Suggestions for creating sacred spaces whereever travel takes us. Business travel is no reason to forego the ritals we use to nurture our lives.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to carry our Sacred Space with us? To be able to generate the warmth of home even while we're on the road? Perhaps we can't tote along a whole room, or even a small table we've designated as a personal altar in our houses, but we can carry with us fragments of the retreat feeling, artifacts that bring back to the feelings of renewal.
After a long day of airplane or car travel, or stressful hours of intense business negotiation, some special mementos from home can make the night away much more relaxing than just settling for what a hotel room blandly offers.
Travelers can put together a portable sanctuary in a bag as small as a shaving kit: a scented votive candle, aromatic matches, sticks of incense, slips of paper with affirmations, rocks from our garden, meditation beads, all pack safely and neatly in colored fabric that can serve as an altar cloth on a hotel night stand. A portable tape or CD player and a favorite relaxing meditation or music can soothe us into slumber with the same sounds we use at home, or serve as background music for Spiritual rituals like meditation or yoga to clear our minds of the days stresses.
Be sure to have along some after work clothing that is the ultimate in comfort--snugly sweats, thick wool socks, or a caftan-like gown that lets your body move and breathe without restriction.
While you travel in a car, you can still have symbols around you that remind you of your inner Spirit while you make our way through hectic days. A small crystal or a rainbow hanging from the rear view mirror (small enough to allow safe vision, of course) remind you of ways to self-nurture--prompts to stop, to center yourself and take a breath before you turn the ignition key.
You can print out, on pressure sensitive paper that's now available for home computers, a favorite slogan or an affirmation that means something to your current spiritual growth and apply it to the dashboard. This paper is non-adhesive and removes easily, just by picking up a corner--it leaves no residue and sticks to any smooth surface!
If you're traveling by plane, an extra luggage tag attached to your handbag or carry-on suitcase, where, instead of an id tag or a business card, you've put a word as simple as "peace" or "breathe" can keep you from getting caught up in the tension of a workday. Write it out, or print it from your computer, with calligraphy or a whimsical font on paper in a color that means something to your Spirit at the moment, something that either calms or invigorates you.
Some of the traditional ways of staying connected to your roots while your away from home still stand the test of time: framed photographs of your children or spouse -- even pets, if that's what means family to you -- small enough to tuck into a carry-on, large enough to create a presence in a hotel room. A small book of meditations or inspirational essays to read before sleep, the pillow that you can't sleep without, favorite night wear, a warm and familiar blanket or afghan that reminds us of home--all of those things keep you in touch with a side of yourself that can be overwhelmed by the power plays in a sales meeting or corporate boardroom.
Even as your business successes are necessary for creativity and sustenance, the inner Spiritual life is crucial for balance and sanity. Traveling is no reason to forego the rituals and comforts when it's so easy to create Sacred Space anywhere you are.
