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In today's frenetic lifestyle, a few minutes of meditation can restore your soul, relax your body and sharpen your perception. Creating a space in your home to meditate gives you a better chance of taking time out for yourself.

Priscilla Potter, director of The Yoga Connection, thinks it's the first thing you need to do once you commit to practicing meditation.

"When you have the place, you can make the time," she says. "It needs to be inviting. You're inviting yourself to sit down."

Potter, who also goes by the name Swami Mahatarananda, is lucky enough to have a whole room dedicated to deep thought and quiet being. But a small spot in a room will work too.

"I set up a corner of the bedroom," Oro Valley resident Joe Doerfer says of the place he uses to meditate in the Christian tradition. "I define that sacred place . . . to sit in silence."

Doerfer, Potter and Darren Rhodes, the owner of Yoga Oasis, and Terry Magee, vice president of the Tucson Community Meditation Center, agree on several ways to create a meditation space:

● Find a place that allows some privacy and quiet during meditation.

● Remove the clutter and maintain a simple space.

● If possible, paint the walls neutral or muted colors. Potter's room is sky blue and yellow; Rhodes' room is light green.

● Install an altar to hold a few personally meaningful objects. These can include religious icons, inspirational photos and items that remind you of why you're meditating. For instance, if you're meditating to become peaceful, Potter says, set out a flower.

● Have on hand sacred or inspirational texts to read before and after meditation, but keep other reading materials elsewhere.

● Use a seat that makes you comfortable but alert, whether it's a chair, pillow or mat. Then you can concentrate on your thoughts, not your body's pains or your sleepiness.

● Include sensory cues that put you in a calm mood, such as a candle, soft music, chimes and incense. Doerfer has a Tibetan singing bowl, while Rhodes likes to burn sandalwood incense.

Once it's set up, resist the temptation to move your meditation space to other places in the house or pack things away until you're ready to meditate.

"The space needs to be all set up, and then it's there; it's a reminder," Potter says.

Doerfer says his space does more than remind him to meditate.

"The longer you use that space, the more special it becomes," he says. "It becomes a sacred space for you."

• Contemplative Life Center (formally the World Community for Christian Meditation-USA), 627 N. Sixth Ave., 882-0290, www.wccm-usa.org.

• Tucson Community Meditation Center, 1231 E. Edison St., 622-0089, www.tucsonmeditation.org.

• The Yoga Connection, 4893 E. Speedway, 323-1222, yogaconnection.org.

• Yoga Oasis, 2631 N. Campbell Ave. and 7858 E. Wrightstown Road, 322-6142, www.yogaoasis.com.