How to Practice Darkness Meditation

Consider your current feelings regarding darkness. Before you begin a darkness meditation routine, you'll need to assess your current feelings. Darkness can be scary, so you'll need to know where you stand going in to see what adjustments you need to make.^[1]

• People often think of death or negative emotions when they think of darkness. You may have been afraid of darkness as a child.
• Are you frightened of the dark or of being alone? If so, you'll need to work on changing your assumptions going into the meditation routine. You want to make sure you can embrace darkness in a healthy, positive way.

Try to foster positive associations with the dark. With darkness meditation, the goal is to see darkness as less of a negative space and more as a quantitative and reflective one. Work on fostering some positive associations with darkness that will allow you to fully experience the meditation routine.^[2]

• Many people who practice darkness meditation feel darkness contains a lot of energy. As the womb is dark, you are born from a place of darkness. Instead of thinking of darkness as blank space, think of it as a source of life.
• People often think of darkness as a base as well. In some religious traditions, darkness is thought of as what lies under all creation. Everything else is added to darkness. This can be helpful with darkness meditation as you can think of darkness as a base to which you can add reflection and insight.

Find comfortable clothing. You should also prepare on a basic level to meditate. You do not want any unnecessary distractions during a meditation session, so make sure you have comfortable clothing. Anything too tight, itchy, or otherwise uncomfortable may distract from the process of clearing your mind. Choose a loose-fitting garment you feel comfortable wearing.^[3]

Get comfortable in the right room. You also want to make sure you're comfortable when you're sitting down. If you choose to sit in a chair that isn't comfortable, you'll be distracted. Choose a nice, comfortable place in your home or apartment where you can meditate in peace. You can, for example, you can sit in the middle of your couch with your back straight and your feet firmly on the floor.^[4]

• There is no precise pose or atmosphere required for darkness meditation. Just choose a position and location that feels right for you. The most important thing is that you're comfortable and free from outside distractions.
• You do not actually need to be in a dark room to practice darkness meditation. It's important, however, that you find a room where you can concentrate. If it's warm and uncomfortable in your bedroom, this may not be the best place to meditate. If your living room is generally a good temperature and relatively quiet, meditate here.

Consider aiming for a dark room. Many types of darkness meditation focus on cultivating an internal sense of darkness. You do not necessarily need to be in a pitch dark room to practice the meditation. However, some types of darkness meditation do advocate that you aim for a room that is literally dark. In fact, people do go on darkness retreats with the goal of meditating in darkness for days. If you'd like to incorporate this type of darkness meditation, consider meditating in a dark room. The lack of light will supposedly allow you to focus more on your own thoughts and feelings given the lack of outer stimuli.^[5]

Clear your mind a bit before attempting to meditate. Darkness meditation requires an intense level of concentration. You may want to warm up before you begin. Try to wind down and clear your mind a bit, especially if you're under a lot of stress. Do something relaxing like reading a book or doing a jigsaw puzzle before attempting to meditate.^[6]