How to Use Chinese Meditation Balls: A Beginner’s Guide

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Focus and relieve stress with traditional Baoding balls

Co-authored by Evelina Renta and Aly Rusciano

Last Updated: July 1, 2024 Fact Checked

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What are meditation balls?

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Benefits of Using Meditation Balls

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Using Meditation Balls

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Advanced Tips

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Purchasing Meditation Balls

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Expert Interview

Meditation balls, or Baoding balls, are ancient Chinese stress balls. They’re often used to put pressure on the chi points in your hand to improve stiffness and dexterity, but they can also calm the mind, body, and soul. In many traditional meditation practices, these balls can reduce stress and improve focus while meditating. We talked to mindfulness coach Evelina Renta to give you the best advice on using meditation balls and getting the most out of their spiritual benefits.

Meditation Balls: Quick Overview

Meditation (Baoding) balls are small metal, stone, or wooden balls said to help improve relaxation, focus, and hand dexterity. Use meditation balls by placing them in your hand and rotating them around your palm using your fingers and thumb.

Section 1 of 5:

What are meditation balls?

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Meditation balls are small metal balls that aid in relaxation. Also known as Baoding balls, Chinese health balls, and medicine balls, these small objects are believed to help improve relaxation and hand dexterity while meditating. The balls are balanced in the palm and between the fingers and rotated throughout a meditation. The movement of the balls is meant to be grounding and stress-reducing, helping you let go of tense thoughts.^{[1]
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- Baoding balls originated in China during the Ming dynasty and have been used in traditional meditation practices for hundreds of years.
- Meditation balls are traditionally made of metal, but they can also be crafted of other materials (stone and crystal), depending on the user's preference.
- Each set of meditation balls typically comes with 2 balls.

Section 2 of 5:

Benefits of Using Meditation Balls

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Meditation balls may help improve dexterity, instill focus, and manage anxiety. Think of Baoding or meditation balls like traditional Western stress balls. Although meditation balls cannot be squeezed, many believe they offer the same calming and grounding effects as squishable stress relievers. Take a look at the list of possible benefits below to learn how meditation balls may help you:^{[2]
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- Enhance hand dexterity and agility^{[3]
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- Improve focus
- Manage anxiety and depression^{[4]
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  PubMed Central
  Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health
  
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- Strengthen mind-body connection
- Reduce stress
- Improve sleep quality
- Improve memory
- Relax joints and muscles

Section 3 of 5:

Using Meditation Balls

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Place 2 meditation balls in your hand. Hold your hand flat. Place one ball between your pinky and ring fingers. Follow up by setting the second ball between your middle and pointer fingers. Curl your fingers over the tops of the balls. When starting out, you’ll need to rely on your finger strength to move the balls.^{[5]
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- Baoding balls can be very heavy—it wouldn’t feel good to accidentally drop one on your foot. So, to prevent accidents, sit at a table or keep your hand away from your body. Don’t use the balls over glass or any other breakable objects.
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Rotate the balls clockwise with your fingers. The goal is to have the balls swap places. Use your thumb to push the outermost ball towards your body. At the same time, use your smaller fingers to shift the other ball to your larger fingers. Continue swirling the balls in your hand as long as you can.^{[6]
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- Renta suggests starting by rotating the meditation balls clockwise for optimal focus.
- Once you get the hang of moving the balls clockwise, try rotating them the other way.
As you master the movement, the balls will collide with each other less and less. If the balls have chimes, listen for them to ring smoothly and without interruption. Once this happens, you’ve successfully mastered the basics. Feel free to continue practicing until the balls don’t touch at all.^{[7]
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Integrate rotating the balls into your meditation practice. Once you get the hang of rotating the balls in your hand and can do so seamlessly without looking, you’re ready to add them to your meditation practice. Hold the balls in your hand, start rotating them, close your eyes, and meditate. Let the movement and sound of the balls pull you deeper into a meditative state.
- You don’t have to close your eyes during meditation. Keep a soft gaze on the rotating balls if that makes you more comfortable.

Section 4 of 5:

Advanced Tips

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1
Spin the balls with minimal finger contact. As you get accustomed to using the meditation balls, you’ll gain better control of your muscles. Instead of using your fingers, set the balls in your palm and try moving them. Raise one side of your palm and lower the other so the balls start rolling. It’s difficult, but the amount of strength and concentration you learn can be a great reward.^{[8]
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- Remember that you’re providing empty space for the ball to roll into rather than pushing it into that space.
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Turn your palm downwards while rotating the balls. The angle you hold your hand can make using the balls a lot harder. Normally, you’d have your hand flat, but try inclining it upwards. The more your hand faces the ground, the more you’ll have to work your muscles to control the balls. Keep going until you’re ready to try controlling the balls while your palm faces the floor.
- This exercise builds strength and quickness in your fingers.
Instead of sending the balls in the direction of your thumb, send them towards your smaller fingers. Rotate the balls in your hand as you would normally. You’ll still get full hand stimulation by the balls while also increasing your ability to control them.
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Add more balls to the rotation. Start with a third ball, then, once you master that, add a fourth. You’ll spin them in your hand the same way you did with two. It’s similar to juggling in that the difficulty increases with more balls, but so does your skill level.
- Once you can handle three balls, you can even set a fourth ball on top of them and keep it spinning.
Bigger meditation balls are tougher to handle. They’ll press on your hands more, which some practitioners might prefer. It can also be worthwhile when you’ve mastered the meditation balls you own and would like a new challenge.

Section 5 of 5:

Purchasing Meditation Balls

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Pick balls that fit your hands. As a beginner, look for balls around 40 millimetres (1.6 in) wide. This size, which is slightly less than a golf ball, is enough for the balls to hit all pressure points on an average hand. Balls smaller than this are better for children or adults under 5 feet 2 inches (1.57 m), while larger balls are better for experienced users and people over 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m).
- Ball sizes are usually measured in millimeters. Renta recommends trying 35 to 40 millimetres (1.4 to 1.6 in) if you have small hands or are a beginner, and if you have bigger hands, trying a 40 to 55 millimetres (1.6 to 2.2 in) pair.
- Renta stresses the importance that one ball should balance comfortably between your ring finger and little finger while the other is held with the remaining fingers and thumb.
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Choose the type of ball material you prefer. Meditation balls are made of materials ranging from wood to metal. Metal balls are heaviest, so they’ll stimulate your hands more but are generally the cheapest option. Stone balls, such as ones made with jade or marble, are rarer and more expensive.^{[9]
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- Hardwood balls are the rarest type and are very light, so they’re not used as often as other varieties.
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Get balls with chimes for greater sound feedback. Balls that have chimes are hollowed out. A hollowed steel ball is far lighter than a whole one, but this allows the chime to make noise when the ball is moved. Some practitioners like the soothing sound that chimes provide. As a beginner, the chimes let you hear how smoothly you’re moving the balls in your hand.^{[10]
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- For example, a smooth and even chime sound informs you that your movements are fluid. In normal balls, you can hear this when the balls no longer clack together.