How to Find Your Spirit Power Place
Years ago I took a trip to Taos, New Mexico. Out of all the places in the world I could have gone, I felt most strongly drawn there for reasons I could not say. Both of my connecting flights were delayed, so I didn’t arrive in Albuquerque until late. My compact car had been rented to someone else, so I was “stuck” with a convertible (heee!) and had the magical experience of driving with the top down, under a full moon, through the desert along the Rio Grande, while on my way to my B&B in Taos.
I woke up early the next day expecting to feel exhausted from the late night and all the travel, but instead I felt invigorated, inspired, and eager to meet the day. I felt the same way every day that I was there. I was so in tune with the spirit of the land, nature, and the forces of the weather, and met so many mystical people, that I’ve longed to return to Taos ever since.
I’ve never quite felt that vibe anywhere else. I was there for five days, but in that time, I experienced a major creative and spiritual growth spurt. Taos was definitely revealed as a power place for me.
We don’t need to live in our power places, what’s important is that we know what or where they are so that we can return to them when we need a break or a boost. Many people get run down by their lives, and sometimes a vacation just isn’t enough, especially if it’s an overbooked, overactive, or over-boozy one (hence the expression “I need a vacation from my vacation!”).
Power places are different – they’re soul-callings, and even spending just a couple of hours in one can give us what we need.
Power places can have a collective calling or be unique to an individual. They can be specific places, or, it could be the dominant element in a place that helps to restore your spirit. Places like Sedona, AZ, and the Chalice Well in Glastonbury, UK, are examples of collective power places, because many people are drawn to them.
Dominant elements, found in places like the mountains (earth) or the ocean (water), tend to have great appeal. But it could also be your back garden, a city street, a café, or a particular tree, the energy of which vibrates on the frequency your soul recognizes and desires.
You know a place is a power place for you when you feel drawn inexplicably to it, knowing on some level that you will feel better when you get there. And when you are there, your vibration (or the feeling of your energy) feels higher, stronger, more clear, more joyous, and free. Creative ideas, inspiration, guidance, and/or healing can all come from being in that place.
Another defining characteristic is that you have no other purpose for being there except BEING. The desire is purely to experience being in that place, for the sake of the experience, nothing else required.
Power places have been used throughout human history for this purpose. Whether it was a sacred circle, a cave, a patch of woods, a water source, a temple, or a place with a great expanse of sky, a person or people would gather there to be with something greater than themselves.
A power place isn’t just a place where we reconnect with nature, or even God (Source, Mother, Spirit), it’s real magic is that it’s a place where we reconnect, often deeply, with our souls. It’s something that modern society has lost in many ways, and something that each of us needs to reclaim, both on an individual and collective basis.
It’s not the spa, it’s not your yoga mat, or the alley out back where you take your smoke break. These places might offer a bit of levity, respite, or space to unhook from your story and tune in with yourself, but they don’t have the same magical, soul-calling draw that is the essence of a power place.
How to Find Your Spirit Power Place:
Think back to your childhood: Was there a place that was completely magical to you as a child, one that made your imagination soar? For me it was our back flower garden, looking for faeries, and there was a tall willow tree where I would swing on its branches for hours. Remember this doesn’t have to be a specific place to return to, it could also be an element. For me, the wood element and the essence of flowers and foliage proffers a deep, soulful reconnect that I can always find in the forest or in a dense garden.
Close your eyes, and imagine a deep, peaceful, soulful place:What do you see? Is it a temple? A cornfield? A beach? A city? A night sky? A museum (museums with antiquities can link us powerfully to our ancestral or soul-based lineages, and/or to our past lives)? Is it a specific place that you can find or that you recognize, or do you sense that it’s more the prevailing element? Schedule a short trip to such a place and see how it makes you feel.
Identify what feels draining or oppressive in your current environment, and then identify it’s opposite: It could be that you feel overwhelmed or exhausted by crowds, isolation, urban centers, barren fields, noise, quiet, too much light or not enough, hard surfaces, soft surfaces, too much movement, too little activity, whatever. The key thing is to honor what you feel, and keep it to the environment, not your life circumstances (ie: your boss, bills, job, or mother-in-law). A lot of people feel they need to get out of a big city environment, and yet, just this morning the city of Berlin was identified in a client’s Akashic Record as a power place for her. It all depends on what, and where, makes you feel you truly juiced up and attuned deeply to yourself.
Let Spirit guide you: Sometimes a big part of finding our power places is by allowing Spirit to guide us there. I knew nothing of Taos, I can’t even remember how or why it sprung to mind, but it was the place I absolutely wanted to go. And while I’ve been in many spiritual and sacred places since, I’ve never quite felt the way I did there, or in my childhood garden, for that matter. If you feel strongly guided to a place, no matter how random, no matter if it’s not what you expected or not a place you’re familiar with, check it out anyway. If the feeling persists, and if it resonates for you on some level, go.
Throw a dart at a map, use a pendulum, or get an astrology reading: Perhaps you’re open to synchronicity taking the lead, or to using an ancient method or system of divining to identify powerful and sacred sites for yourself. The main thing, as always, is to trust your gut. If it doesn’t resonate for you in your heart, then it’s probably not the right fit. Don’t let fear or disbelief gum up the works, though. If you approach these methods with a strong desire to find your power place and unwavering faith, you are likely to be led in the right direction.
As a final note, there are times when a power place isn’t actually a place, at least not physically. It’s a place that you slip into either energetically or psychically that induces the feeling of deep restoration and reconnection. I feel this way often when I’m in the Akashic Records, or after I’ve performed a deep and transformative ritual. There are places where you might journey in your mind, heart, or altered states, that are your power places. It’s not the same as being “in the zone”, where you’re in a state of intense focus or directed energy. It’s a place that you know shifts you when you go there, and feels deeply intimate and sacred.
You can have more than one power place. The important thing is to pledge to go to it regularly as part of your self-care and spiritual development. Just as a shaman may retreat to a cave for guidance, healing, and attunement, you can go to your power place to help you on your path.
It’s a blessing only you can bestow upon yourself, and it’s worth it every time.
