What's Your Sanctuary?
Early in my career, a mentor asked me, “So, what’s your sanctuary?“
I blinked. I knew the latest civil code amendments, the court and Trade Register procedures, the many interpretations of various legal articles, etc. - but a sanctuary? I half-wondered if he’d mispronounced salary.
Fast-forward almost two decades, and the question feels prophetic.
Life moves at 5-G speed.
Inboxes fill faster than we can empty them.
We answer pings while brushing our teeth.
We inhale headlines between meetings.
In this blur, resilience is an energy budget. Spend it indiscriminately, and the account runs dry.
The romantic idea I once had about law and order has been replaced by a reality that requires a sanctuary. An intentional pocket of space and time which is only mine and no one else can book, slide into, or just borrow for a sec.
Why a private refuge matters
Study the daily habits of successful people, and you’ll notice many of them understand the power of having a sanctuary.
A Harvard Business Review study found that managers who spent just 15 minutes of quiet reflection at the end of the day performed 23% better on subsequent tasks.
Inside a sanctuary, perspective stretches. Problems shrink. Negative thoughts that were shouting are now pushed to the back. Shy insights step forward. And we gain:
Clarity - because ideas echo differently in quiet rooms.
Emotional range - the capacity to respond instead of react.
Endurance - not by grinding harder, but by pacing smarter.
Remember the famous line attributed to A. Einstein:
“I think 99 times and find nothing.
I stop thinking, swim in silence, and the truth comes to me”.
Even though the quote is only apocryphally attributed to Einstein, it still aligns with his well-documented habit of stepping away, playing the violin, and taking long walks when he was stuck on a problem.
Modern cognitive science also agrees: intense focus can lock the brain into a narrow pattern. A brief “incubation“ break (silence, nature, a shower, a stroll) lets the default mode network recombine ideas in the background, which often leads to the classic “aha!“ moment.
The anatomy of a sanctuary
What counts as a sanctuary? It can be anything.
A favorite corner in the home and some tea at dawn.
One cushion, one candle, one journal page (we’ve all heard about the great benefits of journaling).
A walk in nature. No headphones, no phones, just breathe and walk.
A yoga practice or any other hobby you love.
How to make it stick:
Name it. Anything unnamed is expendable. Usually, is that place or practice that lets you disconnect from the outside and reconnect with the inside.
Anchor it with a cue. Steam rising from tea leaves, incense curling upward, the quiet observation of nature - all tiny signals that tell the nervous system, “We’re safe here”.
Make it simple. If your sanctuary needs only 20 silent minutes in one still place, honour that.
Notice the common threads: a boundary, a ritual, a short-circuit for noise. When these three line up, the amygdala powers down, the prefrontal cortex comes back online, and creativity resurfaces.
So, what’s your sanctuary?
Mine is nature. It energises me almost instantly. Camera in hand, strolling through forests, vineyards, beaches, etc. My lens is my permission to slow down, kneel, notice, and frame. That’s where I recollect, gain clarity, emotional range, and build endurance. All by merging with the present moment.
P.S. Writing this piece reminded me of an old song I used to listen to a lot: Jamiroquai’s “Corner of the Earth“. And yes, music can be a corner - your corner, your sanctuary.
