8 Types of Meditation to Find Your Calm

Afifa Rehman
5 min readMar 9, 2024

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Meditation is an easy exercise that can make a big difference if you have trouble unwinding and clearing your mind, regardless of how your schedule is set up. You’ll discover that you generally feel less stressed and are more focused at work, school, or anywhere else if you set aside time each day to meditate. People all over the world are finding that even a short meditation session can have a significant impact on their day.

The idea of meditation is simple. Its main point is that awareness and attention are crucial. You may concentrate on your thoughts and let go of outside distractions while you meditate.

You can take a much-needed break from the chaos of the outside world and your racing thoughts through meditation. You may feel more at ease and lucid after this break, which will help you throughout the day. According to studies, meditation can help you focus better, feel less stressed, and become more cognizant of your thoughts and emotions. It might also benefit your general emotional and mental well-being.

Choosing a Meditation Method That Is Effective for You

There are various techniques for practicing meditation, such as concentrating on your breathing, being aware of your thoughts, or even deliberately moving your body. You can achieve some peace of mind and clarity with each technique.

You could not have discovered a style of meditation that suits you if you believed it wasn't for you, perhaps due to misconceptions you hold about the practice.

There isn’t a single method of meditation that suits everyone. You might benefit more from listening to a meditation guide than your friend, who might find that sitting in silence is the best way to meditate.

“Meditation” is just the act of focusing. Like "sports,” meditation is an umbrella term. Sports come in a wide variety, and each one develops your skills uniquely. Additionally, other forms of meditation assist in different ways with brain training, according to mindfulness and brain health specialist Dorsey Standish.

The idea is to experiment with several forms of meditation until you find one that suits your needs and brings you calm. Now, take a few deep breaths and get ready to learn about the eight different forms of meditation, their practices, and the advantages of selecting the right one for you.

Meditation with mindfulness

You may cultivate an appreciation for what life has to offer by learning to live completely in the present, and mindfulness meditation can support you in doing so. It entails being mindful of your ideas, emotions, and physical experiences without criticism or condemnation. It invites you to look at these aspects of your life as patterns and not try to make them different.

Spiritual Guidance

Spiritual meditation can help you strengthen your relationship with a higher power if you place a high value on spirituality. You can engage in spiritual meditation even if you don’t hold any religious or spiritual views but are seeking a deeper sense of meaning and purpose in life.

Spiritual meditation aims to help you see beyond yourself and establish a connection with something larger, whereas other types of meditation encourage you to concentrate only on yourself.

Concentrated Meditation

Have you ever stared at one place for too long, lost in contemplation for several minutes? It’s a really good approach to starting focused meditation. With this kind of thing, you have to focus on just one thing—a sound, an idea, or an object. You may also, like many other forms of meditation, concentrate on your breathing.

It teaches your mind to block out distractions and concentrate on just one thing. Don’t worry if your thoughts stray; just gently draw them back to the topic you’ve selected to focus on.

Moving Mindfulness

People who practice movement meditation live by the maxim “movement is medicine,” and this couldn’t be more true. This type of meditation urges you to discover peace and concentrate through slow, deliberate movements, in contrast to many other forms that call for you to remain still.

People who struggle to remain motionless for extended periods would benefit greatly from movement meditation.

Meditation on Transcendental Awareness

Using the practice of transcendental meditation (TM), you can help calm your mind and induce deep relaxation by silently repeating a mantra.

The simplicity of TM makes it simple to learn and practice for those who are new to meditation. You just need to let your mind naturally calm down while you repeat your mantra; you don’t need to think too hard or focus too much.

Meditation with a Guide

Some folks may rather meditate under the supervision of a practitioner or teacher. But you can achieve the same effects by doing this virtually; you can even watch or listen to a podcast on medications.

This is the type of meditation that beginners who want someone to guide and encourage them would enjoy. You can use the guidance to visualize your thoughts, concentrate on your breathing, or increase your body awareness.

Meditation with Vipassana

Vipassana, which translates as “to see things as they are,” is one of the oldest styles of meditation practiced in India. Increasing self-awareness is one of the objectives of vipassana meditation.

It encourages you to notice your thoughts and feelings without responding to them while you practice. Seeing things as they are, rather than how you wish they were, is the notion.

Meditation with visualization

The goal of visualization meditation is to obtain quiet and relaxation by using your imagination. With this kind of meditation, you use your imagination to create a serene environment for yourself by visualizing a location or circumstance that you find calming.

It helps those who find it easier to focus on visuals than on breathing or bodily sensations and who prefer to think in pictures.

Beginning

Every type of meditation can aid in achieving focus and serenity in its unique way. What you’re looking for will determine which is best for you. Try guided meditation or mindfulness if you need to quiet your racing thoughts.

Try spiritual meditation to establish a spiritual connection. Movement meditation is a great way to energize your body and mind if you enjoy being active. Individuals seeking deeper self-awareness may find transcendental meditation or vipassana meditation beneficial.

It’s acceptable to experiment with many kinds to see which suits you the best. You may utilize a few of various sorts, or start with one and then switch to another, depending on how you’re feeling.

Since meditation is a personal practice, what suits one person may not suit another. Seeing how it can benefit you daily and maintaining an open mind are crucial.

Once you find a meditation practice that suits you, it just takes a few minutes a day to get started and can have lifelong advantages.

Thanks for reading.

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