Six Types Of Meditation

 

There are so many different types of meditation. Pin? Who knows, but enough to find the one that's right for you. To start your search, here are six types of meditation you can try.

1. Observing the breath. Can meditation be as simple as paying attention to your breath for a few minutes? You bet. Relax in whatever position suits you best, close your eyes and start paying attention to your breathing. Breathing through your nose engages your diaphragm and gets oxygen to the bottom of your lungs. As your mind wanders, just refocus your attention on the air flowing in and out of your nose. Do this for a few minutes or longer as you get used to it.

2. Empty mind meditation. Meditation can create a kind of "objectless awareness," emptying all thoughts from your mind. Techniques for doing this include sitting still, often in a "full lotus" position or cross-legged, and allowing the mind to quiet itself. It can be difficult, especially since any effort seems to just cause more things in the mind.

3. Walking meditation. This one engages the body. It can be outside or as simple as pacing back and forth in a room. Pay attention to the movement of your legs, breathing and body as you walk and the feeling of your feet touching the ground. When your mind wanders, just bring it back to the process of walking and breathing. Meditating outside in this way can be difficult due to distractions. If you are doing this outside, find a quiet place with flat ground.

4. Mindfulness meditation. A practice Buddhists call vipassana, or insight meditation, is mindfulness, the art of becoming deeply aware of what is here right now. You focus on what is happening in and around you at this moment, and you become aware of all the thoughts and feelings that take away your energy every moment. You can start by watching your breath, then shift your attention to the thoughts going through your mind, the sensations in your body, and even the sounds and sights around you. The key is to watch without judgment or analysis.

5. A simple meditation mantra. Many people find it easier to keep their minds from wandering if they focus on something specific. A mantra can help. This is a word or phrase that you repeat as you sit in meditation and is chosen for you by an experienced master of some tradition. If you are working on this alone, you can use any word or phrase that works for you and you can choose to repeat it out loud or in your head as you meditate.

6. Meditation on the concept. Some meditative practices involve contemplating an idea or scenario. An example is "meditation on impermanence," in which you focus on the impermanence of all things, starting with your thoughts and feelings, as they come and go. In Buddhist "corpse meditation" you think about a body in the ground slowly rotting and being fed by worms. This technique is used to lead you to an understanding that your rationalizing mind may not lead you to.

There are many other meditations you can try such as "loving kindness meditation" or "object" meditation and even brainwave entrainment meditation. Each type has its advantages and effects. Because of this, you may find that you want to use several different types of meditation at different times and for different purposes.