Types of Meditation

We live in an age, where we are constantly struggling to deal with stressful situations. When there is so much happening in our lives, our thoughts often go haywire. Uncontrollable emotions, especially the negative ones such as anger, jealousy and fear take a toll on our physical as well as mental health. Meditation stabilizes our thought process. Indulging in profound contemplation is the best way to induce a deep state of relaxation. When we meditate, we make an attempt to achieve a state of consciousness that brings about inner peace. It helps us resolve the inner conflicts and puts the mind at ease. It is a relaxation technique that helps us collect our thoughts and channelize them. Various types of meditation techniques form an integral part of major religions. In this article, we will discuss these techniques.

Meditation Types

Meditation is broadly categorized into concentrative and mindfulness meditation. Though many different techniques are followed across the world, but the sole purpose of all is to induce a mental state of consciousness for the realization of certain benefits. It helps to establish a connection between the body, mind and soul. It also helps to cultivate a feeling of wellness, positivity and bliss, both internal as well as external. While meditating, one has to make an attempt to empty the mind of all the thoughts and allow a sense of calm to take over. For this, one has to ignore distractions and irrelevant thoughts and stop the mind from wandering. While many techniques emphasize on the importance of body posture and control over breathing while meditating, some of the techniques can be tried anywhere, even while walking. As you walk, you can concentrate on your body's movements or the breathing pattern.

Chanting Verses or Mantras
In case of transcendental meditation, a deeper state of relaxation is brought on by concentrating on mantras signifying oneness of the universe. This is one of the most effective techniques for beginners. When you chant a mantra aloud, you concentrate on the sound. This can help in emptying your mind of the emotions or thoughts. It is also believed that the mantras create vibrations that help in connecting the body with the soul. Achieving closeness to God by concentrating on the prayers and chants has also been a part of Christian meditation techniques. Meditating and chanting prayers helps one experience the spiritual presence, which in turn, provides a sense of peace.

Yoga Meditation
Hindu seer Patanjali expounded this form of meditation thousands of years ago. It involves focusing one's entire attention on a single object without any distraction. One could focus on one's breathing pattern while emptying the mind of all negativity through visualization. Chakra technique is one of the popular technique. It is believed that there are seven chakras or energy centers in the body. Focusing on these chakras can induce a state of altered consciousness. Each of these energy centers represent specific levels of consciousness. Focusing on each of them is also said to heal certain parts of our body that might be affected by diseases.

Receptive Meditation
This technique involves meditating on an object or an experience and being wholly receptive to the feelings and emotions which emanate from it. Vipassana is one such technique where you are being mindful and aware of the thoughts and experiences without making an attempt to judge anything. This Zen technique involves the whole-hearted acceptance of all experiences one encounters. Generative meditation is another technique wherein the imagination, memory and bodily sensations are harnessed to generate and send out warm loving vibes.

Those of you who practice any of aforementioned techniques sincerely will surely benefit greatly and attain physical and emotional wellness. It will surely give you the inner peace that you seek.