Sanctuary Space: Insight Timer

My friend, Bri, told me about the Insight Timer app, which is kind of perfect because one of my favorite features of the app is that it connects people and enables friendships. More about that in a moment.

The app is great, and because you can read about it on their website or explore it for yourself, I’ll just share some of the features I use in my meditation. 

Timer

My most frequent use of the app is for timing my morning prayer. I’ve prayed morning and night, personally and with my family, pretty much all my life. The reason I first got into meditation almost ten years ago was to improve my prayers. I knew God heard me, but there wasn’t the communion in my prayers that I wanted. I hoped meditation would help me add that dimension to prayer—and it has. (Perhaps I’ll post about prayer another time.)

There is something about sitting with my ten-minute morning-prayer timer that helps me to just stay there after the laundry list of thanks and requests is done. I don’t even look at the timer while praying, and it doesn’t chime at the end. I think it’s just creating that space in time that helps me give myself permission to stay in my Sanctuary and simply be thoughtful with God. I go through my mental prayer roll of those who need Their blessings and comfort. Then my questions turn more thoughtful. I ask for advice in the projects I’m undertaking, or talk to Him about my intention for the day.

The following is part of a journal entry about five months after I began my meditation practice ten years ago.

April 15, 2010

As I continue to ponder the use of meditation, I really think it is valuable in improving prayers.  In a conversation with God, listening is the most important part.  But almost every time I’ve stopped speaking during a prayer to listen, my mind wanders away to dozens of distractions.  Meditating has begun to train my mind to be quiet and just listen . . . I think my meditation will evolve as I practice it more to help me learn the language of the Spirit and to become a part of my prayers.

When I’m done praying, I often find that I’ve gone over the timer’s ten minutes. Just as often, I’ve stayed under ten minutes, and that is fine too. However much time I spend thanking, asking, listening—communing—it feels just right.

The timer is a good tool for any meditative process. In addition to my ten-minute preset for morning prayer, I also have an hour preset for yoga, fifteen minutes for silent meditation, and ten minutes with their “zen guitar” ambient sound. The app has many background sounds and timer notifications to choose from, though I choose silence for most of mine. (I also am one of the tiny minority of people who don’t have any music playlist, but Kent has enough music in his collection to listen for months straight, so he balances us out.)

Journal

Somewhat hidden in the app is a journaling feature. Go into Profile, then Settings and scroll down to the “More” options to select Journal, Logs & Stats—and then you have more options for the journal! I’ve used it to track some of the guided meditations that I’ve especially liked. I have other journals in my life, all of them handwritten, but this part of the app could be good for a daily brain dump, especially using the microphone. The journal doesn’t seem very robust, but maybe it doesn’t need to be. If you’re a journaler, try out this feature and let me know how you like it.

Guided Meditations and Courses

Where Insight Timer really shines is its collection of guided meditations from hundreds of teachers. The teachers tag their meditations with various criteria: topics covered, whether there is background music, what type of meditation it is (I use a lot of the ones for sleep), etc. This is where you have to explore and see what types of meditations you are drawn to. When you find one you like, you can rate it and bookmark it to return to. You’ll also find teachers that you connect with, and then check out their other meditations. If you really like their content, you can donate to any teacher to support their work.

I like to bookmark intriguing meditations and then give them a listen to decide if they stay bookmarked. Those are the ones I return to repeatedly. The app manages your bookmarks well so you can sort your favorite meditations by length, topic, recently bookmarked, etc.

The following are some of my favorite guided meditations on Insight Timer:

·         “Morning Ritual” by Jason McGrice – 10 min.

·         “Honoring Life” by Sarah Blondin – 9 min.

·         “Short Calming Meditation” by Charlotte Watts – 7 min.

·         “Breathing Meditation” by Jack Kornfield – 9 min.

·         “Meditation Made Easy & Enjoyable” by Matthew Young  –  10 ½ min.

·         “Breath Awareness Meditation – Counting” by The StillPoint – 11 min.

·         “Guided Meditation for Deep Sleep” by Cory Cochiolo – 27 min.

·         “Gratitude Meditation” by Sarah McLean – 14 min.

·         “Guided Chakra Meditation” by Anika Patel – 9 min.

·         “5 Times More” by Kelly Sullivan Walden – 11 min.

·         “Working With Anxiety Guided Meditation” by Angela  Marie Patnode – 10 min.

Community

Finally, one of my favorite features of the app is its community building. The home screen shows how many people have meditated around the globe on any given day. I love being a small part of the positive energy created by people seeking peace and guidance on this planet. Even more fun, at the end of any session, the app shows the people who meditated with you. First, you see your Insight Timer friends, the people you’ve connected with on the app. Next you see people in or near your town. I love finding a stranger near me, and thinking that I might run into them in real life sometime. Third are the people in the same meditation groups with you. I belong to a few groups, but I don’t check in very often. About twice each year I look to see what quotes or talks or discussions are going on in those groups. Lastly, the app shows everyone else who used the app to meditate with you.

The home screen also shows what guided meditations your connections are listening to. I’ve occasionally found some favorites to bookmark there. For example, Sam in Park City, Utah befriended me on the app. She and I often meditate together in the morning, and I’ve found a couple morning meditations through her.

Besides simply seeing your fellow meditators, you can thank or message those who allow it through their permissions. I like to thank about half a dozen people per session. Sometimes we’ve used the internal app messenger to ask each other about our chosen tag lines. There is one meditator in South Africa who regularly sends me a beautiful message to send thoughts of kindness. It’s a safe and lovely community, and you can be as involved in it—or not—as you like.

Whether you’ve meditated for years or you want to just give it a try, I recommend the free beginner’s course on the app; it's by one of my favorite teachers. I hope you’ll find, as I have, that this app is a great tool to develop meditation practice, and therefore your mind, spirit, and connection to God.

Sanctuary Space: An Introduction

Ten years ago, Kent and I began meditating. Seven years ago, I created a meditation space in my bedroom. I now call it my Sanctuary Space. It has evolved over the years, as has my meditation practice. Here is a little update on both. I'll be editing this post as I write more detailed posts about the elements of this space, so please come back and find links if you want to learn more.

Welcome to my space. Please come in.

I like flexibility, and this space allows me to play with it. With the sheer panels layered over light-blocking curtains, the space becomes the window to the master bedroom, or cloaks the room in sleepy darkness. Inside the alcove, I can shut myself off from the rest of the house. I sometimes wonder at its power of invisibility, because if I'm on my cushion with the curtains drawn, my children never think to look for me in there. They will call all around the house and explore my bedroom, but they don't crack the curtains. Perhaps they intuit that closed curtains mean Mom is unavailable to them for the moment.

Speaking of the cushion, it is more comfortable than it looks! I often meditate and pray early in the morning (another natural deterrent to interruptive children). I like to begin with prayer, kneeling on the cushion and taking in the moonlight of winter mornings (hence the candles in the corner) or the sunrises of summer. The rolled blanket serves to support my arms and forehead if I choose to kneel prostrate. If I have time to follow prayer with a meditation, I place the blanket on the back edge of the cushion to help me sit upright. I can sit quite serenely for a half hour or more.

Overhead I've hung a branch that I pruned from our honey locust tree. I got these sweet, wooden bird cutouts to represent my family members: me and Kent, our five children, plus one extra for the children-in-law and grandchildren we'll gain, and the extended guests we seem to collect over the years. (Looking forward our Colombian 'daughter' coming this summer!) 

My friends, Kelly and her family, alter artworks and affix sculpture to their wall. I always admired their guts for doing so, but it took me years to gain the courage to add permanent words to my walls. Still, taking a Sharpie marker to the paint job has helped the space become mine. When I see a scripture or quote I like, I record it. I collect these scraps of truth-on-paper in my little wooden treasure box, and they eventually make it onto the west wall.

In addition to also serving as a blank canvas for the inspiring words I have yet to discover, the east wall (below) is home to my vision board. The board is placed at eye level so I can stand and visualize all the things I want as part of my life. (Future link and post to come.)

Resting on the floor is my all-time-favorite collection of words from Psalm 46:10. "Be still, and know that I am God." When I brought this framed quote home, I left it on the floor, intending to hang it later; but I found that while seated on the ground for prayer, having those words beside me was the perfect place for them. They are a reminder to be still. In that stillness I know my body, my mind and soul. And I work to accept the greatest invitation that is given to all: 

"Be still and know that I AM, God."

I also have a few tools that help me do the mindfulness and spiritual work of my Sanctuary Space. The one I use most is the Insight Timer app. The app lets me time my prayer, silent meditation, and yoga. Or I can choose a guided meditation to welcome the morning, set an intention, practice loving kindness, explore anxiety, or even settle into a rejuvenating nap. At the end of any meditative practice, the app shows me who in my area and around the world meditated with me, and I can send a quick message of gratitude to any of those people. It's really quite fun to connect with someone on another continent and know we both were engaging in positive energy together.

Pictured above are my other tools; I'll explain them in clockwise order. There's my earbuds for listening to guided meditations without disrupting my sleeping husband. A Chakra Reiki Healing Heart bracelet. I don't necessarily believe that different stones resonate with our chakras--or maybe I just don't understand that yet--but I do like wearing the bracelet as a reminder that I'm seeking balance in my life and striving to be loving. Plus it's nice to think about my friend, Gina, who gave it to me. The Human Charger helps keep my circadian rhythms working, even when sunlight changes with the seasons. And the timer keeps me on track at my vision board. These devices all stay tidy in my little box with my word scraps. Sometimes I keep a gratitude journal here too, but more often I write while in bed at the end of the day, and the journal stays on my headboard.



I feel lucky to have this space in my home. It really didn't make sense to be used for anything else. Kent used to share the space with me, but he now uses a chair and table on his side of the bed for his prayer, meditation, and journaling.











Whether you have a favorite little alcove, or just a favorite quiet corner in your home or garden, I encourage everyone to create a Sanctuary Space. Spending at least a few minutes here every day has become a time to connect with my fellowmen digitally or just in my thoughts. It is where I get grounded and align my plans and desires to God's work. Here I experience His peace, and often His love and interest in my life. It is a holy place I can enter daily, and it shapes the person I am becoming.