Living in a stressful modern world, meditation is a skill that everyone should explore. It’s a centuries-old teaching that can be seen in various forms throughout different cultures. Many meditation techniques employ the same foundations: they focus on breathing and require that person to be physically at ease. People may hesitate and think meditation is too difficult and requires a large amount of dedication, but that would be a fallacy. Some meditation styles can be done within only 5 minutes and will have you feeling changed- lighter, more at ease.
Meditation has numerous health benefits (which we highlighted here), from a stronger body to ultimately a stronger mind. It allows people to get rid of stress and gain confidence over time. Although you may not become a monk or guru by the end of this, here are the easiest ways to help you get started in the world of meditation.
Guided Meditations
Love-Kindness Meditation
If you are looking for a more structured meditation, guided meditation is a perfect choice. In contrast to unguided, guided meditation’s end goal is to achieve a state. This state varies from ideology to ideology. Love-kindness is perhaps the easiest guided meditations for beginners.
This meditation focuses on self-diagnosis and repairing. It’s intended to promote kindness and compassion and works with positive energy. Love-kindness meditation is perfect for those that have anger and resentment built up within them. It allows a healthy release of negative energy and a path for incoming positive energy.
For the diagnosis part, you must close your eyes and slow your breathing. You must then focus on an aspect of your body that is bothering you. Once you’ve zeroed in on it, the key is to repair it. Through meditation and specific positive phrases, you are able to free yourself from those negative thoughts.
This is a great practice for those dealing with stress from people daily. It allows them to free themselves of the bad and focus on the love and kindness that others emit.
Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental meditation is a derivative of mantra meditation. The goal is to be awakened by strengthening the self by using breathing and chants as a means.
This is one of the more recent types of meditation but is also quite popular. Various gurus in the east derived it from Hindu and Daoist teachings and brought it to the west. Transcendental doesn’t require much space but needs discipline. It’s a guided technique that has been perfected to help you achieve a state of awakening.
The technique starts with sitting and controlled slow breathing. The next step is to find a Sanskrit mantra that you’d like to recite and recite it with your eyes closed for 20 minutes. When done, slowly stretch your fingers towards your toes and open your eyes.
According to a practitioner, the key difference between mantra meditation and transcendental is that in mantra, you chant aimlessly. In transcendental, instead of just repeating the same mantra over and over, you use phrases to help you go into a state of consciousness and stillness.
Spiritual Meditation
When talking about meditation, spiritual meditation is perhaps the most well-known. Often depicted in cinema and film, it’s one that requires a dedicated space. It’s rooted in eastern religions like Hinduism and Daoism and has you connect with a higher power. In essence, spiritual meditation is similar to prayer. It can be done in numerous forms and various types of prayers or chants can be recited.
Compared to the other meditations, spiritual meditation is guided and requires you to connect to something as opposed to freely breathing and letting your thoughts flow by. Although the philosophies and styles of spiritual meditation may differ from ideology to ideology, the end goal of connecting to a higher being is the same.
After finding a quiet space, you can set your body in any position. Then, like in every meditation, follow your breathing. Many religions have mantras or chants that you’re recommended to recite that help you achieve awakening. Although it may seem simple, for additional techniques, you should refer to specific ideologies for stances and what to chant.
Unguided Meditations
Mindfulness Meditation
If you have little time and space, mindfulness meditation is for you. It’s the most popular meditation and requires little to no effort. Mindfulness meditation focuses on letting your thoughts flow and looking for patterns. The free-flowing aspect of meditation is important. You shouldn’t judge or ponder over the thoughts, just note the patterns.
In order to practice mindfulness meditation, just find a quiet and clutter-free area. Sit comfortably with your back upright but not stiffened. Have legs crossed and your arms resting parallel on your knees. Breath in and out slowly with your head tilted slightly down and your eyes closed.
Some claim saying “follow” as you breathe in and out helps. Beginners can start by mediating for only 5 minutes and increase the duration gradually.
Movement Meditation
For those that can’t sit down and need to move, movement meditation can prove to be a great fit. It’s one of the most beneficial meditation techniques that require more room. Movement meditation is based on moving at a slow pace and less on breathing. It requires you to pay attention to the tense parts of your body and release the tension. This type of meditation can be done in various ways.
One way is to first sit and relax and be mindful of your body. Slowly extend your arms and your back. Stand up slowly and move your arms and body in a swaying motion. Pay attention to any uncomfortable spots in your stance and adjust. Start from your head and make your way down.
This is the basic method of movement meditation. You can add movements like slowly picking a fruit from a tree when you feel more comfortable. Walking through the woods and gardening flowerings are other movements you can incorporate.
