Six Things You Don't Need to Buy to Start Meditating

You do not need to buy anything to sit down and notice your breath.

23:10 at night, I was cross-legged on the bed with my phone, three tabs open at once: a round grey cushion, a small brass bell, a loose beige outfit. The cart was full and my thumb hovered over the checkout button. I had not meditated a single day, yet I felt I had already "started". Shopping for a habit you do not have yet is very common, because it gives the feeling that you have got going.

Then I switched the phone off and sat on an old bath towel rolled into a cushion. Those two weeks on that towel are why this article exists.

This is not meant to shame anyone who has already bought something. Some people love a cushion because it is beautiful, some remember the time thanks to a bell, and those are entirely good reasons. It is just that none of the six things below is a condition for sitting. For each one I will tell you honestly: fine to use, fine to skip.

Three things that look necessary at first glance

The fancy meditation cushion

The image of a meditator almost always comes with a round cushion. So many people assume that without one, they are sitting wrongly.

All you need is a seat that does not make you uncomfortable. A body pillow folded in half, a rolled bath towel, or a chair from the house will all do. I sat on that old towel for two weeks straight, and a whiff of fabric softener rose each time I leaned forward.

If, after a few weeks, you notice every seat makes you ache and a higher cushion might help, then it is not too late to buy one. You will be buying it because you know what you are missing, not because of a picture.

The bell

The sound of a bell marking the end of a sit has real atmosphere. But it does one job: it tells you time is up.

A phone can do that too. Set it for three minutes, pick the gentlest sound, and turn on do-not-disturb so notifications stay out. If you happen to have a real bell at home, a porcelain bowl tapped gently with a chopstick makes a sound as well.

Once I forgot to turn on do-not-disturb, and in the second minute my office Zalo group chimed three times. It did not ruin the sit. I finished, and answered later.

Special clothes

There is a feeling that meditators must wear loose, neutral, soft-fabric clothes, the kind people photograph. No such rule exists.

What matters is that nothing presses on your belly and hips, so your breath can move. Whatever you are wearing at home is enough. If putting on a particular outfit helps you remember the time, then wear it, and that is a good reason too.

Three things that sound more sensible, and are not needed either

A paid app

This sounds the most reasonable, because a guiding voice spares beginners the groping. But the first few minutes need no guiding voice at all: sit, notice your breath, stop when time is up. That is all.

If you like being guided, try the free version first, and do not pay until you have sat for at least a few weeks and still find yourself using it. A monthly fee for something you never open only leaves a little more guilt behind.

I once paid for a whole year of an app and opened it exactly four times. That does not mean the app was bad. It only showed that I had bought something I had not done.

A room of your own

The picture of a meditator is usually someone in an empty room, beautiful light, not a sound. Your home may be cramped, with people walking through, a fan whirring, motorbikes outside, the neighbour's television.

"Where do you meditate? There's no spare spot in my place."

"In the middle of the house. After everyone's asleep, I roll out a mat."

"Too noisy?"

"There's the fan. I listen to the fan."

Noise is not a flaw in the sit. It is simply one more thing present, and you can pay attention to it instead of fighting it.

Incense and scented candles

A scent makes the air feel like a place for meditation. But people sit in places that smell of nothing at all, and many who breathe incense or candle smoke find themselves coughing or with a stinging nose.

If you like them and they suit you, mind the safety: keep candles away from curtains and paper, never leave one burning when you might doze off, and open a window a crack. If not, giving them up costs you nothing.

If you still want to buy something

Go ahead, but wait. Sit for a few weeks with what you have, and then you will know what you truly lack. I waited two weeks, and the thing I missed turned out not to be in my original cart: a thin pad under my seat to ease my lower back. I bought it at the grocery shop at the mouth of the alley.

The first time, it may feel slightly silly because everything is so plain, and three minutes seems to leave nothing to remember. After a week, I found the chair more familiar, the sound of the fan had become part of the sit, and shopping had slid to the bottom of my list. On a busy day, three breaths wherever you are standing is enough.

If you have already bought the cushion and it is still sitting in a corner, that is not your fault. It is only a cushion, and it can wait, or you can sit on a towel while it does.

One more thing I want to say honestly. If you have been sad, worried or tired for weeks on end, what you need is not in any shop. Please talk with someone qualified. No cushion or app can do that for you.

The old bath towel is still on the floor beside the window, waiting for tomorrow morning.