Meditation, incense and home guides
Our meditation and home guides explain singing bowls, incense, aromatherapy, reiki and feng shui in plain words, and help you choose the right bowl, burner or diffuser.
A calm corner at home can be as simple as a stick of incense and a candle, or as full as a singing bowl, a cushion and an altar. These guides explain each tool, how people use it and how to choose one.
Every guide shows the products it talks about, with live prices and sizes.
Our meditation, incense and home guides guides
How to Use a Singing Bowl
How to use a singing bowl: rest it on a cushion or flat palm, strike the rim gently, then circle the striker slowly to make it sing.
Read the guide →What Is Aromatherapy? A Plain-English Guide for Beginners
Aromatherapy means using aromatic plant oils for their scent. The word was coined in 1937 from "aroma" and "therapy". At home, people diffuse or warm essential oils to scent rooms.
Read the guide →Reiki meaning: what Reiki is and how it is practised
Reiki meaning: Japanese for "universal life energy". Reiki is a practice developed by Mikao Usui in the 1920s: a practitioner places hands lightly on or above the body.
Read the guide →Feng Shui meaning: what it is and where to place Feng Shui items
Feng Shui is Chinese for "wind and water": a centuries-old Chinese practice of arranging your home so chi, or life energy in Chinese thought, flows well through each room.
Read the guide →Aroma diffusers: how to choose one
To choose one, pick by kind: a mini essential oil nebulizer, a colour change ultrasonic diffuser, a plug-in volcano effect diffuser or a crystal bowl diffuser and oil set.
Read the guide →Backflow incense burners: how they work and which to choose
A backflow incense burner holds a lit cone so smoke flows down like a waterfall, such as a mango wood hamsa burner, a cauldron holder or a raven burner.
Read the guide →Buddha statues, heads and wall art
To choose a Buddha statue, start with the space: a copper Buddha head, a brass figure, a painting or a wooden tray each suit a different space.
Read the guide →Dreamcatchers and wind chimes
Dreamcatchers and wind chimes are decorative pieces for a home or garden: think a macrame pyramid dreamcatcher, a bamboo wind chime, a felt mobile or a rainbow wall hanging.
Read the guide →Essential oils for beginners: scents and how to use them
Start with a summer essential oil gift set, a lavender essential oil, a peppermint organic essential oil or a blended essential oil set for your diffuser or oil burner.
Read the guide →Gothic home decor
Try a skull trinket dish, a dragon figurine, a pressed flower glass candle holder or a wooden candle holder sign. Mix skulls, figurines and candles for a gothic room.
Read the guide →Incense for beginners: sticks, cones, resin and holders
A beginner should start with incense sticks, such as a Satya lavender vanilla box, then add a mango wood holder and a brass censer for resin.
Read the guide →Incense sticks, cones or resin: which to buy?
Sticks, cones and resin incense differ in form: try sweet frankincense sticks, sweet frankincense cones or amber, myrrh or guggal resin in a 50 g tub.
Read the guide →Oil burners and wax melt burners
Add fragrance oil or wax melts to the bowl and warm it, using a ceramic oil burner, a soapstone burner, an electric aroma lamp or a Buddha design burner.
Read the guide →Reed diffusers: scents and how to use them
A reed diffuser stands in scented liquid, and its reeds carry the scent into the room. Choose a diffuser, a room spray, a refill or a gothic diffuser.
Read the guide →Wax melts and wax melt burners
Put a snap bar, such as Belle, into a tealight or electric burner, or use a ceramic black cat or skull wax warmer, to scent your room.
Read the guide →Questions
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What do you need for meditation at home?
A quiet spot, a cushion or chair and, if you like, a singing bowl, incense or a candle to mark the start and end. Nothing else is needed.
Are essential oils safe to use?
Follow the safety label on each bottle: use them in a diffuser or burner, keep them away from children and pets, and never swallow them.
What is the difference between incense sticks and cones?
Sticks burn longer and more gently; cones burn faster with a stronger scent. Backflow cones are made to let the smoke fall like a waterfall in a backflow burner.