Meditation is among the tools driving the movement towards a more compassionate world. It has become crucial for dealing with problems brought upon us by industrialization and globalization—problems that can be physically and mentally crippling without the right practices.
As ancient as it is, various cultures across the globe still practice meditation. When done correctly and regularly, it can calm the mind and create inner harmony. That said, how correctly and frequently one engages in the exercise are only two of three aspects necessary to get it right.
It’s also important to know the type of meditation to perform. That’s what we’ll discuss today as we help you become more attuned with your mind and spirit. Speaking of intrinsic harmony, you can take steps to achieve it holistically when you visit Learn Inner Peace.
Popular Meditation Practices
As established, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all practice to help overcome one’s mental and spiritual storms. The right solution comes in the form of the practice that best meets your needs and personality. That could be any of the following:
1. Mindfulness Meditation
Buddhist tradition gave birth to mindfulness meditation, which soon became the most prevalent meditation practice in the West.
This practice calls upon you to assess thoughts and feelings that go through your mind. You don’t, in any way, associate these thoughts with you. You observe them impartially, taking notes of any patterns they may have in common.
Mindfulness meditation requires both awareness and focus. It becomes easier when you have a particular object or even your breathing to concentrate on while observing sensations that run through your mind and body.
You’ll find this kind of meditation easier to get used to than others since it won’t necessarily require a teacher or too many sessions to get the hang of it.
2. Focused Meditation
This type of meditation involves focusing on any of your five senses. For instance, you might seek aid from other elements, such as your breathing or external factors to center your attention.
Try listening to a song, counting something backward in your head, or staring at something. It sounds like you’d easily pull this off in theory, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The level of concentration required to focus on a single thing for an hour is nothing short of monumental. Sure, the first few minutes might have you thinking it’s a piece of cake, but the rest of the time will have you realizing otherwise.
Then again, a beginner’s mind is expected to wander now and then. You just have to learn to refocus and get back into the practice. As you’ve probably guessed, this is a practice for poorly focused individuals.
3. Spiritual Meditation
Among other religious beliefs, the Hindu and Christian faith brought forth what many of us have come to know as spiritual meditation. It’s not too different from prayer, where you reflect on the peace and quietness surrounding you to form a deeper bond with the universe or a higher power.
Spiritual meditation practitioners often enhance their experience by applying essential oils such as frankincense, sandalwood, cedar, and sage. They also typically engage in this practice in places of silence, such as their homes or places of worship. If you’re someone who seeks spiritual growth and finds solace in silence, then this meditation method is for you.
4. Mantra Meditation
You’ve likely seen people in shows or movies meditating while making “hmm” or “omm” sounds. That’s actually a real practice born from Buddhist and Hindu traditions called mantra meditation. It revolves around the making of repetitive sounds to empty the mind of thoughts.
Your mantra can either be a sound, word, or phrase uttered loudly or softly enough times to attune you with your environment. This boosts your awareness and allows you to make more profound connections with your surroundings.
Mantra meditation is for those who are less inclined to achieve focus with their breath than with their words. It is an ideal practice for people who can’t get to “that place” with silence and can concentrate more hearing the sounds of their voice.
5. Transcendental Meditation
As one of the more popular types of meditation in modern society, transcendental meditation has been the subject of various conversations. Most of them focus on the good of practice and how it can be customized to a practitioner’s needs.
Like mantra meditation, it allows you to draw focus and awareness from specific sounds coming from your mouth. It also offers more structure and lets you maintain a more significant meditation practice.
What’s the Most Effective Type of Meditation for You?
Knowing what the most effective meditation type is for you means learning about the different methods out there. It’s a matter of choosing a specific practice that aligns with who you are as a person physically, mentally, and spiritually.
A professional writer with over a decade of incessant writing skills. Her topics of interest and expertise range from health, nutrition and psychology.