How to Weave the Sacred into the Ordinary
An Inner World Exploration
A day stretches out before me. It’s an excellent day. It has great potential. And it’s mine to live as I choose. So how do I want it to be?
Fun. I would like to have a good time doing whatever it is I do. I love to learn, so I’d like to learn something today. As a writer, I’d like to write something meaningful. But how can I make this day sacred? How can I bring myself to appreciate the magical flow of the words that appear as I write or the love I feel for my cat as he cuddles his warm and vibrant body beside me? How do I remember to stop and listen to the sound of the birds outside my window, or to breathe in the lovely smell of the lilacs growing nearby?
I make my day sacred by being mindful. By paying attention. By listening and noticing and stopping to observe. I learn to be aware of the subtle gifs it shares, the unseen nudges it gives, the blessings it bestows. I notice and I am grateful.
Gratitude follows closely on the heels of awareness.
See and feel the power of your own light
Sit for a moment and feel the light within you. Let it expand from your spiritual heart, through your body, and out into the room around you. With quiet mindfulness, expand your light to your community. Begin to notice there are other light beings. Join with them and take your light to encircle the planet where there are even more light beings. Together you can and do bring wholeness to our world.
You have just woven your light into the fabric of the world. With your mind. In an instant, you have changed the ordinary act of reading this post into the sacred act of radiating light to the entire planet!
When we practice becoming more conscious of our own sacredness as a light being and extend that to an awareness of the sacredness of all the light beings around us, we begin to move our entire life experience into a sacred experience. Every step of it. Every moment, when we are aware, is seen as sacred.
That means that in each moment, we have to be mindful, aware and conscious of what we’re saying and doing.
Live your day as a sacred offering.
Mindfulness is the cornerstone of weaving the sacred into the ordinary
You have a morning routine. You probably have a morning spiritual practice. It can be meditation, movement, affirmations. It consists of moments of focused awareness on the spiritual facets of yourself. The unseen, expansive, all-there-is aspect of your body suit. We see it, we honor it, we bring it into the forefront of our day.
And then we forget because we get caught up in the details of our daily life.
But your whole day is a sacred offering. It’s your opportunity to give to the world, to shine your light on others, to share your own gifts. There’s a lot of sacred work to be done each day. Using mindful pauses to shift your view, you can weave the sacred into the ordinary.
Your body is a sacred offering
Your body suit holds your spiritual self. That makes it a temple. A holy place. Your body is the launching pad for your spiritual work in the world and the holy place for your invisible self. When you take conscious care of your body temple, you’ll nurture and nourish it, you’ll care for it and provide for it. You’ll offer it what it needs each day because it’s a sacred place. Whatever actions you take to nurture and support your body, is a form of offering your body in service to the world. Caring for your body weaves the sacred into the ordinary.
See your work as a sacred offering
Whether you are scrubbing a floor or leading a large meeting or all those places of service in between, you are in service. You are valuable, and you’re creating an impact in the web of life. Know that. See that. Feel that. And place your work as a sacred offering on the altar of life.
See your life as a sacred offering
You’re in service in many ways other than a job or a business. You’re in service when you smile, when you hold the door for someone when you speak with someone. Look at the way you walk through your life and notice the small and subtle ways you’re in service. Become more aware of the impact your life has on others, and see how you might like to take that to a higher level.
To make your life more sacred, be aware of the guidance your inner spirit offers throughout your day
A powerful way to weave the sacred into the ordinary is to listen. Simply listen to that powerful and wise voice that nudges and pushes and sometimes shouts at you to pay attention. Notice how everything is connected in this great web of life and understand the resonating impact of your smallest move. Listen to what’s said and to what’s not said. And answer the unsaid.
Expand your ability to love – to love yourself, to love others – unconditional love, all-inclusive love.
Mindfully practice that.
Find ways to remind yourself of the sacredness of your day
A mindful breath is an immediate and powerful way to connect with the sacred. A slow deep breath in, a pause to absorb it, a longer breath out. Think of your inhaled breath as filling the space within you and then being exhaled to bless the space around you. Allow your breath to speak to your body temple, to relax your muscles and organs, to calm and center you. Feel your breath connect you with your invisible self. And pause a moment to hang out in the sacredness.
You can use breath to connect with the sacredness within you any time, any place, and no one but you knows that’s what you’re doing. Use a series of mindful breaths to inhale and embrace the sacred any time, any place.
Bless your work. Bless it before you begin, while you are doing it, after you have completed it. I bless my computer. I bless what I write. I bless what I post. I’m a writer and I want everything I write to contain the sacred, to come from my spiritual heart and to touch lives. I set that as an intention as I begin, as I create, and as I publish.
Become mindful of your exchanges. As I spend a lot of time alone, email is my primary way to connect with others. Offer thoughtful responses. Actively seek new connections. Reach out to touch the lives of those around you and make the sacred offering of yourself.
Accept the nurturing that nature offers
Pause to notice the beauty of the changing sky as the sun sets. Sing or chant the sun down. Or just mindfully be with its magical splendor. Spend time contemplating the moon. Follow the changing seasons. Perhaps go outside to be in nature before you go to bed. Keep your windows open and listen to the sound of nature. When I had a bird feeder, there was always great activity and noise outside my window. Now I have to listen a little more attentively but the birds are there, the wind rustles the leaves, and I can hear the patient and gradual unfolding of nature.
Look at your life with gratitude
Mindful gratitude is another powerful way to notice the sacredness of the day that has passed. As your day comes to its conclusion, look back in conscious gratitude. When you notice the gifts and offerings and nudges and insights, there’s so much to be grateful for. You’ll see and feel how active and sacred so much of day was. Even the tough patches were gifts – gifts of awareness, gifts of a lesson, gifts of an opportunity to shift a direction, an attitude, a thought. Notice it and be grateful.
Offer your sleep to healing
Before you go to sleep, offer your body to your helping spirits for healing and cleansing and strengthening. Be willing to expand your spiritual awareness through dreams. Then trust the process of the invisible realms.
Bringing the sacred into the ordinary is a matter of willingness. Willingness to look, to see the sacred. Willingness to welcome the sacred into your daily tasks and to live your life from a place of sacred inclusiveness throughout your day.
Each day is sacred. You simply have to become aware of it and weave the sacred into the ordinary.
To Sing a Deeper Song, Consider:
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