module 10- sacred spaces, healing places

Sacred Spaces, Healing Places

Anoka-Ramsey College

PPT #10 ©Valerie Lis 2012

SACRED SPACES

• In this chapter, the elements of a sacred, healing space and the environment’s role in healing are discussed.

Here are a few concepts from the chapter:

• A healing environment is one in which individuals are supported and nurtured, in which they feel spiritually calm, and in which health and well-being are promoted.

• Healing environments engage all five senses. They maximize choice and independence and include attention to specific design details such as energy, color, nature, lighting, air quality and temperature, smells and taste, sounds, furnishings, and wayfinding.

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• Healthcare providers are an integral part of the client’s healing journey. The energy and intent they bring to their relationship with the client is essential to this journey.

A HEALING ENVIRONMENT

• Hippocrates’ observation that our well-being is affected by our settings is a cornerstone of modern Western Medicine.

• The ancient Greeks worshipped the god of healing by building healing temples among cypress groves that faced the ocean and took advantage of the sea breezes and the sun.

• The ancient Egyptians decorated their healing places with murals because they believed the murals helped patients maintain their interest in life.

• Early Christians designed their hospitals after cathedrals so patients would feel confident, spiritual, serene, and strong.

• Native Americans believe in the sacredness of special places.


DESIGNING A HEALING ENVIRONMENT

• Energy and Elements

• Space Clearing

• Healing Colors

• Lighting

• Air Temperature and Quality

• Smells and Taste

• Healing Sounds and Noise

• Furnishings

• Altars and Personal Sacred Spaces

• Wayfinding

• Symbols


• Feng Shui is the art of balancing, harmonizing, and enhancing the flow of natural energies.

• This energy, or chi, can be balanced by harmonizing the elements of metal, fire, water, wood, and earth.


FENG SHUI

THE BAGUA MAP

SACRED SPACE IN THE NATURAL WORLD

• Cycles of Nature

• Exposure to Nature

• Water

• Animals and Pets

• Healing Gardens


Nature is but another name for health. ~Henry David Thoreau

Match the photo to the location.


Sacred Placeson Earth

1. Stonehenge

2. Mt Olympus

3. Mecca

4. Machu Picchu

5. Easter Island Ahu Tongariki

6. Red Rocks of Sedona

7. Mt Shasta

8. The Great Mosque of Kairouan

9. The Temple of Vishnu

10.The Toltec Sanctuary of Tollan

Sacred Places

A place to heal

DISCUSSION BOARD

• For this week’s Discussion Board, you will answer the following questions about your healing environment:

– 1. Think about your workplace or home for a few minutes. Would you consider it to be a healing environment? If not, what are some areas that need to be changed?

– 2. While you may not be able to impact the physical environment of your workplace, remember that you are a part of that environment. Your presence in a room impacts the client—your sounds, smells, and visual images. Are you a healing environment? If not, what might you do to become one?

• Remember to place two more comments in response to other students’ posts.


WIKI ACTIVITY:CREATE YOUR OWN SACRED SPACE

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• Choose colors, lighting, water, air

quality, sounds, smells, and

furnishings that support your

personal healing.

• Decorate your space with symbols

and items of meaning such as

stones, paintings, writings, and

affirmations.

• If you are familiar with feng shui

principles, you may use them in the

selection and placement of objects in

your space.

• You may also wish to do a space

clearing.

• Post three thoughtful comments to

your classmates’ submissions.

REMINDERS. . .

• Be sure to complete the Quiz, the Discussion Board, and the Group WIKI activity this week.

• Remember: To receive credit for Discussion Boards and WIKIs, you must comment on other students’ posts.

• The due date for all assignments from the ninth module is October 28.

• The due date for all assignments from the tenth module is November 4

• If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know. Thanks!

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Let the mountain speak through you. Let the bird speak through you. Let the rivers speak through you. Give them voice and in the deepest caves of understanding you will hear a song. It sings of your oneness, blessed in the eternal fragments of your mind. Let no separation come between you and nature and you will become the guide who will always find his way home.

~Matthew Smith

module 10- sacred spaces, healing places

Education