1. Unplug the phone and lock the door. Take a deep breath and relax, either sitting or lying down. Close your eyes and relax your body. If you have a place that is hard to relax, tighten the muscles there first and then relax them.
2. Take another deep breath.
3. Now imagine that you are in a place that is special to you, perhaps a wooded glade, a seashore - any place where you may have been where you felt relaxed and safe. If you can't recall a place like that, then just make one up.
4. Now imagine that you are there.
5. Feel the ground underneath you, noticing all the textures, the warmth and sensation of softness or hardness.
6. Take another deep breath.
7. Listen in your imagination. What do you hear? the sound of water lapping upon a beach? Perhaps a nearby waterfall? Birds singing?
8. What are the scents in the area? Pine? Salt from the sea spray? Flowers? The musty scent of the florest floor?
9. Notice with all your senses until you have a vivd impression of where you are in your imagination.
10. Allow the serenity of this place to wash through you.
11. This is your sanctuary. Now that you have made this place real in your imagination, you can come to this place whenever you have a moment and would like to feel refreshed and re-energized. Enjoy this sanctuary. You have created this place just for yourself.

For another "Creating a Sanctuary" meditation, see the Spirit Message page from Herb Robert

There are no right or wrong ways to do a meditation. The instructions are guidelines; adapt them to who you are and to your needs at that particular time. Be curious about the process itself.

Remember most meditations become richer the more you practice them. They reveal more of themselves. It can take practice to remember to do a meditation when you need to, and it can take practice to go through the steps. But that's why it is called practice, and for most of us, we practice for the rest of our lives.