Necessary Meditation Equipment

When you first begin to meditate or as you progress through your meditation techniques, you may find it beneficial to supplement your meditation sessions with certain equipment that is specifically designed to make your experience more effective or more comfortable. Fortunately, there is a variety of meditation equipment that can be readily purchased.

For example, you may choose to purchase candles, incense, clothing, cushions or audio tapes to soothe your mind and cushion your body. In addition, as with some individuals where meditation is a large part of their overall lifestyle, you may decide to invest in the remodeling of a specific room in your house to make it more suitable for your meditation sessions.

Whatever you decide to do, you should be familiar with the equipment available for your use. Most of the things that you can buy to supplement your program are easily obtainable and cheap. You may choose to only buy one piece at a time as your budget allows. Never invest too much money at one time until you are sure that the equipment that you purchase will work for you. For example, it may be unwise to buy 100 sandalwood candles without at least purchasing 1 beforehand to see if you find it beneficial like your meditation sessions.

Choosing your Scents

One of the first considerations that you will make is which scent you will choose and how you will release that scent. If you are adverse to smoke, be aware that incense is simply scented smoke. Instead of incense, you may try using candles. Although, there is smoke when you blow the candle out, the scent tends to be less immediately smoky. Whichever method you prefer, the following are some ideas on which scents you might choose.

Lavender

Lavender is considered to be one of the best scents for the relief of stress and anxiety. This scent is especially valuable for the beginner in meditation as it is generally unobtrusive and pleasant. There are also wax beads that can be placed in a glass bowl set over a fire if you do not think candles are strong enough. This type of scent is released quickly and heavily. Otherwise, lavender incense is often considered to be very pleasing.

Violet/Jasmine

Violet or Jasmine is an excellent scent to use if you are meditating in order to fall asleep. There are safety concerns when using open flames to induce sleep so perhaps incense would be your best option in this case. Even if you do use incense, remember to keep it very isolated from anything that could potentially catch fire. This should be a general rule for all meditation sessions. Nothing can be more interruptive of a meditation session than a fire.

Rose or Orange Blossoms

Rose or orange blossoms are very effective for the increase of sexual desire. If you like to perform meditation with an intimate partner, consider using these scents to get the most out of your session. In addition to burned fragrances, you may consider rose or orange blossom scented oils to further help the mood.

Fruit Scents

If you are meditating to put yourself on a better mood, consider using fruit scented products. The scents can be very pleasing and have been known to elevate moods and help with mild depression. In this case, you should use a lightly scented candle in favor of incense. Incense may be too strong for mood elevation.

Citrus Scents

Those meditating for an energy boost should consider using citrus fragrances like orange, lemon or lime to help. There are many products, such as Citronella, that have added bug repellant benefits that could be very valuable to your meditation session if you like to meditate outside.

Coffee/Peppermint

These sweet scents are often helpful for people meditating to induce greater clarity and stimulate brain function. For clarity, you may consider using incense as it gives a religious feeling to the session. However, candles are equally valuable in this function.

You may have noticed that aerosol and spray scents were not addressed. The simple fact is that most people prefer the prolonged and warm sensation of a burned scent in the air as they meditate. You may choose aerosol or sprayed scents if you like but be aware that the vast majority of practitioners are more comfortable with candles and incense.

Choosing a Cushion

Depending on your style, you will need a different type of support for your body. If you practice a type of meditation that requires you to sit in a reclining chair, you will obviously need one of those as well. Below are some cushions that you may consider.

• Zafu: This type of cushion resembles a bean bag chair and is the traditional type of support used by the Buddhist tradition. As it is a bag type of cushion, there is no support provided for the back or the legs.

• Stools: These support devices are designed to elevate the buttocks above the legs as the participant sits in a cross legged fashion. The stools are generally designed on an incline to make the sitting position more comfortable.

• Moon Cushion: This type of cushion supports the back and the legs of the participant and may be a good option for people with back problems. Be aware, however, that moon cushions are fairly large and could prove to be cumbersome with which to travel.

• Mountain Cushion: Mountain cushions are specifically designed to support the spine as the meditator sits on the floor. People that do not find that moon cushions provide enough back support could consider a mountain cushion. However, the mountain cushion requires a bit more skill to use than other options.

Choosing Other Equipment

• Mats: People that do not want to invest in a cushion could consider a mat instead. These mats are specially designed to cushion the body and make meditation sessions more comfortable. Some mats are designed to recycle and release body heat to keep the participant warm while they meditate. Constant stillness can rob the body of heat very quickly.

• Timers: Some people like to use a timer with a gentle alarm to signal when their session is done. Successful meditation can indeed cause time to get away from you. In addition, timers are required for sessions that incorporate different positions (Sit/stand method). It is of utmost importance that the alarm is a very soothing and simple sound. The shrill sound of an alarm clock can be somewhat jarring after such a relaxing period of meditation.

• Music: Ambient sound is important for some people when they meditate. This is acceptable as long as the music does not become too distracting or intrusive. Consider using a compact disc of gentle rainfall or a small stream rather than heavy metal or rock music.

  There are many pre-recorded sessions that you can purchase. The added benefit of buying meditating music is that they usually come recorded with time sections to let you know when it is time to switch positions (if your sessions requires it).