Creating Sanctuary Wherever You Go

Finding and making a sanctuary for yourself — and others

One of our deepest needs in times of collective tumult is for sanctuary spaces, which are both internal and external. Where can we feel at home, grounded, and in touch with the deepest currents of life, even when news cycles are driven by violence and the lowest expressions of our humanity?

Our bodies are a sanctuary, which is why we at Shift offer many courses on embodiment and creating a more unified, clear, grounded relationship with every facet of our humanness. The real spiritual initiation isn’t into our divinity (we are already divine) — it is into a fully lived humanity, and our body is at the foundation of that.

Our relationships and community are part of finding sanctuary. In the matrix of loving connections, our nervous systems relax and we find cherished support, celebration, and mirroring for our greatness.

Even if we only build a community of two — a loving marriage, a deep mentorship, a soul friendship — these relationships provide a sanctuary for us in stormy times. At Shift, we aim to provide this kind of loving sanctuary community with all our programs.

Our spiritual practices also ground us in a sense of sanctuary that transcends the vicissitudes of life. When we know, without a shadow of a doubt, that we exist beyond the death of our bodies, that we can touch exalted states of being and commune with discarnate guides, we can anchor in something that is not as ephemeral as one life.

Our deepest sanctuary is that we are always held by a larger Spirit and our lives serve a deeper purpose.

What is your sanctuary space?

How can you cultivate that even more in times of collective stress so that you cannot only find that centered support for yourself but be a safe harbor and sacred sanctuary space for others?

I encourage you to meditate on this — how can I create a sanctuary everywhere I go to help stabilize, heal, and bless the world, even as it goes through cycles of tumult and suffering?

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Stephen Dinan, founder and CEO of The Shift Network, is a Stanford- and CIIS-trained leader, author of Sacred America, Sacred World, and an internationally recognized voice in transformational education whose vision for a more conscious world continues to inspire global change.