Living the Omer - Create Sacred Space

So far this Omer season, we have been working on your body. Now we need to focus on the space your body inhabits.

Stop right now -- as you are reading this: stop. Take a look around you. What do you see? If you are at your desk: can you see the surface of your desk? If you are in your car (hopefully pulled over and parked and NOT, NOT, I repeat, NOT texting while driving -- does your car have coffee cups and papers strewn around. (Ooops, that might just be my car, not yours.)

Regardless of the shape of any space you inhabit -- make sure there is a sacred space, clutter free, where you can sit and repair yourself, renew, refresh and rejuvenate.

Clutter in our space tends to clutter our minds and studies show, it adds to the clutter we put into our bodies as well.

If your entire house is clutter free - mazel tov. My advice to you may be to break loose and finger paint on the walls or something wild, since your house may be too sterile to be sacred. But again, that's just me.

If your house is, shall we say: lived in, Good. Life is meant to be lived, and bodies and houses are meant to be lived in. That being said, make a spot for yourself where there is no distraction of clutter. A spot where you can light a candle and just be alone with yourself.

If you have kids, your spot may be in the bathroom! If so, treat yourself to a dreamy bubble bath - a mikvah of the spirit.

Maybe it is on a bench in your backyard.
Or an easy chair (the kind that does not have a gazillion magazines, the TV guide, a box of kleenex, your toenail clippers, and cough drops sitting next to it)

Even 15 minutes alone in your sacred space is rehabilitating. Bring your body along -- ie, feel how it feels and where it is tight or knotted. Breathe into these tight places. Quiet your mind with restful thinking or a peaceful mantra. Count blessings or pray. This is your time. Give yourself this gift each day - you deserve it.