How to Create Sacred Space for Hearing Your Inner Whispers — Even in a Busy Life

I just got back from a coaching retreat in Mexico, and honestly? I didn’t want to come home.

Not because of the heat (though stepping back into the cold was quite the adjustment — I woke up my first morning back, looked at the thermostat and thought, “Why is it so cold in here?” It hadn’t changed at all. My body had just forgotten what real life felt like). But because of the energy there. The quiet. The way everything just… slowed down enough for me to actually hear myself think.

And within 24 hours of arriving, I had clarity on things I’d been wrestling with for weeks.

Twenty-four hours. That’s it.

Not because Mexico has some kind of magic in the water. But because I finally got still enough to listen.

Here’s the thing — your inner whispers are always there. They never stop speaking. But most of us are moving so fast, so loud, so constantly on that we can’t hear them. We drown them out with our schedules, our scrolling, our endless to-do lists. And then we wonder why we feel lost, unaligned, or like we’re just going through the motions.

Creating sacred space is how you change that. And no, you don’t need to book a flight to Mexico to do it.

What Happens When You Stop Listening

Let me take you back to my college years for a moment, because this is where I learned the hard way what it costs to ignore your inner whispers.

It felt chaotic. Like I couldn’t get my footing no matter what I did. Looking back, I’d describe it as deeply unaligned — though I didn’t have that word for it yet. And the Universe, being the patient teacher that it is, kept presenting me with the same lessons over and over again until I finally paid attention.

The clearest example? I was in a relationship with someone who was not treating me well. And I mean consistently not treating me well. The signs were everywhere. The whispers were practically shouting at this point. And I kept ignoring them, kept going back, kept hoping things would be different.

They weren’t.

One night, I walked in on that boyfriend with someone else. And as painful as that moment was, it was also a wake-up call I couldn’t ignore anymore. I remember thinking — you knew. Somewhere deep down, you always knew. You just weren’t listening.

That was a turning point for me. I decided I wasn’t going to keep betraying my own inner knowing like that. I woke up one morning, looked at myself, and said: I just need to be happy for myself. And I meant it.

But it wasn’t until years later — when I went through my yoga teacher training in 2020 — that I truly learned what it meant to create intentional space for that inner guidance. That’s when my relationship with my higher power deepened, and I started actually listening to the signs, the synchronicities, the quiet nudges that had always been there.

That’s when everything began to shift.

So, What Is “Sacred Space,” Really?

I want to clear something up, because I think a lot of people hear the words “sacred space” and immediately picture something elaborate. A dedicated meditation room. A crystal collection. Hours of silence.

It doesn’t have to be any of that.

Sacred space can absolutely be a physical place — and I do have a little altar set up at home where I’ll write down an intention, slip it under a candle, and let it burn for a while. There’s something powerful about that ritual for me. But sacred space can just as easily be a comfortable chair that gets good morning light, a window nook where you can watch the trees, or the corner of a coffee shop where you feel at peace.

More importantly, sacred space can be a mental and emotional state that you bring yourself into.

Here’s why that matters. When your nervous system is wound up — when you’re emotionally reactive, overwhelmed, or spinning — you literally cannot think clearly. And you definitely cannot hear your inner guidance. The two are connected. When you’re emotionally worked up, your mental clarity goes right out the window.

But when you can bring that nervous system back down — even just through breathing — you create the conditions for your higher power to actually reach you. You open the channel.

I love the way my friend Carla describes it: the Penthouse Theory. Picture your consciousness as a building. You want to be vibrating at the penthouse level — open, clear, elevated — not stuck in the basement, which is where fear, stress, and overwhelm tend to live. We’re all somewhere in between most of the time, and that’s okay. The goal is just to keep moving up.

Sacred space is how you get there.

“I Don’t Have Time for This”

I hear you. I really do. You’ve got a career, kids, a household, responsibilities that don’t pause for your personal growth. The idea of carving out sacred space feels like just one more thing on an already impossible list.

So let me ask you something: Can you spare two minutes?

Because that’s all it takes to start. Two minutes of writing down what you’re grateful for — even just three things — creates a genuine energetic shift. It pulls your focus toward the positive, and that shift matters more than most people realize.

We all have the same hours in a day. And somewhere in yours — maybe at lunch, maybe before the kids wake up, maybe in the parking lot before you walk into work — there are two minutes. That’s your sacred space. That’s enough to begin.

And here’s the beautiful thing about journaling: you can take it anywhere. I carry mine with me and do what I call my “pages” — a brain dump of whatever needs to get out before I start my day. It clears the mental clutter so it’s not following me around. If something is bugging me — if I woke up on the wrong side of things, if a conversation is sitting heavy — I write it down and walk away from it. By the time I’m done, I’ve already let a lot of it go.

What My Sacred Space Practice Actually Looks Like

Since I know you’re probably wondering what this looks like on a real, ordinary day — here’s my non-negotiable morning practice:

Pages. If there’s anything swirling around in my head, I write it out first. Stream of consciousness, no filter, no editing. Just get it out. (Julia Cameron talks about this in The Artist’s Way as “morning pages,” and she’s onto something. Even if you don’t know what to write, just write that you don’t know what to write — keep going until something comes.)

Gratitude. I write down anywhere from three to ten things I’m genuinely grateful for. Some mornings it’s big things. Some mornings it’s the cup of coffee in my hand. Both count.

A Daily Intention. Not always a task, though it can be. Often, it’s more about how I want to show up that day. Something like: “I want today to feel organized and focused.” Or: “I want to show up with patience.” It sets the tone from the inside out.

That’s it. Some mornings it takes five minutes. Some mornings it takes twenty. But those three things are my anchor — my way of beginning each day from a place of intention rather than reaction.

The Story That Changed Everything

A few years ago, after my divorce, I was living in an apartment in transition. I set up a little office nook — nothing fancy, just a small space with a view of the river. I didn’t entirely know why. I just felt pulled to create somewhere I could sit and be.

From that quiet space, I kept seeing the same Facebook program pop up over and over: Through the Looking Glass. It called to me. The graphics were beautiful, the energy felt right, and I couldn’t stop running into it. Finally, I reached out and set up a call with the woman behind it — her name is Dolly, and she became one of the most important mentors of my life.

Taking that program is what led me into coaching the way I do it today. My whole path opened up from that one decision.

But here’s the thing — if I hadn’t created that sacred space, I don’t think I would have been still enough to notice it. I would have scrolled right past. When we’re in constant motion, we miss the very things that are meant for us. Sacred space isn’t just about feeling peaceful. It’s about positioning yourself to receive.

To the Skeptic in the Room

Maybe you’re reading this and thinking, this all sounds a little too woo-woo for me. You’re a high-achiever. You like data, results, efficiency. The idea of lighting a candle and journaling feels uncomfortable, or even a little silly.

I get it. And I’m not going to try to convince you of anything you’re not ready for.

I’ll just ask you this one question: How do you know you won’t hear something important if you’ve never gotten still enough to listen?

A lot of high-achieving women don’t sit still. They don’t let themselves sit still, because being still feels unproductive. But here’s what’s interesting — some of the most clarity-producing, direction-changing moments of my life have come in the quiet. Not in the doing. In the being.

You don’t know until you try.

The One Thing That Drowns Out Your Whispers Most

If I had to name the single biggest thing that keeps women from hearing their inner guidance, it’s fear.

Not busyness (though that’s real). Not self-doubt (though that matters too). Fear.

Because fear is the one we actively give power to. We rehearse it, we feed it, we let it make our decisions for us. And here’s what I’ve learned — and what I remind myself of constantly, because I struggle with this too:

Fear is just a word. It’s just a feeling. And you are the one giving it power.

Which means you can take that power back.

The way I’ve been working through my own fear lately is simple: I just commit to doing one thing every day that could move my book forward. One small thing. A post, an email, a conversation. That’s it. Because fear shrinks when you take action. It can’t survive motion.

Whatever you’re being called toward — your goal, your purpose, your next chapter — just do one small thing today. And then again tomorrow.

The One Thing to Do This Week

If you only take one thing from this blog, let it be this:

Find a window. Sit down beside it. Look at the trees. And breathe.

I know that sounds too simple to be powerful. But I promise you — the stillness itself is the practice. When you get quiet, your higher power knows you’re listening. And that’s when things start to show up.

In Mexico, I saw butterflies everywhere I went. Different kinds, different colors — including this stunning green one that looked so much like a leaf I almost missed it. I leaned in close and it barely moved, just fluttered its wings just enough to say I’m here. And I thought — that’s exactly what our inner whispers do. They flutter. They’re subtle. And we only catch them when we’re paying close enough attention.

Butterflies mean transformation. And you don’t need to be in Mexico for transformation to find you.

You just need to get still.

Ready to go deeper into hearing your inner whispers and living from a place of true inner guidance? My book, Whispers Within Us, is available now — and it’s written for exactly this moment in your life.

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Love, Light, and Gratitude 🩵 — Kathleen