A meditation room is a room that is designated as a sacred space. A space of self-care, a space where you can be yourself fully and unapologetically.
A space where you can work to become the person you are destined to be. Due to the importance of this space, you must set it up for success both physically and energetically.
1. Habit cues
Everyone will tell you the importance of incense, candles, statues, pictures, tapestries, and the like, but few people will talk about the habit cues that set you up for success.
Habit cues are the stimuli that prime you to engage in a particular activity or think in a particular way. So take some time to think about the items that cause you to engage in introspection, and that brings joy to your life if they happen to be particular candles or statues, amazing! If not, that’s good too. Simply do what works best for you.
2. All 5 senses
Beyond setting up habit cues, we want to find ways to orient all of our senses in the same direction. Ideally, what you see, hear, taste, feel, and smell will all be pointing you towards the same objective. The way we understand life is through that which our senses perceive. If we are in a room with nice smells, appealing sights, pleasant feelings, calming sounds, and even some yummy food or drinks, it can play a big role in directing all of our energy towards the same goal.
3. Lesson from organized religion
Understanding the importance of engaging our senses is a lesson I learned from organized religion that I brought into my own personal, spiritual practice (full disclosure, I’m one of the many people who claim to be spiritual but not religious).
When you go to almost any religious ceremony in the world. There are typically ceremonial clothes, incense, fragrances, statues, paintings, stained glass, foods, drinks, music, chanting, places to stand, or sit, and bodily movements such as bowing or prostrating.
Every one of these components is symbolically or traditionally tied to what may be thought of as the divine, higher power, or deeper meaning that is the transcendent truth of this life.
As you look at the culture, you see these ceremonial aspects spill over into daily life, causing a constant reorientation back to the divine.
4. The only essential
In my opinion, there is only one essential for a meditation room: something comfortable to sit on.
You do not want your body to be in too much pain because it will be distracting and cause turbulence in your mind.
Meditation is a broad word, and there is no one definition, but typically we meditate to find more focus and peace.
If you begin to associate physical pain with the practice of meditation, you will be adding fuel to the already nearly unbearably hot fire, which is the inner battle of making peace with yourself.
