Two appealing aspects of meditation are its portability and affordability. Not only can you do it anywhere, anytime, but also it’s free! There are few things in life for which you can say the same, no? That said, it’s beneficial to set up an area of your home or a room devoted to your practice.

For my own practice, I have a comfortable chair and soft, warm blanket in a quiet, clutter-free corner of my bedroom. A small table is situated next to it and contains a few items, such as books, journals, pens, a candle, meditation bell, a shell from the beach and a few other pretty little decorative pieces that spark joy. When I go to this space, my body and mind automatically relax, in preparation for meditation. This is no accident. It turns out, creating a space and ritual for meditation elicits a meditative state.

From the act of walking into your dedicated space and being seated on a meditation cushion or blanket, the same chair or place on the sofa to something as simple as lighting a candle or ringing a meditation bell, you’ve taught yourself a form of environmental conditioning. I recently read about this phenomenon in my meditation teacher training materials and am surprised I never before thought of the connection. Think of it as a pavlovian response of sorts, but rather than being hungry because of the dinner bell, you are instantly relaxed due to the meditation bell (or cushion or candle, etc.). The beauty of this is again, the portability. Even when traveling or seated at your desk at work, you can evoke the sense of relaxation by simply lighting a candle or ringing that bell.

This of course doesn’t replace your meditation practice, rather it enhances it and allows you to enter the meditative state more quickly, thereby deepening your practice. The fact that you then can trigger the relaxation elsewhere with your candle, music, bell or what have you is a bonus.

Do you have a meditation space or ritual? Please share it in the comments.