Candles have formed an integral part of most meditation practices over hundreds of years. In fact, some people use candles as a focal point when it comes to their meditations.
Candles are effective for creating your own special meditation atmosphere and space, or you can use them to enhance the meditation with the use of aromatherapy.
Because candles are in most cases cheap and easy to get hold of in various stores, they are also a fantastic option to implement into your usual meditation routines. Here we will give you some advice on the best types of candles you can use for meditation, along with the benefits associated with each type.
(If you cannot use candles, due to restrictions on where you live, or where you meditate, you can also use different essential oils when you meditate). The candles listed below are also fantastic when it comes to providing aromatherapy benefits when practicing yoga.
When you shop for your candles, look for non-toxic options. Some candles contain ingredients such as paraffin, which is toxic. Candles that are made from non-toxic, natural ingredients like beeswax or soy are ideally the best choice.
You should also consider the color or scent of a candle when you use them for candle meditations.
The Best Candles for Meditation
1. La Jolie Muse Ylang Ylang Meditation Candle
This candle looks great and offers a number of positive meditation benefits. La Jolie Muse is known for their beautiful soy wax candles. We that the Jasmine & Ylang Ylang is one of the best candles for meditation.
Infused with jasmine, ylang-ylang and other essential oils, it offers a number of aromatherapy benefits such as your improving mood and relieving stress. Jasmine is an essential ingredient for exhaustion, while chamomile is very calming and assists with anxiety.
This candle is great to use for depression or sadness and is the ideal choice to boost your mood. If you use this candle for your meditations, choose the rose color as it represents sensuality, romance, and self-love.
This is also a candle that makes a great Valentine’s Day gift especially for a friend or partner who enjoys meditating.
This 10 oz candle will provide between 60 to 80 hours of burn time. It is made from eco-friendly soy wax, that burns cleanly and evenly.
- Material: Soy wax
- Color: Champagne ceramic holder
- Scents: Musk, ylang-ylang, chamomile and jasmine
- Recommended Usage: Relieving stress and improving your mood during meditation
2. Vetiver and Olibanum Scented Soy Meditation Candle
The company known as Roots Candles is family owned and has been in the business of selling beautiful candles since 1869. Their candle range is extensive and includes candles infused with essential oils and blended especially for various purposes.
This is one of their meditation candles that uses a number of scents to assist with focusing. Vetiver is spiritually grounding and calming which helps with mindfulness.
Olibanum which is better known by the name of frankincense offers similar effects, by calming the mind without causing a feeling of sleepiness.
Myrhh is another ingredient that helps to mellow any heightened emotions such as sadness or anger. These scents work on calming the mind, which is great for any meditation practice.
Blue is a color that represents loyalty, an energy associated with sweetness, and self-protection.
This 6.5 oz candle made here in the USA, features a glass jar and provides around 65 hours of burn time. It consists of a soy wax natural blend along with beneficial essential oils.
The wood wick is sustainable and provides a crackling and comforting sound that might distract you from or enhance your meditation.
- Material: Soy wax blend
- Color: Blue
- Scents: Myrhh, vetiver, citrus, olibanum or frankincense
- Recommended Usage: Encouraging focus and calming the mind during meditation
3. Happiness Chakra Energy Candle
The company Aloha Bay has made an extensive line of candles dedicated to chakras, which consist of different colors and essential oils, each dedicated to the seven chakras.
The Happiness Shakra candle should be used for the Sahasrara chakra which is known as the Crown chakra (on top of your head).
This candle is made up of 3 essential oils, which is a great choice for meditation. Labdanum assists with increasing self-understanding and moderating your emotions.
Patchouli is one of the grounding scents, ideal for meditation practices. Frankincense helps to calm the mind. The combination of these essential oils helps to promote happiness.
The color violet or purple helps to turn your dreams into reality and to make a connection with your higher-self.
Made from the purest essential oils and palm wax, this candle weighs 11 oz and comes with a wick made from cotton. These candles are 100% paraffin-free and made in the US.
- Material: Palm Wax
- Color: Violet or purple
- Scents: Frankincense, labdanum, patchouli
- Recommended Usage: Grounding the mind and encouraging positive emotions
4. Wax and Oils Lavender Candle
Lavender is one of the most common ingredients found in candles used for meditation, and this candle only contains lavender.
This candle was hand made by a company known as Wax & Oils; these candles contain a lavender essential oil which offers an extremely calming scent.
The sedative powers of lavender are ideal for relaxing after a day at the office or for meditating with just before you go to bed. If you struggle to fall asleep or you have insomnia, these are the candles you should light for the meditation for falling asleep.
Lavender is also great for relieving anxiety and stress. Plus it’s ideal for the days when you are finding it difficult to unwind or calm the mind.
This candle weighs 8 oz, is made from natural soy wax and is sold inside a tin.
- Material: Soy Wax
- Scents: Lavender
- Color: Purple
- Recommended Usage: Relaxation and promoting sleep
5. Spearmint & Eucalyptus Essential Oil Superior Living Candle
Pure is a company that makes their natural-aromatherapy candles inside hip-mason jars. This soy wax candle contains essential oils of premium quality which are fantastic to enhance your next meditation.
The vitality candle contains eucalyptus and spearmint, which helps to improve your mood. Over and above clearing the mind and relieving stress, spearmint helps to improve your mood.
Eucalyptus oil helps with any respiratory issue, which makes it a good candle for combating allergies or when you sick. The combination of these scents is ideal for balance and peace, and it really smells divine.
Green is a color linked to nature that also expresses self-affirmation and self-esteem. It is also the color used for new growth and healing.
These candles consist of hand-poured soy wax. The wick is made from cotton, so it offers clean burning for around 80 hours.
- Material: Soy wax
- Color: Green
- Scents: Eucalyptus, spearmint
- Recommended Usage: Relieving the side effects from the flu or a cold, improving self-esteem or mood
If you are interested in more supplies for your meditation practices, look through our meditation scarfs and shawls, mala-meditation beads, and essential oils to use for meditation.
The Benefits of Meditating with Candles
From the time that candles were first introduced, people have used them as a tool for meditation. Even earlier than that, the act of staring into the flames of a fire often helped people achieve a meditative state.
There is something absolutely spellbinding about a fire. Think about the last time you went camping or the last time you built a fire in your fireplace.
Watching the flames of a fire dance around can almost put you in a hypnotic state. The same holds true for spending time in a candlelit room. The gentle light of a candle creates a warm, relaxing space where it is easy to let go of stress and worry.
Fire is seductive. The movement of a flame naturally draws the eye, beckoning to anyone who is sitting nearby.
It is precisely this property that makes candles so beneficial for meditation. They make it easy to block out distractions so that you can gain control of your thoughts.
As you watch the dancing flame, the noise and distractions in your mind gradually fade away, allowing you to become much more focused. With practice, you can even clear your mind altogether.
The process of meditating with a candle is extremely straightforward. All that you have to do is watch the flame, never taking your eyes off of it. Choose a position that is comfortable, whether that means sitting in a chair or relaxing cross-legged on the floor.
Position the candle above the ground at the same level as your eyes. That way, you won’t have to bend over or look down to see it. The candle itself should be located several feet away from you. Avoid placing it too close or too far away so that you don’t have to strain to see it.
To get the best results, meditate in a space without a lot of light. This transforms the candle flame into the focal point of the room, helping it naturally draw your attention.
If you want, you can choose a scented candle, making sure that the aroma is a good fit for what you are trying to achieve. Some scents are relaxing while others are more stimulating. For a light, natural scent with just a hint of honey, consider opting for a beeswax candle.
Begin by finding a position that is comfortable and relaxing. Spend a few minutes breathing deeply to let go of tension. Now, shift your focus to the candle flame.
Relax the muscles around your eyes as you watch the flame move gently back and forth. Almost right away, any anxiety or stress will begin to melt away.
While focusing on the flame, your brain will naturally begin to wander. You may find yourself mentally going through your to-do list, trying to work through issues you have been facing in your day-to-day life, or thinking about aches and pains in your body.
Anytime you notice your mind drifting, bring your attention back to the flame. After a while, your mind will become less active, making it easier to stay focused. Eventually, all of your extraneous thoughts will be silenced, leaving just you and the flame.
Is that all there is to it? Is this type of meditation just a matter of watching the flame for a specific amount of time?
It depends. You can take whatever approach you want to candle flame meditation. In some cases, your goal might be to quiet your mind completely, letting go of all thoughts.
In other cases, you might want to perform exercises to improve areas of your life. For instance, you could mentally repeat affirmations or you could visualize positive changes that you want to see in your habits or lifestyle.
You close your eyes or keep your eyes open. It’s completely up to you. Experiment with these different methods of meditation to see what works best for you:
1. Imagine That the Flame Is Glowing with Love.
Visualize the love from the flame moving out into the room, filling the entire space. As the love moves outward from the candle, it goes deep into your mind, clearing away unwanted thoughts and filling you with happiness and light.
2. Imagine That the Candle Flame Is Burning Away Bad Feelings or Unwanted Thoughts.
As you watch the flame, picture it in your mind burning any unwanted thoughts or uncomfortable feelings that you have been experiencing. If you have been feeling resentful, guilty, jealous, bitter or depressed, the flame can burn away those bad feelings.
The same goes for feelings of hatred, fear, or insecurity. As these unwanted emotions burn away, love moves in to take their place, filling you with light and positivity.
3. Use the Flame to Keep You in the Present Moment.
Candle flames are excellent for practicing mindfulness. As you watch the flame, look at it closely and really see every part of the flame. Start by watching the top of the flame.
Pay attention to not only the color of the flame but also the way that it dissolves away into smoke. As your gaze moves further down the flame, watch how the color changes.
Focus on how the gentle movements of the air in the room cause the flame to move, much like the thoughts you hold in your mind influence the world around you.
Pay close attention to everything from the way the room smells to the way that the flame reacts to the air movements in the space.
As you breathe, try to notice whether or not the flame reacts to the movement of your breath. Focus on the smoke, as well, watching it as it moves up from the candle and out into the room.
4. Focus on the Never-Ending Character of the Flame.
If you touch of flame to a flammable object, another flame is created. That flame can then light another flame, which can light another flame, as well. This process can repeat forever, meaning that the flame is never-ending.
Draw the light from the flame into your heart and focus on sending it out into the world so that it touches all of the people in your life, bringing them love and light.
Send it out even further than that, radiating it out to all of the people in the world, including those who have offended or mistreated you in the past. As the light from the candle spreads, it fills everyone in the world with light.
Playing soft music in the background can enhance your candle meditation. As the music plays, imagine that the flame is a dancer, moving in time with the beat.
5. Create Your Own Positive Visualizations.
As you become more experienced with candle flame meditation, focus on taking your visualizations to the next level. See the light of the flame projecting outward into the world, providing light for people who are struggling, whether their struggles are physical, mental, or emotional.
See the light of the candle filling the hearts of anyone in the world who is dealing with feelings of hatred or fear. Picture the light guiding you to your ultimate purpose, leading you to a happy and fulfilling life.
As you can see, there are a lot of ways to use this type of meditation. Whenever you are feeling unsettled or stressed out, try using candle meditation to settle your mind.
Lighting a candle and centering your thoughts on the flame can help relieve tension, leaving you feeling peaceful and relaxed.
Meditating with a candle flame is an excellent way to become more focused. It only takes a little bit of time to reap the rewards of this powerful meditation technique.