Types of Meditation: What are the Types of Meditation and How Can You Learn Them?
Meditation in ancient culture and its global practice. There are no religious constraints as far as meditation is concerned. In this whirlwind of thoughts and life, everyone is looking for a quiet spot where they may be free and honest. Unfortunately, most individuals live their lives just on social media. If they are celebrating a festival or are dressed up quite nicely, it is all for the sake of social media. Nobody realizes that it is not possible to fulfil yourself with a virtual existence. That virtual world’s influence is too harsh and this later cannot be digested.
You don’t have to be on camera to discover yourself. All you need to do is look within yourself. Meditation is the ideal method for meeting your spirit and getting to know yourself. Whenever you need it, it brings you serenity and pause. Practising basic meditation might offer you a different perspective of the wonderful current world.
There are different types of meditation techniques and through this article, we will discuss types of meditation techniques, individual types of meditation and benefits, the best type of meditation for beginners, types of meditation practices, basic meditation, and its methods.
Types of Meditation
Meditation is one type of worship. Worship doesn’t mean that you pray in front of an idol. It means you have faith in something and you follow that thing with discipline. Meditation is something that can be improved if you practice basic meditation on a regular basis. Everyone has a different purpose for meditating and each of us can practice different meditation methods from the following.
- Mindfulness Meditation
- Focused Meditation
- Mantra Meditation
- Visualisation Meditation
- Transcendental Meditation
- Movement Meditation
- Spiritual Meditation
- Progressive Relaxation/ Body Scan Meditation
- Loving-Kindness Meditation
Let’s take a quick trip to visit each method of meditation from the different types of meditation.
Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness meditation is one of the techniques which come from Buddhists. Mindfulness means observing your life as it is and accepting your existing circumstance without judgment. Mindfulness represents the ability to be totally present and able to live without transforming your feelings into action. Mindfulness may also be defined as being aware of one’s current situation: noticing one’s thoughts and feelings as they occur for no apparent reason.
Practising Mindfulness meditation helps you to be more aware of the ongoing situation around you without reacting. And this can be practised anywhere and anytime without any mentor. There are different types of mindfulness meditation techniques and you can find them in our various articles. Mindfulness meditation is also considered as one of the meditation techniques for beginners. It is easy to learn and practice as well.
Focused Meditation
Focused meditation is often practised with various kinds of focus to improve your concentration. This is one of the simplest types of meditation since all you have to do is focus on your breath, and if you notice ideas wandering in your mind, simply try to divert those ideas and return to concentrating on your breath.
Focus meditation is easy but it may be difficult for beginners because it may be difficult to hold your focus for a long time. With regular focused meditation exercises, you can achieve your concentration.
Mantra Meditation
Mantra meditation is a type of meditation that is most likely taught in Hindu and Buddhist traditions. This can be done by constantly muttering some word, phrase, or mantra. In general, “OM” is the word most people use while practising Mantra meditation.
To practice this meditation, we don’t need to sit in front of God and continuously pronounce it in a loud voice. We can chant the mantra in our mind or in a very low voice, so only we can hear that. We believe that this mantra creates a beautiful and warmful atmosphere to practice meditation. Some people find this method easier than others because focusing on Mantra is not as difficult as focusing on the breath.
Visualization Meditation
Visualization meditation is a technique that allows you to feel peace, relaxation, and calmness by visualizing a positive gesture in your mind. To practice this, try to imagine the scene exactly as it is and imagine yourself in the scene as you want to be in the future.
This meditation technique encourages you towards your goal by visualizing yourself as a successful person. It gives you the strength to find the way to success with more focus and motivation. Many people are practising this to cheer up their mood, think positively, and reduce their stress level. Sometimes even we practice this unknowingly to boost our mood.
Transcendental Meditation
This is one of the spiritual types of meditation. This is more customizing compared to mantra meditation. Transcendental meditation can be practised by using a mantra or series of words that is suitable for the person to meditate.
This type of mediation is for those who are serious about meditation and continuous practice on a daily basis.
Movement Meditation
Movement meditation is a physically active form of meditation. In other words, you can say this type of meditation is Yoga. There are Types of movement meditation from that you can practice these types of yoga meditation by walking in the garden, trying different poses of yoga to release pain, stress, and depression.
This is one of the active forms of meditation. This technique is one of the best meditation techniques for people who enjoy movement and being active.
Spiritual Meditation
Spiritual meditation is generally part of most religions. It is similar to prayers which are practised in silence. And through that, you can feel yourself nearer to god. You can find great serenity inside yourself via spiritual meditation. And you are closer to the soul.
You can practice spiritual meditation in a place of worship and this will be beneficial to those who want to immerse themselves in a spiritual way.
Progressive Relaxation/ Body Scan Meditation
This type of meditation practise reduces tension from the body and relaxes your body. In another word, this is also known as body scan meditation. These muscle relaxation exercises can be practised by the person who is also doing meditation regularly.
Some techniques of progressive relaxation demand that people tighten and relax their muscles. Others advise a person to see a wave and flow over their bodies in order to release stress. Progressive relaxation can encourage generalized emotions of relaxation and peacefulness. Some people use this type of meditation to help them sleep since it relaxes the body gently and consistently.
Loving-Kindness Meditation
The loving-kindness technique of meditation can be used to control emotions and feelings whether it is anger. This method of meditation is practised with the goal of tune our mind with love and kindness, even toward the enemy and even to the source of stress.
It usually involves opening up the mind to love from others, then delivering wonderful people, friends, strangers, and all living beings a sequence of good wishes.
This meditation might be good for individuals who have sentiments of anger and resentment since it promotes compassion and kindness.
Meditation Types for Beginners
For different types of meditation, when you want to start meditation in the beginning, the following are the easiest types of meditation for beginners.
- Mindfulness Meditation
- Mantra Meditation
- Body Scan Meditation
These are the types of meditation that are easy to learn and practice every day as a beginner. Mindfulness meditation means observing your life without regret about the past and thinking about the future. It is easy to practice compared to other types of meditation.
Mantra meditation is the kind that we follow as a ritual primarily consciously or unconsciously. It’s easier to meditate on a mantra or just one word, as you begin to focus on one phrase as you say it automatically. This is therefore one of the most popular meditation styles of several kinds.
Everyone concerns about their bodies and after a stressful day, everyone requires adequate sleep. You may look at your moments and relax tense muscles accordingly with a body scan. You can focus on pain, stress, and relatively exercise by adopting this meditation approach to receive pain relief.
These are the easiest types of meditation or the types of guided meditation that can be practised on a regular basis as a beginner, compared to others. Whenever you start practising mediation, it is difficult to meditate for a long time. But with regular exercise and by following a routine of meditation, you can achieve your goal and can live a healthy life.
Benefits of Meditation
Here we have already explained the types of meditation. Everyone has different meditation ways but the benefits of all types of meditation are almost the same. Now we will check the benefits of different kinds of meditation. The many advantages of meditation are supported by a lot of data and the personal experiences of humans. There has been researching done on meditation techniques and their relative benefit on both physical and mental health.
Meditation can help to control high blood pressure, reduce stress and anxiety. It may assist you in overcoming your depression. Major types of meditation techniques can help you to choose a goal in your life. Practising mindfulness meditation can give you a different appearance in life.
When you start focused meditation, your concentration power increases day by day. It will be beneficial for you to present the situation and focus on the things that are going around you. By practising mindfulness meditation, you can manage your emotions as well. So, if we count the notable benefits of all meditation types, it can be as follows.
There are multiple benefits to different kinds of meditation.
- Builds a skill to Reduce Stress and Anxiety
- Increases your focus on the current situation
- Controls your emotions
- Increases your creativity
- Changes the aspect of life
- Creates a positive surrounding for you
- Increases your passions and tolerance
- You can have a good sleep
- You can be capable to tolerate pain and stress and without side effects
So, the daily activity of meditation can boost your productivity and the different types of meditation can help you to overcome some type of physical illness. It is difficult to conclude the best type of meditation from the meditation types list. But we can always find several benefits from different kinds of meditation practices.
By consulting the experts and with their guidance on meditation and its types, you can keep practising types of meditation and that will create a phenomenal change in your life in a positive manner. Meditation is a simple approach to improve better health and happier life. Like any other talent, it takes time to perfect. If you keep to it and are willing to test the methods, you are more likely to discover a meditation style appropriate for you.