" James Tennant starts the day with a prayer in his
inner sanctum -- a former bedroom turned meditation retreat with altars
in four directions, serene gray walls and postcards of spiritually
inspiring sorts like Jesus, rapper Tupac Shakur and the Hindu god Shiva.
Then, the 32-year-old Lakeview man rises and faces east for a
series of sun salutations and other yoga poses that stretch his spine
(and soul) before sitting down for 20 minutes of chi-centering
pranayama, or focused breathing.
It's a great antidote for stressors of new-millennium living. "I feel
much more directed," says Tennant. "I can allow the day to unfold and
take on tasks as they come."
Tennant's altared space is part of a small wave of reverent rooms
increasingly occupying American homes -- there's a Zen meditation porch
in the nation's capital, a Catholic retreat in a northern Michigan
basement. A San Diego living room lost its TV and found a truer calling
as a holy haven.
America's homes are finding religion.
Back in 1998, when author and architect Sarah Susanka first
proposed writing about such sacred spaces,her publishers were
"extremely leery" about it. Not so anymore, says Susanka.
Not only are regular folks carving out at-home sanctuaries,
celebrities also are getting divine. Pop diva Britney Spears, who was
raised Baptist and then introduced to the Kabbalah's teachings by
Madonna, recently announced that she's toying with ideas for a prayer
and meditation room in her Malibu, Calif., mansion. Lance Armstrong's
home in Spain came equipped with an altar room.
Sacred spaces also are taking root in homes-away-from-home. Some
workplaces offer space for daily prayers toward Mecca, while hospitals
provide soundproofed, vented rooms for Native American drumming and
sage-smudging rituals. The Hotel Monaco Chicago advertises secluded
"meditation stations" in window nooks."
From the Chicago Tribune, Sept. 11 edition
(registration required for link)
Making Room for the Soul
Posted by: | August 28, 2007 at 01:19 AM