Everyone needs a place to retreat to from time to time. A place that is private, calm, and safe. To prevent being overwhelmed, to stave off stress or to keep from burning out, this becomes an imperative.
How can this be accomplished with a high pressure, workaday, phrenetical and frenzied life? By taking up residence in your own inner sanctum and being responsible for what happens in there.
A physical retreat would be ideal when things become too much for us, a safe and quiet room or secluded location away from everything and everyone. Wouldn’t that be awesome?
This is not often possible in the way we live our lives today. Not to mention the fact you could be completely alone in a quiet room or at some isolated location and still feel overwhelmed. That’s because we live our lives inside our heads. No matter what is going on around us, what is going on in our heads is all that is going on.
Blissful serenity comes from within, not from physical isolation or a destination vacation. That sense of calm and well-being, that place of placid peace and tranquility can only be attained through introspection.
Introspection is when thoughts are turned inward and the self is being considered. It shouldn’t be too surprising that to be at peace you must contemplate peace, to become tranquil you must contemplate tranquility, to be serene you must contemplate serenity. We are, in essence, what we think.
Everyone has an inner sanctum, the place we go in our heads to think and to try to make sense of things. Some people meditate there. Some people pray there. Some people simply hide there. It is where the conscience of our consciousness resides.
Some inner sanctums get more use than others. Some people, the ones that lack self-identity, almost never venture there. The hole they often feel deep inside themselves, the hole in their soul, is an inner sanctum that’s empty.
Getting there, what you are able to accomplish there and what benefit you may derive from being in your inner sanctum is a function of intentional effort, not innate ability. Controlling or altering your thoughts, feelings, mood or emotions scales one-to-one with your efforts within your inner sanctum. Practice, perseverance and patience are key, I’m told.
I have known people who are so practiced at getting into their inner sanctum and what happens there that they can lower their heart rate and blood pressure just by thinking about doing so. There are well documented instances where individuals can raise or lower their core temperature, ameliorate pain or completely calm themselves just by connecting with their inner sanctum through mental imagery.
It isn’t rocket science. It isn’t voodoo. It isn’t paranormal activity. It is a matter of training.
For practiced individuals, things could be literally and completely crashing down around them and they would sit calm, cool and collected if they chose. For them, it is a choice. They didn’t get this way overnight. It took a lot of effort. But, they are testaments to what is possible.
I am not that good at what comes from being in my inner sanctum, not yet. Personal need has driven me to spend more time and effort there through quiet reflection or meditation. I can see the benefits of visiting my inner sanctum more often and of putting in more effort there.
Do you have an inner retreat that provides needed benefit in times of stress? Are you able to control how you react to life’s stresses, turmoil, upsets, disappointments and tragedies?
Hi Clark. I found my inner sanctum long ago. I just didn’t know what you would call it. Are you being intentionally intentional in making up phrases as you go along? In the mist of all the noise and haste I go there. It is in there , I am in control of my breathing, my thoughts or lack thereof, my peace, my quiet, and my journey. I go wherever I want or nowhere at all but being aware of my presence and presents. This is going on a trip without the drugs. We are what our minds tell us. And we can control our minds. It does take practice. Cinderella imagines and sings,”In my own little corner, in my own little world, I can be anything I want to be!” Visualizing, imagining, and letting go of the old self, gives us a newer improved one. As you know, giving yourself permission to dream leads to actualizing. Getting from A to B can be obtained by running to or from what? We can walk, glide, soar, sing, and dance. I do believe that destiny is a choice, but also it can be quite an adventure. Visiting my inner sanctum can bring me to exactly where I want to be. Slowing down, calming down, or even getting vibrant and exciting can have the desired effect on our affect. Much of what is done is done in the mind first. It is thought through and figured out. And there’s spontaneous combustion – setting the world afire with our contagious vigor. My eyes are closing. Nite, Clark.
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Well stated Marie! I appreciate you sharing your thoughts.