Meditation isn’t about achieving something , ALL you need is already there! You just have to LISTEN , to NOTICE !
Do you want to change your life just by being still and focusing on your breath for 10 minutes a day?!!
The thing about Meditation is: You become more and more YOU.!
DAVID LYNCH
Meditation is a life changing habit.!
Meditation benefits are many and some of them are :. Relieves stress and anxiety. Increases energy and vitality. Improves health and sleep. Promotes spiritual growth. And many other benefits that varies from one to another.
Additionally people use meditation to sleep or listen to meditation music when they want to relax. There is meditation yoga or even healing meditation. I would suggest a meditation guide if you thing it will be hard for you to stick to it.
To learn more about meditation and its benefits read here.
All clear with the benefits so now How do I get started?
There are many types of meditation. All of them have similar benefits, but they differ on more specific benefits. Some types improve focus more. On the other hand some improve relaxation more.! and so on…
Let’s analyze the main meditation types along with their strong benefits and see which one to choose depending on our needs!
Meditation Types
1. Mindfulness Meditation Type.
One of the most important skills I strongly recommend in life is Self-Awareness..!! And we can build it with …you guessed right!
Here comes mindfulness meditation.
This types of meditation urges practitioners to stay on the present, aware of the moment! Aware of everything thats going on in the given moment,in the present rather than living on the past or trying to force or even live the future!
It is all about noticing and not judging, because judging sets the mind to think something else besides the present! Therefore, as we all know , a mind that analyzes will go on and on jumping from one thing to the other in seconds!
You are the sky .
Everything else is just the weather.!
PEMA CHODRON
So what exactly we do on Mindfulness Meditation??
The practice of Mindfulness Meditation.
We focus on everything that can occur in the given moment like sounds, the feeling of the sun hitting upon us, the smells of a person’s perfume, our motion , our body’s stance, on what we touch and even in the gravity.!! AS you practice this type of meditation you will notice that it is easy to find things to “watch” in the “NOW”.!
Do not get caught in judging or analyzing any of the things you notice! Thus just let your self free on just observing them calmly and relaxed! And when the mind wonder of and starts analyzing and judging things bring it back softly like pushing it with a feather!
Additionally you may want to practice it with closed eyes at the beginning. It will be easier for you because eyes see so many different things in the moment triggering your brain to analyze them! As time goes on start to try to practice with eyes open and see how it goes!
A great thing about Mindfulness Meditation is that it can be practiced anywhere. At home when we wake up or going to bed before sleep. While on the bus to work or waiting in the line. Meditation for 5 minutes means it can be almost anywhere.!
Mindfulness Meditation Benefits!
Mindfulness Meditation have a many benefits . Some important among them are :
- Improve Overall Health
- Improve Focus
- Lower Body Pressure
- Improve Memory
- Improve Relationships
- Reduce Fixation on Negative Emotions
- Reduce Emotional And Impulsive Behaviors
Researches from A.P.A. (American Psychological Association) proved those benefits and more!
One last thing about Mindfulness Meditation is that it can be found in many other types like Breath Awareness being aware of the breath in the given moment.
2. Breath Awareness Or Focused Meditation Or Mantra Meditation Type.
Breath Awareness is as simple as it goes. Focus on the breath.
It is a mindfulness type of meditation the we simple turn our attention on noticing our breath. everything about it , the inhalation the motion in the body during it and the exhalation. And when the mind wanders of we just softly turn its attention to the breath.
Breath is the link between
mind and body!
DAN BRULE
That’s on of the basic meditation types I can say. Most of the people , including me, start from this type because it is simple and easy to stick to.
Breathing Awareness meditation can be a meditation to sleep. Meditation for sleep means it is nice to practice it before sleep. Or even fell asleep during practicing it.
Focus on something else instead.
Despite the breath we can focus on a Mantra. It can be a syllable, a word or a phrase! The chosen Mantra here is the key. It can be words towards boosting self-confidence for example! Keep it on positive manner.
For some people it is easier to use mantra meditation at the beginning because sticking to a mantra (like: omm omm) gets them less possible to be distracted!
The benefits of Mantra Meditation and Breath Awareness Meditation Type are many and similar to mindfulness meditation. Most common among them are:
- Improve Concentration
- Reduce Emotional and Impulsive Behaviors
- Reduce Anxiety
- Improve Focus
- Greater Emotional Flexibility
3. Visualization Meditation Type
It is called from many one of the most difficult types! That’s because it not only requires imagination and the ability to visualize but also it seems more difficult from the mind not to wander.
Don’t get me wrong so. It doesn’t mean you have to try harder. In Meditation we don’t need to try more we just let things be as they are, – it is what it is! – .
The purpose of visualization
is insight , not pictures.
BEN SCHEIDERMAN
Simple Be-aware of the moment.
The visualization subject can be literally anything from puring into us the sunlight to goal visualizing. People who got a great imagination and love to daydream will find this technique very approachable.
The sunlight purring into ,that I really like, can bring along confidence, fulfillment and any other thing you want. Imagine it as a “ball” in your chest and after a minute or so let it spread to your body and then even out of it.
It is very common to practice this technique after some Breath Awareness. Take some breaths and relax. Focus on the given moment (means: on the gravity,sounds,smells etc.) and then on the breath. Stay there for some minutes and then shift to your visualization subject. Keep the breath awareness tho because it is essential.
The sunlight puring into ,that I really like, can bring along confidence, fulfillment and any other thing you want. Imagine it as a “ball” in your chest and after a minute or so let it spread to your body and then even out of it.
You may found it difficult for the mind not to wander. When this happens don’t get frustrated just softly bring it back. Use your breath as an anchor! If you are struggling a lot at the beginning it means you are simply learning it and getting use to it.
The great thing about Visualization Meditation Type is that it can be anything you like as a subject. That makes it a bit more “difficult” tho and tricky.
Sometimes it is just impossible for the mind to get “bigger”. The point here is we think about it not getting “bigger”, just let go as it is for the moment and it will eventually. REMEMBER nothing to ACCOMPLISH nothing to ACHIEVE.
Benefits of Visualization Meditation
Benefits of Visualization Meditation are many and some of them are :
- Cultivates Imagination
- Improves Focus
- Improves Concentration
- Increases Positivity
- Increases Motivation and Energy
- Emotional Flexibility
Visualization Meditation Type can be found in many other types of meditation like Loving-Kindness meditation (Metta Meditation).
4. Loving-Kindness And Skillful Compassion Or Metta Meditation Type.
Once again it is what the title says. Lets dive more into details.
First a quick definition of:
- Kindness – The quality of being generous and caring.
- Loving – someone who shows love to other people.
We mix them up and we get Loving-Kindness Meditation type. Our goal is to cultivate and attitude of loving and kindness towards everything. Thus that means towards ourselves, people we love and “difficult people” even towards stress itself.
Kind people are the best kind of people!
It starts with some breathing awareness meditation type and then we bring to mind images of different people: ourselves ,people we know and we don’t know, people we like and we don’t. Additionally we are doing it with the intention to extend kind thoughts to them. Doing so , unconditionally focusing on their happiness, we learn to let go of any unhappiness we ‘re feeling.
I understand if it sounds weird but trust me it is liberating. Just because our lives are governed by our thoughts , when we are able to let go we start to feel happier and “lighter”. That puts a smile on my face tho!
I recommend to start this meditation with yourself as the image in your mind. We need first to give nonjudgmental, unconditional kindness to ourselves. Loving yourself the way it is and also genuinely caring for yourself will make it easier to apply that to other people at home,socially and at work.
That generates compassion to ourselves and others that brings the feeling of happiness. A feeling we unintentionally transmitting to others everyday then.
The benefits of Loving-Kindness
The benefits of Loving-Kindness, Skillful Compassion Or Metta Meditation Type are, us it seems , a lot and some of them are :
- Generates the feeling of happiness
- Helps with anger, frustration, resentment, interpersonal conflict.
- Reduces anxiety
- Reduces Depression
- Bring Forgiveness
- Letting go of rumination
- Helps in appreciating and accepting things as they are
- Improves the ability of Letting Go!
As I mentioned at start this type seems pretty obvious and simple. But it can be tricky, In order not to be frustrated because it seems hard or it has no benefit at all you need to start slowly and give yourself time before you change the image to your mind, remember first image to be you!
It is also great to get a meditation guide. I recommend Headspace. They have great guides check it out.!
5. Body Scan And Body Relaxation Meditation Type.
In the modern world that is changing rapidly we left behind e very important connection – the body and mind connection.
In order to gain that connection we need just to listen to our body more. Here comes Body Scan meditation type. It’s not that we focus hard on body or something extreme. We just scan the body not too fast yet not too slow focusing on each small part at the given moment.
As we go through we notice any tension on the body and simply relaxing it if possible, with judging or analyzing. Notice any pleasant or unpleasant sensation feeling almost completely the body!
There are versions of Body Scan and Relaxation Meditation type that we relax our muscles during body scan, then we tight them and in the end relaxing again with a body scan.
It is simple, especially if you get used to no judgment or analysis. You will feel more connected to your body and able to “understand” and hear it!!
Of course Body Scan meditation can be done after some Breath Awareness meditation or even before it as an act to relax.
The benefits of Body Scan and Relaxation meditation Type vary, some of them are
- Emotional Flexibility
- Connects Body – Mind
- Enhances Awareness
- Increases Appreciation
- Improves Focus
- Enhances Letting Go!
My experience and opinion On Meditation and Meditation Types.
One night watching videos on Youtube I saw a title something like ” the benefits of meditation. Simple because I am curious I clicked and watched the video. I can’t say I was convinced. I had in mind meditation = religion…
Then another video, then a blog post, then a science research. I had to try for myself. Everyone was talking about “you need at least a month of practice to see some benefits”. So be it a month is a month , I started.
At the beginning I was doing it for 5-10 minutes. I tried simply the breath awareness technique. I was able to focus on my breath for about 1-2 minutes. There were days I couldn’t even make it to 1 minute. And the month has passed.
The benefits I Saw.
- My Self-Awareness enhanced!
- able to be Calm and Focused more
- able to let bad thoughts a feeling be
- Letting Go was a surprising one, (I was one of the person’s that was over-thinking and when a bad thought was there I was repeating it in my head many times a day)
- A bit more Happier..!!
As you can imagine there was a little change in those things yet big enough to get me going!
I then tried guided Meditation, despite the fact that there are many out there , Headspace was the one I chose. Be sure to check their site for more informations.
Guided meditation makes it easier to stick to and has lots of types to go through. I tried many of them and now I have mixed some types and have 2 meditation routines, one morning routine and on night routine!
Generally meditation improved my life and it keeps helping me. The point with meditation is that you already have what it needs that there is really nothing to accomplish or achieve its already there just listen.
It is still sometimes hard to focus on the breath or visualize but now I am able to understand “why” most of the times and/or let go!
I consider Meditation a life changing habit that everyone should practice!
Conclusion
Practicing meditation should be fun.!
Our life is shaped by our mind, for we become what we think!!
Buddha
Many seems to believe that you Must focus or you Must stay calm. IT does’t work that way. As seen in the 5 types above, and in the many others that exist, all you need is already there just LET GO.!
Be sure to read the basics of its type and go a bit deeper into understanding them. Meditation is a powerful habit when you get the idea and stick to it.
Choose the type that seems to fits you or the one you seek its benefits. Keep in mind tho it takes at least a month to see small changes and for some it takes months even a year!
If you are starting now i would recommend a guided meditation. Otherwise 5-10 minute from any of the above types would be great way to start.
Do not be afraid to mix and blend things up. Mix the types in a way you get the most out of it or try whatever you wanna try! There is no standard way, don’t believe people that saying so they miss the point!
Like every other habit, its the consistence that builds it and makes it a habit. Its better to meditate for 3-5 the days that you don’t feel like it than not at all! 3 or 5 minutes of your daily time is ,what to say, no way it cannot be found.
Remember this , once you make it a daily routine and habit you will desire it, it will be a great moment of the day!!
If none of these types convince you, search the web for many more…
Keep Improving! Keep it Simple!!