How to Create or Improve a Meditation Space

You have to be honest: to meditate, you need nothing more than disposition. And it can be done anywhere: in a patio or bedroom, in the park or a corner of your living room, on the beach or on top of a hill.

Although the internet is full of long lists of everything you need to have or have to create a meditation space – from adhesive mandalas to stick on the walls, to the paint color that should predominate in the room, to the the most effective incense to relax the music to listen to – more than encouraging, all these “requirements” can end up discouraging those who want to learn about meditation and feel that their place is not sufficiently equipped .

“Less is more,” he says. Claudio Araya doctor in psychotherapy and academic of the Adolfo Ibáñez University, specializing in research on mindfulness. According to his perception, instead of creating a very distinctive space separated from the environment, full of garlands, candles or statuettes, the ideal would be to create a simple and comfortable space, an environment where one can be calm and do “something extraordinary out of the ordinary”.

“The practice of being there and sitting to meditate is not to isolate yourself,” he explains, “but to be present to whatever is going on outside and whatever that happens to us.”

If it is cloudy outside, you will have to know how to meditate with this gray and subdued light; if the wind or the vehicles in the street make a lot of noise, they should be part of the meditation; if the neighbor cooks fried fish, it will be the aroma of this gift.

“The point of meditation is to put it into practice in everyday life,” he says. Alejandra Munoz , yoga and meditation teacher and neurolinguistic programming therapist. “If I depend on too many external conditions – certain music, certain smells, certain lights or certain clothes – I will not be able to achieve this goal. So, instead of being a spiritual practice, it becomes a fetish, one more dynamic of consumption”.

Between having it and not having it, both agree that it is better to have a place, even at the foot of the bed, where one can indulge oneself every day — or whenever possible — to meditation.

This is how the academician Claudio Araya proceeds: in his same room, at the foot of the bed, he has a zabutón —a thin Japanese cushion to sit on the floor— and above it a zafu, a round and higher cushion, made of fabric and traditional zen meditation. On the left, there is a window through which light passes. And that’s all.

“I like to meditate in the morning,” he says. “Sometimes I also do it at the end of the day, although less, because I’m more tired.” In her experience, it’s good to have a fixed space, no matter how austere or simple.

“There is no perfect place,” he says. The most important thing is that you feel good and calm there, that it is a corner of peace and serenity. “A refuge for restless moments”, Araya defines it, even to share with your partner or your children.

Instructor Alejandra Muñoz also has a defined space in which she regularly meditates, but it is not exclusively for this. “He has my cushion and nothing else.” She has been meditating for almost twenty-five years, “and in the beginning you may need more things to support the practice, outside elements, but over time you will just have to sit comfortably and calmly”.

“If you have the possibility of having an exclusive or specific place to practice, so much the better! It will help you a lot. But you should know that it is not essential: more important than the physical place, it is that your practice is done at the same time of the day and as often as possible”.

Internet listings advise decorating meditation spaces with photos, small sculptures, candles and plants . “Flowers and mandalas will inspire you.” On other sites they even suggest paint the room with soft, light tones “because they invite calm” and “represent purity”.

“All of those things can help you get an attitude,” Muñoz says, “but in the end, they’re more likely to become distractions.” The main thing is that he calms us down. “There are people who use a photo, another a flower and many nothing. It depends on each person”, thinks Araya, convinced that simplicity is the essential element.

Suspicion, for example, of accompanying meditation with music or packed sounds. “On the one hand, the music hides what is happening, and I understand mindfulness as a way of being present to what is happening,” he says. And on the other, an external audio “generates induced emotional states”, which do not help the process.

Although there are traditions that use music to meditate, this is the case with Swissa practice of attaining enlightenment through the sound of shakuhachi a long bamboo flute—the general goal of meditation, as Muñoz has already said, is to be able to practice it anywhere.

The idea is that, as much as possible, the space we use is “relatively quiet”, as Araya explains, “but knowing that there is no space without noise. Yet once: it is not a question of disconnecting or isolating oneself, but of connecting with the present”.

Of course, in environments that are too loud or not very quiet, there are people who listen to binaural beats, a sound at two different frequencies — one for each ear — which the brain processes as a new tone. According to some studies, binaural beats they induce a mental state similar to that of meditation, helping to reduce anxiety and stress while improving relaxation and concentration.

To have more effect, it is convenient to listen to these audios —that abound on YouTube — with hearing aids, because the difference in frequency is better perceived.

“If you have it and want to use it, use it,” advises Muñoz. “But don’t think you can’t do it if you don’t have it. To meditate, you don’t need to become addicted to anything. Otherwise, you pretend to meditate.

Claudio Araya thinks the same of aromatherapy, essential oils and incense. While these are scents that make a lot of people feel good, they also help transform the meditative practice into something very special and different, separate from everyday life, where it should be grounded.

The zafu, which is the cushion that Claudio Araya uses to meditate, is a traditional instrument of meditation, since its shape and height allow the back to be kept in the correct position for a long time. The goal is to feel comfortable, but also alert and stable.

The height of the zafu – about 20 cm on average – makes them ideal for holding this posture, especially for those exploring the practice zazen of meditation.

The zabuton, on the other hand, is an instrument widely used in Japan, a country where it is still common to sit on the floor. It is a thin cushion, lightly padded, designed not to rest directly on the ground and thus avoid contact with the cold. To meditate, many use it under the zafu and as a point of support for the knees and feet, although each person and technique has its different postures.

“The most important thing is that you are comfortable, using as little energy as possible to maintain the posture”, explains Alejandra Muñoz. “So you have more to meditate and focus on.” The function of the cushion is that, but it is not necessarily a zafu: “it can be one cushion or several, stacked blankets, a bolster yoga mat or even a floor, as some Zen people do. The problem is that your spine is straight and you don’t expend energy to make it fit. As long as the back is straight, any tool will do. “There are people who don’t need anything.

And what does it take to meditate? Nothing tangible: disposition. Will be. Discipline. And hopefully guidance from an experienced instructor, teacher or guide. Or is it a YouTube tutorial or mobile app? Muñoz prefers it to be a human being.

“Meditation is not standard and the function of a teacher or a spiritual guide was to know the motivation of his disciple to give him a precise practice”, he explains. “The teacher doesn’t exist like that anymore, but when a person guides you, they can ask you what’s happening to you, what obstacles you’re facing, things that the app or the video won’t ask you or answer. All these doubts arise at the beginning of the practice and a tutorial does not solve them.” And beyond a notification or an alarm, technology cannot motivate you either.

“If you want to maintain meditation over time, you need to have a basic posture instruction, to avoid injuries and not overwork the body,” adds Araya. “It’s not easy at first, however, a well-executed posture is comfortable and functional, but it takes guidance, practice and training.”

Ultimately, as the instructor says, meditation should be based on what one has at hand, not on what “should”. And the essential thing is to elucidate why one wants to do this practice. “Without that, there’s nothing: you can have the best pillow, the best room, the best essential oils, whatever you want, but it won’t help.”

*Prices for products in this item are updated as of May 27, 2022. Values ​​and availability may change.