How to Prepare a Meditation Space
When starting a meditation practice, remember that meditation is not easy because the nature of your mind is to jump around like a monkey from one desire to another. Plus, so many external distractions pull you out of your inner focus and truth.
According to the Bhagavad Gita, the most ancient yogic text, meditation is a state of awareness – not a practice – that automatically happens when the student is ready. You aren’t ready to reach this state until you have exhausted all of your desires except one: to experience your true self within.
Shamatha ‒ Calming the Mind’s Formations
Therefore, what you are doing when you practice meditation on a daily basis is actually the calming and focusing of your mind on one chosen thought – excluding all other thoughts – in order to reflect, observe, and be clearer within. You can then make decisions and take actions with love, knowledge, and a willingness to serve others.
This daily development of your intellect helps steer your life in the right direction instead of relying on your emotional mind to drive you toward some kind of functional insanity. If you’re like me, you know this state all too well.
In Buddhism, this one-pointed focus is called Shamatha. Finding these moments to pause inwardly can help you make better and more peaceful decisions, improving your overall quality of life. This practice of pausing develops your intellect more. It’s a maintenance program that is highly efficient for your busy life.
On a scientific level, many meditation practices help balance the nervous system, which is responsible for regulating the stress in your body. On a cellular level, daily calming techniques like the Here & Now Meditation Guide suggests are highly effective for optimal health both physically and mentally.
Enter the Here & Now Through Meditation
Whether you’re looking to cultivate more authenticity, increase happiness, improve relationships, or reduce stress, all of these things are accessible to you through the practice of meditation. Learn how Gaiam TV can help you transform your life in this video.
Sign up for Here & Now: A Beginner’s Guide to Meditation and fundamentally change your life.
Meditation Space ‒ What You Need
Yoga instructor Rina Jakubowicz meditating on the beach.
When you start this daily practice, you should set yourself up with the following spiritual toys.
Your Sacred Space
Create a physical sacred space for yourself to have some quiet and solo time. If there’s not much privacy in your house, lovingly explain to your family or roommates to honor this space as sacred for you. Define what honoring your space means, and share it clearly with those who live with you.
Create your own altar by finding a small table or trunk. Something that inspires you to sit in front of it.
Inspirational Toys
Add some objects that inspire you. Place them on your new altar. Don’t add too many objects so that your space get cluttered. Keep it to the basics. These external objects are only meant to remind you of your inner sacredness. Don’t get attached to the whistles and bells. Here are some options:
- Your mala
- A candle
- Incense
- Buddha-like statue (symbolic of your devotion to the higher self within you.)
- A photo of your teacher or someone you respect and admire in hopes of emanating his or her state of awareness and wisdom. Personally, my first altar had a small panel of inspiring yogis with the photos of Jesus Christ, Bhagavan Krishna, Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Swami Sri Yukteswar, and Paramahansa Yogananda. My favorite to look at was Lahiri Mahasaya because his face expressed to me that of a silly child in joy, and it made me happy to look at him.
- Your journal/notebook for taking notes on your reflections, insights, questions, and experiences.
- A spiritual text you’re studying presently.
- Anything else that has a deeper meaning to you.
Time of Day
Find a quiet time (ideally in the early morning) to do your practice. Set your alarm 15 minutes earlier and do this right when you wake up. Keep your practice consistent. If you feel you need to also do it at night as a recap of the day, then add that to your agenda as well. The key is to keep it consistent.
Physical Posture
Sit on a cushion so that your hips are higher than your legs in order to help increase circulation. Keep your spine straight in order to strengthen your back. If you need to sit in a chair, just make sure you are sitting on the edge of the chair in order to keep your back straight. The posture is important for focusing purposes. Feel free to do some stretches prior to sitting in order to help you loosen up.
About the Author
7 Ways to Ease Into Meditation
Meditation is for everyone: monks in Tibet, yogis, corporate lawyers, gardeners, the rich, poor, young, and old. We may all approach life differently but in meditation, we are all doing the same thing: quieting the mind and looking within. In a society where information is so readily available, we often look to other sources for opinions and advice. It’s more important than ever to make meditation a priority. Our bodies and minds are our greatest compasses in life. They will always tell us if something we are doing is good for us or not; we just have to stop for a moment to look, feel, and listen from within.
Enter the Here & Now Through Meditation
Whether you’re looking to cultivate more authenticity, increase happiness, improve relationships, or reduce stress, all of these things are accessible to you through the practice of meditation.
Sign up for Here & Now: A Beginner’s Guide to Meditation and fundamentally change your life.
Here are 7 Ways to Ease Into a Meditation Practice:
1. Give yourself some “soft time” before meditation
Often, the moment you try to quiet the mind it will wander in a thousand different directions. “I forgot to do this today… the kids have a big test tomorrow…my husband forgot to take out the trash…there is a sale at the grocery store…I don’t have time to sit here doing nothing…” Give yourself a few minutes to let the mind do this and then ask it to quiet down. Truly ask it; it’s usually responsive.
2. Compose a to-do list
If after letting your mind wander and asking it to quiet down, you are still unable to reach a place of stillness, write those pesky things down, and acknowledge them. Sometimes that’s all thoughts need— acknowledgment.
3. Start a ritual
Meditation can be done anywhere at any time. It can be done in the middle of the subway during rush hour or in the middle of a meeting with your boss (I don’t recommend the latter). I’ve found, though, that training the mind to quiet down in a specific setting prepares it to settle down with less effort. Light candles have chamomile tea, take a bubble bath. Signal to your mind that it’s time to relax.
4. Learn to observe
We are not our thoughts. We have our thoughts. Try to detach yourself and simply watch them go by. View them in a cloud or a bubble and allow them to float away.
5. Focus on the breath
I know, you have heard this a million times. But it works! The best lesson I received in meditation is to focus on the pause between inhales and exhales. The four stages of breath give the mind something to focus on and connect us to our life force. You can focus on the breath and reduce your stress in just 15 minutes with Seize the Day! prior to even leaving the house. It’s lovely.
6. Do yoga
Yoga flows can become a moving meditation. Yin yoga can bring your mind and body into stillness. Kundalini can prepare the breath. Any type of yoga can open the mind and body to meditation. You can’t lose.
7. Think Positive Thoughts
Finally, if you’re having a crazy day and can’t get your mind to settle down, it’s OK. Think positive thoughts. There are days when meditation is easy, days when it takes a little longer to become still, and days when it just doesn’t want to happen. I used to become annoyed with myself if I couldn’t stop the endlessness of my thoughts, but that defeats the purpose. On those days, I ask my mind to come up with as many positive words as it can. Joy, peace, serenity, gratitude, etc. After even just a few minutes of doing this, I guarantee you will be in a calm, peaceful place.
