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If you’re just starting out with meditation practice or find it hard to still your mind, there are a few different tools that can help. Like these…
Meditation sees you aim to become present in the moment, rather than planning for the future or dwelling on the past. When thoughts come into your head, the idea is that they disappear like ripples in a lake. But what if your mind isn’t so much a calm lake but one with passive-aggressive swans, over-excited ducks and a mound of neglected rubbish collecting in a hidden corner? How do you calm things down? Well, you could try using a meditation tool.
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Why We Need Meditation Tools
Our minds are used to constant stimulation and distraction. If we remove those distractions and ask our minds to be still, as you do while meditating, they often rebel. It’s amazing how many lists to write, tasks to complete, past conversations you can recall or future worries that will appear when you’re trying to think of nothing, especially when you first start.
This is where meditation tools can help; they create a simple focus point that you can use to anchor your attention. Instead of attempting to randomly silence your thoughts, you instead aim to gently guide your attention away from them by focusing on the tool you’re using.
Over time, this practice helps reduce mental noise and gets your mind used to shutting off some of the chatter. With time, you’ll find it easier to start to switch off without the help of your chosen tool.
Choosing the Best Tool For You
There are many different types of meditation tools. Ones like candles or metronomes might use sound or light to keep your focus. Others, like stacking stones or zen gardens, involve simple repetitive actions upon which you direct your attention.
One meditation tool won’t work for everyone – you have to tap into the thing that will help you focus best to find the right choice. Here are eight you might want to consider…
1. Candle Meditation
Candle meditation involves gazing at a single point – usually the flame – of a candle for a set period of time. The soft, flickering light provides a soothing visual focus, which can be particularly helpful if you find it difficult to concentrate on nothing – or feel uncomfortable with your eyes closed.
The practice is simple: place a candle at eye level about an arm’s length away from you. Sit comfortably and focus your gaze on the flame. Watch how the colours swirl, how the smoke spirals. As other thoughts come up, gently return your attention to the flame.
Pick natural wax candles, like those containing 100 per cent beeswax, for a cleaner burn.
Related Read: How Long Should You Meditate to Get Results
2. Raking a Miniature Zen Garden
A miniature zen garden is a small tray filled with fine sand and sometimes some small stones. It comes with a small wooden rake. Traditionally used in Japanese culture to promote peace and contemplation, the act of raking the sand into simple patterns becomes a quiet, meditative ritual.
To use it, find a quiet space and begin by slowly raking lines or shapes into the sand. Don’t aim for perfection – just let the patterns evolve, then smooth them away with the back of the rake. Keep your focus on the motion and texture.
If your mind starts to wander, gently guide it back to the task of raking, or smoothing.
You can make your own zen garden with some beach sand and a shallow tray and use your finger and palm to rake and smooth, or, buy one with all the accessories. This one won’t break the bank – but it could keep you calm.
3. Stacking Stones
There’s a reason you see images like the one below associated with calming practices like meditation – stone stacking can be very calming.
The practice sees you gently balancing smooth stones one on top of each other. It demands patience, attention, and sensitivity to subtle shifts in weight and balance.
If you try it outside, you might find a few smooth rocks near a riverbank or beach. Indoors, you can use flat decorative stones or a specially designed stone-stacking set.
To begin, select a few stones of varying shapes and sizes. Focus on one stone at a time, feeling its shape and weight. Place it carefully on top of another, adjusting until balance is achieved. As you continue, your mind will begin to quiet as it becomes absorbed in the process.
This is not a competition; you’re not trying to create the highest, most complex pile. Stick to 4-5 stones maximum.
What Are Worry Stones?
Worry stones are small stones that you keep in your bag or pocket. If you start to stress or spiral about something, hold the stone, turn it over in your hand, and feel any ridges or dips within it. Focus only on that, not on whatever is causing your thoughts to spin out of control.
You can use any stone for this; it doesn’t have to be particularly smooth. You can also use crystals. Some people believe this also allows you to tap into any healing energy from the stone you choose. Rose quartz, amethyst, and black tourmaline are known for soothing mental energy.
4. Guided Meditation Apps (e.g., Calm or Headspace)
Guided meditation apps are an excellent entry point for those struggling with an overactive mind. Apps like Calm or Headspace offer a variety of audio-led meditations, breathing exercises, and mindfulness sessions that all aim to capture your attention whilst stilling your thoughts.
You might prefer to use natural sounds, such as waves, or have the voice of a meditation teacher providing structure and direction that prevents your mind from wandering too far. It’s easier to stay focused when you’re being gently led through the process.
Open the app, choose a session that matches your mood or intention and press play.
Related Read: How Your Hand Position Affects How Well You Meditate.
5. Mandala Coloring Books
Coloring mandalas – a form of circular, intricate design rooted in spiritual traditions – can be surprisingly meditative. The repetitive action of coloring anything takes your brain out of itself, but the symmetry and intricacies of mandala-type designs are particularly soothing.
You don’t need to be artistic to benefit. Choose a mandala design from a coloring book or printable sheet, and begin filling in the shapes with pencils or pens. There’s no right or wrong way to do it. Let your hand move instinctively and notice the rhythm of your coloring.
Coloring occupies the mind just enough to quiet internal noise. The structured patterns provide order and calm. As you focus on choosing colors and staying within the lines, you become present.
Related Read: How to Create a Meditation Space at Home
6. Mala Beads
Mala beads are a string of 108 beads. While they’re traditionally used in spiritual practices like Hinduism and Buddhism, they can also be used to count repetitions of a mantra or affirmation during meditation without a religious context.
To use mala beads, hold the string in one hand and begin at the guru bead (the larger bead often at the center). As you breathe in and out, move your fingers to the next bead, mentally repeating a calming word or phrase with each one. Continue until you’ve completed the circle.
The act of physically holding something grounds your attention and gives your hands something to do, which can be particularly helpful if feeling fidgety interferes with your meditation practice. Find a set here, or pick a design with a colour and stone that makes you feel calm.
Related Read: How to Choose a Mantra for Meditation.
7. Breathing Visualisation Tools
Slowing and regulating your breathing is a part of meditation practice, and sometimes simply focusing on your breath is all you need to start focusing your mind, but if you still get distracted, using a breathwork tool can help. You simply follow the shape with your breath.
For example, you might use an app like Breathwork, which displays an expanding or contracting shape, such as a circle or flower, and match your breath to its movement. Inhaling as it expands, exhaling as it contracts – just like your lungs should when taking calming breaths.
If you’d prefer not to have a screen nearby as you try to relax, physical tools like a Hoberman sphere (a collapsible ball used in breathing exercises) can also be used—expanding as you inhale, closing as you exhale. The sphere is commonly used in breathwork with children, but there’s no reason you can’t use one as an adult! This version aims at both.
8. Metronome or Ticking Clock
A gentle, rhythmic sound – like a metronome or a quiet clock – can provide a steady anchor for your attention. Much like the breath or a mantra, the repetitive nature of the sound gives the mind something to focus on.
Find a metronome here, or you can use an old clock or some white noise apps offer a ticking clock as a sound option.
Each of these tools offers a different pathway to stillness, but what they all share is a focus—something to return to each time your thoughts wander.
If you’re struggling to switch off or find seated meditation overwhelming, try experimenting with one or more of these tools. Over time, stillness becomes not something you chase, but something you return to, one breath at a time.