What Are The Different Types Of Meditation?

“Meditation will not carry you to another world, but it will reveal the most profound and awesome dimensions of the world in which you already live. Calmly contemplate these dimensions and bringing them into the service of compassion and kindness is the right way to make rapid gains in the meditation as well as in the life.”

Zen Master Hsing Yun

Meditation is an ancient technique of relaxation in which we put all of our focus on one thing during a deeply relaxed state. It is the state when the mind is most active and we can reprogram it according to our desire.

There are different types of meditation each type is practised for the different purpose and has its own benefits. Research suggests that meditation show a multitude of benefits such as, reduces stress, cures illnesses, helpful in heart diseases, heals wounds and chronic pains, helps to find calmness and peace and much more.

Spiritual teacher, guides, teacher or trainer suggests its most fitted type to you according to your personality and purpose of meditation. There can be guided or unguided meditation. Guided meditation is practiced with the help of a guided or trainer whereas unguided meditation is performed without the help of a teacher.

For beginners, guided meditation is suggested in which a guide or a trainer creates imagery in your mind by using sound in a deeply relaxed state. In the article, we are going to share some popular types of meditation and you get to know which type is best for you.

Types of meditation

In the following section, you will find some popular types of meditation with their purposes.

Transcendental meditation

Transcendental meditation is one of the most popular types of meditation. It is practiced to transcend or rise your present state or level, mostly performed for the well being, to achieve calmness or inner peace.

In transcendental meditation, you sit in a comfortable posture and repeat a mantra or a specific phrase that is customized according to your personality, purpose of meditation and based on various other factors. You can also choose your mantra if you have a specific purpose in mind.

For instance, “I am a healthy person.” People experience mindfulness, spiritual growth and tranquillity after practicing transcendental meditation.

Mindfulness meditation

Most of us dwell in the past or future and our painful experiences haunt us until we take some measures. Mindfulness meditation is the best type to tackle this kind of situation. It helps you to keep aware in the present moment and gives you a feeling of mindfulness. This is the easiest type of meditation and you can practice it anywhere.

In this meditation, you put your all focus on the present moment and calmly notice your surroundings (that’s what is going around you) and let them pass without any judgment. You may pay attention to your breath, depend upon the purpose.

According to studies, mindfulness meditation can help with the release of stress, control emotions, improves relationships, increases learning ability, improves focus or alertness and so on.

Loving-kindness meditation

Loving-kindness meditation is also referred to as Metta meditation. As the name suggests, the loving-kindness meditation is practiced to cultivate the feelings of love and kindness towards everything in the world. It helps to evoke positive and warm feelings to achieve a state of mindfulness and tranquillity.

Metta meditation can be helpful if you have resentment, anger, stress or frustration. Trainers can help you to reprogram your subconscious mind during deep breathing (in a deeply relaxed state) and can feed the message of love and kindness towards everything or for a specific person. Loving-kindness meditation can be used to treat mental disorders, depression, anxiety or other stress issues.

Visualization meditation

This is another most popular type of meditation, practiced for the accomplishment of a particular goal or desire. It is the combination of meditation and creative visualization, in which you create images of a specific goal in your mind by including all senses and create the best scenario of accomplishment of this goal.

The repeated exercise of visualization meditation trains your subconscious and helps in the manifestation. It can also be extremely helpful to discipline your thoughts and to remove painful experiences from your mind by creating new neural pathways.

The visualization mediation can also be helpful in healing, stress issues, can improve focus and so on. It can be used to achieve mindfulness and for spiritual growth.

Movement meditation

Most of the meditations are practiced in a still state whereas movement meditation can be exercised in a moving state of the body. The movement meditation is helpful when you are walking, working, washing or playing. This technique of meditation is linked with tai chi or other types of martial arts.

It is combined with yoga and other types of mindful meditation. The exercise helps you to calm or energize your body by purposeful movement. When we are in motion, even then there is a state of stillness that exists in your heart and mind.

To practice this meditation, you need to be aware of your present state and concentrate on your all body parts by achieving the state of stillness in your mind during a particular activity.

You can practice meditation twice a day for about 20 minutes or you may take a break during daily tasks for 5 to 7 minutes of meditation. You will surely see improvement in your mind, body and soul within weeks.

Summary

Meditation is an extremely powerful technique in which you can reprogram your mind to achieve a state of calmness, peace or mindfulness. There a several types of meditation each has its own benefits and purposes.

Guided meditation is practiced with the help of a trainer whereas unguided meditation is practiced with a teacher or a trainer. According to scientific evidence, meditation can help to heal chronic illness, stress issues, mental disorders, frustration, and so on.

The popular types of meditation are transcendental meditation, mindfulness meditation, loving-kindness meditation, visualization meditation, movement meditation, etc. You can practice meditation twice a day for 20 minutes to manifest in abundance.

– Ariella Cash
“Manifesting Expert” at HowToManifestNow.com