Choosing Candles for Yoga Studio: A How-To Guide (Type, Color, Scent)

Candles are a fantastic way to encourage relaxation and to set the mood. Choosing the right candles for your yoga studio is essential to creating a peaceful and zen-meditation atmosphere at your yoga studio. Knowledge of candle scents and their benefits helps in creating an unforgettable ambiance at your yoga studio.

So which candles should you choose for a yoga studio? For a yoga studio, choose scented non-toxic candles with longer burn time. Choosing the scent of candles depends on the type of yoga class. For example, eucalyptus and spearmint are popular choices for stress relief, while lemongrass scent is excellent for meditations.

There are plenty of candle scents that can improve focus during yoga sessions and help in achieving more significant benefits. Furthermore, to choose the right candles for your yoga studio, you must also know the brands available in the market.

In this guide, I’ll discuss how you can choose the right candles for your yoga studio. I will also cover the colors of candles, their ingredients, and tips on using candles during yoga.

This post is part of a series of guides and articles providing in-depth information about how to start a yoga studio. Head to the main article to find a list of articles and guides covering the topic.

Candles For Yoga Studios: Picking the Type of Candles

Right off the bat, choosing a non-toxic candle is very important. Candles made of toxic chemicals like paraffin release vapors when lit. These fumes pose a health danger.

A good alternative is to use candles made of natural waxes like soy wax or beeswax. The natural composition of these candles favors aroma and scents.

Note: Some people might recommend palm wax candles. However, these candles contribute to the deforestation of a variety of forests around the world, as harvesting the palm oil used to make the wax requires the destruction of local environments. If you care about the environment, avoid palm wax candles.

Candles For Yoga Studios: Picking the Color of Candles

People believe that each color of candle symbolizes an essential aspect of life. If you are using a candle of a particular color, your meditation’s focus can shift towards that desire, and you can have more deliberate thoughts about that aspect of life.

If you can be more mindful about not just the scent but also the color of the candles at your yoga studio, you will be able to create an abience at your yoga studio that will be unmatched.

White, Purple and Blue

If you’re looking to focus on spirituality and personal growth, go for these cool shaded colors. The symbolic meaning for white is purification and peace, while the blue and purple show intuition, protection, and spirituality. Deep blue candles symbolize communication.

Red and Pink

Red and pink are intense, warm-toned colors that are said to represent love and passion. If the focus of your meditation and yoga session is love, passion, joy, power, success, and romance, set pink or red candles in the yoga studio.

Green

Green represents prosperity. For a session focused on success, wealth, and health, you should get green candles. Green candles also represent fertility and activeness. It’s also said to symbolize self-affirmation.

Candles For Yoga Studios: Picking the Scent of Candles

The scent of candles can evoke certain emotions that you could focus on during your yoga session. Here’s a couple of popular scents and their effects:

The lemongrass scent is suitable for energizing yoga sessions and has plenty of refreshing benefits that give you a wholesome feeling.

Peppermint and spearmint is the best scent for stress and anxiety relief, especially the release of the burden of personal life and work life.

Eucalyptus is also suitable for dealing with stress.

Lavender is excellent for relaxation and relieving physical pain. It’s also good for insomniacs.

Jasmine helps to unwind, much like lavender. Jasmine fragrance is also known to heighten sexual desires and will be an excellent addition for your tantric yoga sessions.

Cinnamon helps boost memory and learning and reduces frustration.

Rosemary lowers fatigue and enhances brainpower, making reflexes more spontaneous.

Rose comforts the mind making it best for anxiety. It’s also excellent for asthma patients.

Sandalwood stimulates the seventh chakra. It promotes self-identity, self-esteem, energy, and enthusiasm.

Orange makes you calmer, even under severe pressure.

Sage helps control blood pressure and metabolic rate.

Best Candles for Yoga Studios:

La Jolie Muse Scented Candles (Blue Lotus Essential Oil)

This long-lasting candle burns for 40-45 hours and contains blue lotus, which is known for its incredible benefits, including improvement of sleep, reduction of anxiety, and treatment of coughs.

Wax and Oils Lavender Candle

This candle for yoga studios is another purple candle that provides all the benefits of lavender mentioned earlier in the article. Another great aspect is that natural soy wax is used in its preparation and not paraffin.

Ylang Ylang & Jasmine Meditation Candle

It’s a champagne-colored candle that has jasmine, chamomile, ylang-ylang and musk scent, great for lifting your mood and promoting peaceful, positive energy.

Benevolence LA Scented Candle

This candle is a soy wax candle that contains rose and sandalwood: two delightful and very beneficial scents. It’s terrific for providing a comfortable environment and boosting self-identity.

Tips on Using Candles In Yoga Studios

Here’s a detailed guide on using candles during your yoga sessions. Typically you will set aside a portion of class time for meditation.

Make sure to maintain quietness in the studio for the duration of the session. A yoga meditation session usually lasts 10-20 minutes. Ask the participants to turn their phones off.
Dim the lights of the room and shut the curtains. Focusing on candlelight becomes harder when daylight or fluorescence is present.
Make sure all the attendees are comfortable. They should be wearing light clothes that do not cause any discomfort. Loose clothes and robes help meditate better. If the studio has robes, request people to change.
When meditating using candles, make sure you place them at eye level. Doing so makes it easier for you to focus on the candles without any discomfort or straining.
Place the candles about 20-21 inches away from yourself. Situate the candles directly in front of the class. If the candle is too close, the sharp brightness will distract your students from meditation. If the candle’s too far away, the dim light will make focusing harder.
You and your students should sit in a comfortable position. The carpet of the yoga studio should be soft. If your yoga studio has wood flooring, ask your students to use yoga mats. Also, provide bolsters and yoga blankets to students who request them. If someone’s sitting in a chair, ask them to plant their feet firmly on the floor. Others sitting on the floor need to keep their legs crossed, back straight, and relax their hands on their laps.
To set the mood, place multiple candles around the room — place candles on tables, shelves, and counters.
You can light candles when holding different sessions – aromatherapy sessions, practicing stress-relief meditation, guided visualization, mindfulness meditation, and transcendental meditation.
Use the candle flames as centers of focus for your students. Gaze at the fire and let it occupy your mind.
Don’t be alarmed if your eyes get watery from gazing at candlelight. Any discomfort will eventually fade.
If focusing on a candle is hard for someone or they don’t seem to relax, shift focus to a different object like a painting, a rock, or a pattern.
As you keep meditating, try to clear your mind. Start having optimistic or happy thoughts.
Let the clarity, purity, and beauty of light overcome your stress, anxiety, and other thoughts. Get absorbed in the moment. If you feel like your thoughts are wandering, or you catch your head drifting towards something insignificant, stop and bring the attention back to the brightness and elegance of the burning flame.
The meditation session should be over in 10-20 minutes. This duration is perfect timing to relax and improve your focus.
Blow out all the candles once you finish. Extinguish every flame as candles can pose fire hazards upon coming in contact with sheets and curtains.

Conclusion

For yoga studios, choose candles made from soy wax or beeswax, and that are long-lasting. The color and scents you choose can have a significant impact on the ambiance and flow of your yoga session. Candles will become the centerpiece of your yoga session during the 10-20 minutes you set aside for meditation during yoga practice.

This post is part of a series of posts providing in-depth information on everything you need to know to start a yoga studio. The other posts in this series include:

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About the author

Naz Ahm is the founder of StudioGrowth and has spent a decade growing start-ups and venture-backed companies. He writes about sales, marketing, and growth, especially in the yoga, fitness and wellness industry.

Naz has an MBA from IESE Business School and started his journey in the wellness industry when he set-up an on-demand wellness business. Naz currently resides in London, U.K.

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