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Having a meditation altar is a great way to keep yourself accountable in your mindfulness activities. A physical space you can go to, especially one that encapsulates you as a person and helps you realize who you want to be, can keep you in the meditation habit.
You don’t have to be a super spiritual person to have a meditation altar. It could simply be a place you go to find comfort and meditate before, during, or after your day. Try these fun ideas to make your altar truly feel like your own.
1. Include A Journal
One of the most important things you can do is reflect on your emotions, as they tell you who you are as a person and how you have room to grow. Keeping an aesthetically pleasing journal on your meditation altar can spark inspiration and allow you to write out whatever comes to mind, whether that’s your feelings or something else in your heart.
Writing your troublesome feelings down can help you free up space in your mind, allowing you to forget about them as you go about the rest of your day. A journal can be a great partner in the world of meditation.
2. Keep It Clean
Minimalism is sometimes the best way to ensure you keep an important space clean. Your meditation altar is bound to be a sacred area in your home, so you don’t want it covered in dust and dirt. Take extra care to keep the small area clean. If you have less on the altar to worry about getting dusty, you’ll find it much easier and quicker to clean up. Create a fun routine that allows you to enjoy cleaning up your altar regularly.
You should also take care to clean the area around your altar. Ensure the floor is always as spotless as you can get it, particularly if you don’t have a rug or pillows in the space. If you are sitting by your altar, you want your time to be peaceful, not filled with worrying about what sort of dirt you may have touched on the floor.
3. Involve All Elements
If you want to feel more in touch with nature while sitting at your altar, you can aim to include all four natural elements in your space. You might choose to incorporate earth by picking wildflowers. You could stick them in a vase full of water to represent the water element, or you may vow to always stay hydrated during your times of meditation.
Fire and air can be found in the form of candles. Because many candles can give off VOCs, which can negatively impact indoor air quality and affect your health, you have to be careful which you choose. Picking a non-toxic candle will help you enjoy a pleasant scent and relaxing atmosphere without risking your health as much.
4. Choose Things That Are Important To You
As you decorate your altar, you’ll want to include items that mean something to you. Your altar should consist of objects that convey some sentiment yet are not things you’ll need to remove from your altar daily to use.
If you have been in a loved one’s special event, such as a wedding, you may choose one of the heartfelt gifts you were given for your time and effort to include on your altar, so long as the time was memorable for you. You want your altar to feature things that have much meaning to you, yet don’t create a sense of clutter.
5. Change The Location
If you’ve had a meditation altar before, you may be inclined to rebuild your altar in the space you’ve formerly used. If you’ve encountered any issues with that spot, though, or if you want something different, it’s okay to change up the location.
Now and then, you may discover a spot that is more suitable for your meditation altar – it might happen when you redecorate a room or move furniture around. If changing your location can refresh your mood and headspace, finding a new place for your meditation altar should be at the top of your list.
6. Find Something To Convey Your Vision
People often make vision boards to help them visualize a future they want to achieve. While it might take some effort on your part, putting together a vision board and setting it up in your altar space could be a worthwhile activity to center you and help you realize what you need to focus on.
Your vision board should encompass how you want to feel as much as what you want your life to look like. That way, you will have a better understanding of who you hope to become in the future.
7. Rely On Comfort
The surroundings of your altar are just as important as what is on the altar. You need to create a comfortable space for yourself, as being somewhere you feel comfortable can work as a grounding tool that can keep you in the present and allow stressful thoughts to melt away. Adding an ornate rug to a hard floor or a few throw pillows and blankets can help you feel immensely cozy while you’re meditating.
Keep Your Sacred Space Fluid
One of the greatest things about meditation altars is that you can change yours if it no longer reflects your priorities or your happiness. You are bound to evolve as you grow and change, and you may manifest new things into your life. You can alter your altar as you see fit at any time. What matters is that you design your meditation altar to reflect your current self and how you want to see yourself in the future.
Then, when you reap the benefits of growing into who you’re meant to be, you can always play around with the look and location of your sacred space.
About The Author:
Oscar Collins is the managing editor at Modded, where he writes about cars, fitness, the outdoors and more. Check out @TModded for regular updates!
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