Besides offering yoga products like organic workout clothing and yoga mat accessories, the market entails several meditation accessories that can help individuals with their meditation journeys. These products can help beginners as well as individuals experienced in meditation.

In today’s fast-paced world, sparing even 5 minutes to rest one’s mind and de-stress can work wonders for the body and mind. Meditation has a lot of benefits. Whether you meditate for 10 minutes a day or 60 minutes a day, meditation has proven to reduce anxiety, increase overall well-being and positively affect one's mind and outlook towards life. Just like you go to a gym for your physical health, mediation does the same for your mental health.

What is meditation?

Meditation is a practice that helps you become more aware of your mind and surroundings. It helps you learn to observe and understand and is a great way to keep your mental health in check. Meditation rests one’s mind and helps one focus better on other tasks.

There are no fixed rules to meditating. There is no right or wrong way to meditate, and perfect meditation is a myth. With consistent practice, one typically becomes more comfortable with the activity.

What are the benefits of meditation?

Meditation facilitates relaxation, improves focus, and teaches one to live in the present. Some of the mental, emotional and physical benefits that one can gain from meditation are as follows:

• Reduces stress and anxiety: Meditation decreases the stress hormone cortisol, resulting in reduced symptoms of stress-related issues.
• Reduces blood pressure: Lower cortisol levels can also lower blood pressure.
• Improves sleep: Because meditation helps you combat stress — one of the main disruptors of sleep — one’s sleep cycle becomes regulated.
• Increases self-awareness: Meditation helps focus better and facilitates thought control, leading to increased mindfulness and a better self-understanding.
• Boosts creativity: Meditation can help change your outlook, make you more positive, and inspire constructive and creative thinking.

How to meditate?

• Meditation entails no hard-and-fast rules. It is a straightforward yet challenging process for many.
• The first step to meditation is to find a peaceful and comfortable place to sit – on a chair or the floor.
• Beginners may set a short time limit of perhaps 5–10 minutes.
• The main idea is to close one’s eyes and pay attention to one’s breath, inhaling and exhaling.
• Some meditation music in the background can help with better focus.
• When the mind wanders, the best strategy to resume meditation is to notice one’s thoughts and continue focusing on breathing.
• Judging one’s thoughts and feeling discouraged can deter one from focusing on meditation.
• Repeated practice can help master this skill seamlessly.

While no accessory is required for meditation, having a dedicated nook for meditation can provide much-needed motivation. Some basic meditation accessories can help elevate one’s meditation practice. Some of these accessories are as follows:

1. Meditation Clothes 

Though there is no specific attire for meditation, the clothes one wears during meditation should be comfortable, loose and airy. Fabrics like cotton lend themselves to meditation. Comfortable clothes are one less thing to worry about while meditating!

1.  Meditation Sprays

Activating all the senses during meditation can help elevate one’s practice. A pleasant fragrance can help one get in the groove. Meditation sprays have aromatherapy properties that help with calming, relaxation and mindfulness.

1. Meditation Cushions

A good meditation cushion provides adequate support and improves one’s posture. Meditation cushions are floor cushions available in various designs. These cushions help distribute one’s weight evenly and prevent numbness in the legs. Since people can sit silently in a meditative state for long hours, maintaining a correct seated posture is necessary. These cushions can help one maintain proper posture.

1. Meditation Bells

Sound is another sense that can be activated during meditation. The best accessory to try for this purpose is meditation bells. The most common sounds at most yoga studios/retreats are those of cymbals or bells. These sounds enhance the overall meditation experience by helping the practitioner focus on the present. Meditation bells are typically used to mark the start and the end of the meditation. They can also be used as the focal point that the practitioner pays attention to. Tibetan Bell, Dorje and Tingsha are some popular meditation bells.

1. Meditation Mats

Meditation mats are an integration of yoga mats and meditation cushions and may be conceptualised as yoga mats for meditation. Meditation mats are slightly thicker and warmer than the usual yoga mats and provide balance, comfort and support.