Do you have trouble meditating? Whether you’re looking to create a meditation space that inspires wellness or mix things up, here are 15 meditation tools to support well-being and creativity.
Motivation is key to starting and keeping any habit. Meditation can be a challenging habit to build, but the benefits speak for themselves. It’s important to remember that meditation is a practice. Trying different meditation styles, optimizing space for meditation, or adding tools are all great ways to enhance the practice and support growth.
Comfort
One of the most important elements of meditation is finding the comfort that’s best for your body and helps with staying focused to overcome distractions when they rise up. Luckily there’s a wide range of comfort products to improve meditation.
Meditation Pillow (Zafu)
Getting comfortable is one of the first challenges a new practitioner will experience when starting a meditation practice. Having a good meditation pillow brings just enough height and support to allow the delicate curves of your spine to fall into place for extended periods of comfortable sitting.
Meditation Clothes
When it comes to clothes for meditation, comfort is key. Your mind will get distracted enough on its own. You don’t need tight or uncomfortable clothes to make it harder when finding your inner zen.
Acupuncture Mat
There’s a lot of acupressure mats out there. The acupressure mat helps release endorphins that block pain, relax muscles, and reduces tension to replenish your body with energy. It can even improve your sleep and insomnia. With these acupressure mats, you can try different positions to stimulate nerves and improve blood circulation. Besides adding more comfort to your meditation practice, you can benefit other areas of your life for better well-being and health.
Tools
In addition to being comfortable for improved meditation, there have been several tools added throughout the centuries to support the practice and improve the process.
Tibetan Singing Bowl Set
Singing bowls have been around for centuries and have been used for healing, meditation, and religious practices in India, Tibet, and other parts of Asia. When struck, they create a harmonizing sound that can help you focus during meditation.
When you start meditating, the first thing you will notice is just how many thoughts you have in a short amount of time. One of the most common goals of mediation is to clear the mind and find stillness, but it’s a process to get to that point. Having a meditation journal can help you track your progress and see what you feel and experience when you meditate.
For the best notebooks for creatives, check out these suggestions.
Meditation journalling tips
- Date, time, and length of session
- Environment
- Type of practice
- Feelings and perceptions
- Insights or realizations
- Additional observations or insights
Mala Beads
A Mala or Japamala, meaning garland, is a string of 108 beads used as a spiritual practice for meditation and prayer. Mala beads have been around for thousands of years and across many cultures like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Christianity, Shintō, and Islam.
Incense Burner
Incense and meditation have been a pairing since the beginning. Releasing aromas during meditation encourages the mind to focus and helps establish the right mindset. For example, many Buddhist believe that using incense creates a routine that clears the mind before meditating. The more your practice, the more your brain builds the connections to signal a focused state. The aroma can also be a reminder to return to the present when your mind wanders.
Meditation Space
You can meditate anywhere, but having a dedicated space can have improved benefits to help enter a more relaxed frame of mind and focus. A meditation space can be as simple as having a cushion where you can be at peace to having an entire room dedicated to the practice and state of mine.
Meditation Table
As you collect tools and build a space for meditation, you may want to have a table or altar to hold everything. Now, having a meditation altar doesn’t need to be of spiritual significance. It can also be for productivity, routine, and personalization.
Lighting
Lighting in your meditation space is very important for setting the mood. Whether you choose natural lighting or artificial, you can ease yourself into a meditative space by taking advantage of the lighting. New research has also shown the effects of colors on the mind, including the blue as helping calm the mind.
Meditation Gadgets
We live during an amazing time. As meditation becomes more important and the number of people joining the practice, so does the number of creatives re-thinking how we meditate and how to improve the practice with new technology.
Muse 2 is a useful tool to improve your meditation practice and gain more blissful restorative sleep. Muse makes meditation easier for those that are new or have difficulty staying focused. With Muse, you can get real-time feedback on your brain & body. Enter immersive soundscapes that respond in real-time to your brain activity, heart rate, breathing patterns, and body movements to cue you to stay focused and relaxed.
Harvard scientist, Shelly Batts, speculated on some of the relaxing aspects of water. She points to how we start on this planet in our mother’s wombs surrounded by water and the similar rhythmic sounds of water. Perhaps this is why the ocean often brings up feelings of relaxation and tranquility. Whatever the case might be, the rhythms of the ocean is relaxing. This ocean wave projector can bring calm to any room and help your distracting thoughts be like water and float away.
Smart WiFi Essential Oil Diffuser
The five senses can have a remarkable effect on creativity and well-being. Not only can you use this aromatherapy device to add inspirational and relaxing scents in the air, but you can also diffuse and clean the air with its ultrasonic vaporizer.
In the last 40 years, the positive effects of floating have been scientifically documented and studied through hundreds of research studies. The benefits are unquestionable. What is questionable is why isn’t everyone doing it? The answer, it’s expensive. Most float tanks are in the $10K-30K mark, but now there is a more affordable option with the Zen float tent at $2,200. The Zen Float Tent lets you float at your convenience. Block out all distractions to find inner calm and elevate your meditation experience with the healing properties of water.
Eye Massager
Ease into your meditation with comfort. With the wireless electric eye massage, you can relieve eye fatigue, strain, puffiness, dry eyes, and headaches. With a ton of different features, you can use air pressure, vibration, heat, and music functions in different modes to relax.
Eye Massagers
White Noise Sound Machine
Distractions are the hardest part of staying focused when getting into meditation. One great way to improve your space and your practice is by using a white noise machine to soothe the senses and create a relaxing atmosphere. Try relaxing sounds like thunder, ocean, rain, and summer night to mimic the natural environment that provides the best experience possible for meditation.
White Noise Sound Machines
Meditation can be stressful when your first getting started. You’re not alone. This is part of the process of training the mind for stillness and mindfulness. Luckily there are a ton of apps to help the process and practice.
For more info, check out the best apps to stay healthy and creative.
Best Meditation Apps
Zach is an international writer, photographer, filmmaker, martial artist, and creator of Creative Enso, the Zen art of creative living. His goal is to empower and inspire creatives to live healthier, happier, and more creative lifestyles.
