Meditation Furniture And Lighting
Meditation is a way of doing nothing that is actually beneficial. The art of meditation is an ancient spiritual practice that aims to develop relaxation and well-being. There are many ways to meditate but they all help to clear the mind and promote good health. People suffering from depression, anxiety and high blood pressure have shown remarkable improvement after taking up a dedicated meditation practice. Others would like to reach a single point of ultimate consciousness and become a being of utter compassion, love, patience, generosity and forgiveness. Whatever an individual's own reasons are for meditating or how they do it, they will need a place to sit, and in some cases walk or work. Constructing a meditation space is as simple as finding a place, removing distractions, furnishing and decorating the space, having candles or lamps and meditating. Or you could pick out a nice looking tree and sit under it for a few years.
Selecting a Meditation Space
Depending on the scope of your practice a meditation area could be indoors or outdoors. The idea is to pick out a location that is out of reach from the activities of daily life. Therefore a back room or some other area that does not receive a lot of traffic would be ideal. If there is a part of the house or property that is not being utilized consider making it into a meditation area. If you are lucky enough to have a tract of land outside available for your personal use then a quiet glade would make an excellent meditation space to be visited each day. Failing that, a porch or balcony should be fine.
Remove Unnecessary Distractions
Meditating is not something best done in an office where there are a million things to do. Since meditation is about mental self-exploration the space must be cleared of all unnecessary distractions. There should not be any office supplies, books and magazines or other trappings of modern life. This means getting rid of all electronic devices including televisions, radios, stereos, video games, computers, power strips, paper shredders, fax machines, scanners, home audio systems and cellular devices. You do not want anything in your meditation space to take your attention away from quiet self-reflection.
Meditation Space Furnishings
Something that a meditation space should have is plenty of comfortable seating and soft furnishings. Some yoga enthusiasts like to wear what is called a meditation shawl when they practice but a soft blanket can work in the same way. For an indoor meditation area it could be as simple as a cushion on the floor. It is not uncommon to see more elaborate sitting areas on padded benches and pillows that line the walls of the room. Outdoors a well-placed accent chair will do the trick, unless you are a purist that prefers to sit directly on the ground. Really it is up to the meditator who is building the space.
Decorating a Meditation Space
That is not to say that a meditation space must be completely bare. For some reason an ambient environment contributes greatly to the practice of meditation. Even if you do not have an isolated mountain stream to ponder the universe beside you could still hang up a tapestry or acquire an orchid. Depending on the type of meditation being done the décor of a meditation space could vary. For example some sects are into having a collection of crystals and other minerals around them as they chant. For other meditators the tinkling sound of the wind through hanging bells may suffice.
Wholesale Lamps and Candles
As in most design situations there should be plenty of good lighting in a meditation space. The diffused light of a paper lantern is an obvious option. However there are a lot of table lanterns which provide the same soft glow. If there is a table in your meditation room it would be practical to include a table lamp so that you could see at night. Some people light candles when they meditate or practice yoga. There are a lot of types of lanterns that can be equipped with a votive candle and placed on the floor or in the garden. Consider hanging a string of lanterns from a high point such as a rafter or tree branch.
