3 Ways to Transform Your Home into a Healing Spiritual Oasis
Elite Tips from Tulum’s Hospitality and Design Gurus to Elevate Your Meditation Room
It’s been a turbulent year(s), and my morning rituals kept me sane throughout self-quarantine, times of heartbreak, and times when I felt anxious about the future. Between the global pandemic, polarizing politics, and the personal adjustments that many of us had to make, we can all use a place where we can have a spiritual practice of our own.
The good news is, crafting your oasis is incredibly fun!
You may already have a meditation space — but these tips are more than just aesthetics, these tips will elevate your connection to your spiritual nature.
Now that I’m living in Tulum, Mexico, the mecca of “wellness architecture,” there’s plenty of design inspiration and tips from experts I am eager to share with you.
Here are three invaluable tips to construct your very own sanctuary.
- Channel Your Ancestry Roots
A luxury eco-resort is one way to call Azulik. It is also considered a masterful work of art and a magical experience that reconnects people with the natural world. The innovative mind behind this masterpiece is Roth Azulik. He explains that one of the core aspects that guide their design is ancestral connection.
“all communities share a common ancestry, and we should respect and learn from this shared history.”
Learning about our ancestors creates a sense of belonging. To incorporate a piece of your culture or family tradition into your meditation space can enrich your practice and bring a deeper connection with yourself.
TIP: Be curious, and do a little research into your family tree. Look at family heirlooms and cultural artifacts that resonate with you. It can range from a piece of jewelry to ceramic bowls, from furniture to rugs.
Take a deeper dive into the creative process of Azulik’s team:
roth-architecture.com/creative-process
2. Fabrics and Textures
Do you know that feeling of sleeping in fresh white sheets or snuggling up on the couch with your favorite blanket? How you instantly felt at home and relaxed.
Wellness design encompasses a collaborative list — fabric material and neutral color palettes are integral components.
Looking to Daniella Hunter for inspiration, she brings an elevated level of awareness to her hotel, Sanara Tulum, and the Real Coconut restaurant. All materials used in her designs are biodegradable at the end of their life span and made in small batches.
Hemp, lyocell, organic cotton, and silk are used, and even coloring of the fabric is conducted with care and attention to its impact on the environment.
TIP: When looking for fabrics, take that extra step to check the origin and the production process to indicate its sustainable credentials. As for colors, have fun with neutrals. Go with grey, cream, and brown all at once. As well, bring in a lot of texture. Offset rough with soft and coarse with smooth.
For more details on the fabrics mentioned, take a look at Daniella’s website: bydaniellahunter.com/pages/our-fabrics
3. Outdoor Indoor Integration
When we visualize an oasis, we most likely think of being outdoors, breathing in the fresh air, and soaking in the sunlight.
There are many health benefits to fresh air. One advantage is the increased amounts of oxygen you breathe will help produce more serotonin (the happy hormone) in the body.
When it comes to lighting — having natural light in the room helps us attune our body and mind to our circadian rhythm.
Circadian rhythm is our internal 24-hour clock, a part of our brain that regulates the alertness, sleepiness, and behavior changes our body goes through by responding to the light in our environment.
CO-LAB is a design studio whose portfolio is an impressive list of highly sought-after architectural projects in Tulum. One of their recent design is a pavilion that takes the form of a five-sided catenary structure, with sweeping walls made from bamboo and arched vaults. This structure captures the interaction between light and shadow, further enhances the tranquil quality of the space. It also allows for plenty of airflows, guiding the jungle breeze in and through the area.
TIP: Choose a space in the house close to a window. Allow as much natural light in as possible during the day. If that space is not available, make sure there is adequate ventilation in the room, place a standing fan in the room to keep the air moving. Keep the lighting warm or light candles for evening meditations.
Check out Co Lab’s website for more inspiration:
co-labdesignoffice.com/
Wellness-focused design involves lighting, materials, air, neutral color palettes, and outdoor-indoor space integration — to name a few.
According to the Global Wellness Summit, “Wellness Architecture” is one of the top wellness trends of 2021. I would also add that this trend is inevitably irreversible. Considering feeling happier, healthier, and more alive will never go out of style.
