or an elaborate arrangement of sculptures and images.
What items will you choose?
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