Meditating with a Candle

Meditating with a Candle

Life can get so stressful and it doesn’t look like it will get any easier anytime soon. Stress is extremely damaging to our health. So how can we combat this and keep our inner peace and sanity?

Meditation of any kind has been proven to be beneficial for combating the negative effects of stress. It allows you to reel in the anxious thoughts and exhale the negative energy. Forms of meditation include prayer, mantras, rhythmic breathing, yoga, tai chi, and many more.

Today, I want to introduce to you the amazing effects that meditating with a candle can have for your destressing process.

How to do candle meditation

Few people are used to meditating with their eyes open, but candle meditation is just that. The beauty and soothing of the candle are only effective when it is seen.

Find a quiet and dim spot to light your candle. Make sure you pick a place that you can sit in front of the candle at a relatively close location. Work on making the room as comfortable as possible. It should be the right temperature, not pitch black but with very little light, and free from distracting noise.

Set the candle at a little under eye level so that when you light it, the flame is the only thing in your direct eyesight. The candle can’t be too close to your face that you have to strain to look at it. Your gaze should feel as natural as possible, almost as if you are staring through the flame.

Clear your mind and think only of the candle’s flame. This will take some time. Don’t get discouraged if your mind wanders at first and it is a challenge to concentrate. This is natural, just readjust and start again.

Concentrate on the candle and don’t blink. Your eyes might start to water and that’s ok. Just keep your eyes fixated on the flame. Deepen your concentration and focus on having a rhythm to your breath.

As you inhale, imagine you are inhaling the flame. As you exhale, imagine you are exhaling the flame. Imagine the flame cleansing your body.

How Candle Mediation Works

To some this might seem silly and unproductive, but the effects of candle mediation is more scientific than you think.

When you get deep into the meditation and you haven’t moved your eyes from the flame for a while, your brain stops processing the signals from your eyes, since it has no new information to process.

This turning off of that signal starts to make the rest of your vision fade away until all you can see is the flame. It is a very calming experience, where all you see is a flame in front of your eyes, as if all there is in the world is you and the flame.

Without the constant processing of the rest of the world around you, your brain can go into a state of ease, peace, and release. To stay in this meditative state, you can’t blink or move your eyes. Once you do, the brain has to process the new information and the bond between your senses and the flame is broken.

After you are done meditating, blow out the candle and lie down for a few minutes allowing your body to slowly come back to full awareness.