Sacred space is an concept vital to every culture on Earth. So we can assume that if we ignore or deny its importance, we are ignoring or denying something in ourselves. At the very least, we’ll be overlooking a vital aspect of our psychological and emotional needs.

‘Psychological balance’ refers to a healthy, robust and agile mindset which enables us to feel in control of the multiple strands of our lives. It confers the ability to deal with the stresses, strains, responsibilities and relationships we have to deal with. It also means that we can spot where any of these is causing difficulty, and be able to take remedial action.

I’ve written before on the importance of the inner part of ourselves and how the mere mention of he word ‘spiritual’ can summon up odd and misguided responses in some people.

It is a natural reaction to turn away from things that make us feel uncomfortable, so it is counter-intuitive to turn and face whatever we are fleeing. But I say, “Do it”.

We all have the capacity to reflect deeply, though it often has to take a crisis to trigger it. To grow, and find fulfilment we need self-knowledge, and the results of our reflections can be that we start to strip away some of the window-dressing and illusions that we present to the outer world as part of ‘keeping up appearances’.

In a private conversation with ourselves we can safely do this, but it may not come easily at first. Sacred space can be symbolic and/or literal. It refers to a space within ourselves – one we can choose to visit when we need to – as well as a physical location. Having somewhere to withdraw to enables us to step away from the ‘noise’ of daily life, the better to focus and reflect.

One way to go about it is is to visit a sacred space – it can be a church or temple but a magical spot in the countryside or park is just as good – and spend some time in contemplation. The important thing here is that the spot you pick seems right to you.

Say “Hello” to your inner life today.