by Athene Raefiel
Before doing the exercises that follow, first practice setting up a sacred space to work within. By creating a sacred space, you begin to put yourself in resonance with the Divine. As you would clean and purify your home for company, so purify and cleanse your space for spirit to enter. By setting the energies every time you work on yourself, you find it becomes a habit. Here are some techniques:
Candle
Light a candle and a stick of incense. Carry the candle and walk clockwise in a circle in the middle of the room, repeating, “This candle represents the light of all life that emanates from within me.”
Set the candle down. Now walk clockwise with the incense and follow the same circle, repeating, “This incense represents my intention and purification to the light within.”
Now sit in the center of the circle. Visualize the circle being filled with white light.
Now you may say a prayer, chant some AUMs, or say an affirmation. A simple prayer might be: “Heavenly Father, Divine Mother, I call you forth and ask that you anchor your light in and around me so that what is needed for my highest purpose may come forth.”
Medicine Wheel
Use a stick of sage incense and walk your circle clockwise. Ask the Divine Light to honor you as you do this.
Now face the north direction and say, “I honor the earth and all that she gives to me. I thank her for my home, my food, and my clothing.”
Face the east direction and say, “I honor the air for the breath of life that it gives to me. I thank the air for its wind and telepathic communications.”
Face the south direction and say, “I honor the sun for its fire and great warmth, and I give thanks for its purification.”
Face the west direction and say, “I honor the water for her motion of life. I honor the rivers and oceans, and I thank the water for providing understanding.”
Go to the center of your circle and say a prayer, do some chanting, and say your affirmations.
You may want to light one or more candles in your sacred space. You may wish to place a candle at each of the four directions. You also may use small rocks or crystals to place at the four directions or along the circle. Whatever feels comfortable and appropriate is what works best.
Now that you have set the space, you are ready to do some exercises, contemplation, or prayers. Listen to some soothing music and just lie or drift into the music for awhile, allowing yourself to become fully relaxed and regenerated. You also can use your sacred space to read and learn.
When trying to understand how the Divine and we are one, creating a sacred space is most helpful. The Divine is never in a hurry and always is at peace. When you create your sacred space, you begin to resonate within its divine energy. Sacred energy resides in a sacred space.
Sacred Space Stress Exercise
Sit or lie, breathing deeply for five breaths. Feel yourself letting go of all your thoughts. See your thoughts dancing by, as if they are notes of music. Focus at the top of your head and feel the stress moving down your body, leaving from your head into your neck and arms and moving out your hands. Move the rest of the stress down your chest, past your abdomen, and into your hips. Keep it moving down through your legs and out through your feet.
Do this stress exercise before going to sleep at night and before meditating.
Life Revue
While lying in bed at night, begin to revue your life. Start at the age you are now and continue back one year at a time. Say your age as you do this (such as 49) and simply see what memories come. When you come to a memory about yourself that does not feel good, it is time to process with forgiving. Simply allow yourself to receive clearly the image of what the situation was about, and begin to forgive yourself for the feelings in the situation. Then see if you can understand how to forgive the other person or people involved.
When no more memories come for that year, go back one more year (e.g., age 48), and so forth. You don’t have to do your entire life in one sitting. You can stop and pick up later where you left off. When you stop the first session, write down the age at which you stopped. When you do the Life Revue exercise again, begin at the age where you previously stopped. This exercise may take many nights or days to work with. So, be patient.
From Getting to the Heart by Athene Raefiel
719-598-8158
Clinical hypnotherapist, Colorado Springs, Colorado
