A question on meditation was raised with me which has provided me with the opportunity to explore this area in more detail.

Do I meditate? Yes I do, every day (although occasionally I miss it for one reason or another) but what I’ve discovered is that my form of meditation is actually more about communication with Spirit than it is about sitting in silence. I’ve questioned whether that’s actually meditation at all or whether it’s something completely different.

So, although I meditate, I’ve always been curious about other styles of meditation. Together let’s investigate exactly what meditation is…

Mindfulness vs meditation

The first thing that comes to mind when we are talking about meditation is what the difference is between mindfulness and meditation. We’ve all heard of both, and I’ve actually tried both, having been given the opportunity to do a mindfulness programme when I was working in the corporate world.

I really like what Headspace.com had to say about meditation and mindfulness:

• Meditation
  Meditation isn’t about becoming a different person, a new person, or even a better person. It’s about training in awareness and getting a healthy sense of perspective. You’re not trying to turn off your thoughts or feelings. You’re learning to observe them without judgment. And eventually, you may start to better understand them as well.

• Mindfulness
  Mindfulness is the ability to be present, to rest in the here and now, fully engaged with whatever we’re doing in the moment.

When you are practicing Mindfulness, you are being present in whatever it is that you are doing. For instance, if you are doing the dishes, you are feeling the warmth of the water on your hand, the sensation of the bubbles popping against your skin, the slipperiness of the dishes. You are noticing the colours in the bubbles, the way the light reflects off the dishes in the rack, the way the water runs down the plates as they are stacked in the rack.

Meditation, on the other hand, has many more explanations and one of the reasons for that is that there are so many different styles. One website I researched had 15 different styles of meditating! Basically though, meditation tends to be where you focus on a particular area, whether it’s your breath, a mantra, or connecting with a higher power. The general practice is to allow you to reduce the ‘noise’ in your head, in other words to stop the mind chatter for long enough to hear your true self!

Different types of meditation

As I said before, there are a number of different styles of meditation. I’m focusing on the main ones here to give you an overview of what they are all about.

• Mantra meditation
  Saying a mantra, word or affirmation repetitively either out loud or in your head while you meditate. This helps to keep the mind from racing off on to other things or allows the meditator to observe emotions without getting caught up in them. When spoken out loud this is a form of Sound meditation.

• Transcendental meditation
  This also uses a positive mantra or sound and requires 1:1 training from a suitably qualified practitioner who will lead you in a very natural way in the practice of transcending. You are given the sound/mantra on the first day and you are then taught how to use it properly. Once you’ve learnt this method it is quick, enjoyable and effortless, but it is reasonably expensive to learn. Transcendental meditation puts you into a deep state of rest (deeper than deep sleep) and brain coherence where real healing can take place throughout your body and it has been used successfully for PTSD sufferers. It allows the active thinking mind to experience quieter and quieter levels of thought, and then to transcend thought and experience the Self and our own unbounded nature. For it to be effective you need to practice for 20 mins, twice a day but it is a practice that people enjoy and look forward to, rather than feeling like it’s a chore.

• Movement meditation
  Yoga, Qi Gong and Tai Chi are all methods of movement meditation. What they have in common is the practice of slow paced movement with focus and attention being paid to the body’s movement. For instance how the muscles are feeling, registering the touch points where your body touches the floor or other parts of the body, noticing your breath, managing your breath, drawing in energy from the earth or the space around you.

• Visualisation meditation
  In this method you are guided through a visualisation by a meditation practitioner. It’s like going on a journey as they talk you through where you are and draw your attention to different things to notice. This can be very helpful for visual learners and is very effective at reframing something you are finding difficult, helping you to see it in a different way.

• Sound meditation
  Sound meditations use different objects or instruments to create a meditative effect. These can be anything from dried leaves and seeds, chimes, crystal bowls, Tibetan singing bowls, gongs, shamanic drums, wooden flutes etc. This method of meditation can also be known as a Sound Bath. It helps to still your mind so you are focused on the present moment which promotes stillness. The frequencies experienced from the instruments being played move through your body and support you in reducing stress, tension and anxiety, as well as healing on all levels. It is a gentle practice with no effort required by the practitioner - you simply need to lie back and listen.

• Energy meditation
  You may have encountered energy meditation in your yoga or Qigong practice. This is where you focus your attention on what’s called a subtle energy - for instance on the chakras, chi or prana. It helps to refocus your energy and bring you back from being scattered, distracted and out of the moment. You’ll become more focussed, centred and empowered. Focusing on particular chakras allows a deeper understanding of that chakra to develop an understanding of how those energies affect your everyday life. It also allows you to better understand if the chakra is out of balance and to bring it back into a state of harmony.

Finding the right practice for you

The key thing with meditation is to find the practice that works for you. You need to be comfortable with it, enjoy it, and not find it a chore. It should be something you look forward to because you can feel the benefits of it.

Some clues to the type of meditation you might like can be found in your interests. If you are a visual person, then guided meditations could be right for you. If you learn through action, you might like to try a movement meditation practice such as yoga, Qigong, or walking meditations. If you like music and singing, then mantras and meditating to music would be a good place to start.

If you are finding all this very confusing, then the simplest place to start is with a breathing meditation where you simply follow your breath as you breath in and out, and allow your thoughts to come and go, simply acknowledging that they are there and then letting them disappear again. Whenever you find yourself thinking (and believe me, this happens a lot!) go back to the breath, feeling what it feels like as it enters and leaves your body.

It would look like this:

1. Find a comfortable place to sit or lie where you won’t be disturbed. If it’s cold, maybe consider a blanket. I also like to use noise cancelling headphones so I don’t get disturbed by outside noise.

2. Set your intention for the practice. For instance, “Today I want to leave my meditation feeling peaceful and calm”.

3. Focus on your breath. Breathe in deeply through your nose. Feel the fresh, clean air coming in through your nose, travelling down your body and expanding your torso.

4. Follow the breath out. Feel the breath travelling up your body and out through your mouth, noticing the feel of it as it passes out through your mouth.

5. Keep following this process for the amount of time you have allocated for your meditation.

6. You’ll find yourself suddenly caught up in thoughts at some point. Just acknowledge that it’s a thought and go back to focussing on the breath. This is okay - we all do it! The point is to let go of the thought and go back to the breath.

7. At the end of your meditation, gently open your eyes and give yourself a minute or two to just be present before you start moving back into your day.

Practice, not Perfect

You’ll notice that it’s called a meditation practice, not meditation perfect! That’s because we will never be perfect at it. Some days are better than others but the point is that you turn up and do it. In doing so you are able to connect more deeply with yourself, and to sink below the surface level noise (which are like the waves on the top of the ocean) to the quiet stillness that is within (which is like the depths of the ocean). This is where you will find peace, healing, and your true Self.

Personally I chop and change a wee bit. Sometimes I follow a guided meditation, either using the same one for several nights in a row, or changing them around as I feel the need. Other times, I put music on (usually Meditative Mind - see below) and focus on the music. More often than not, though, I am quiet and connect with Spirit to see what unfolds during that quiet time. All of these are okay. There is no right or wrong way to meditate and it can change as your needs change. Turning up for some form of meditation is the key.

I hope you have found something in here that has been of use to you in finding a meditation practice that works for you. This has been a fairly concise exploration into meditation to give you an overview and some insight into their differences. There is a huge amount of information available on Google and YouTube if you are looking to find the right meditation for you. To help you out I’ve included some websites below that I really like and that you might find useful.

Happy meditating!

Karen

Good starting places
Headspace
Calm

Guided Visualisations
Unlock Your Life - has a huge range of guided meditations, hypnotherapy and affirmations
Jason Stephenson - nice range of guided meditations and music. You can also find him on Spotify

Music to meditate to
Meditative Mind - produce a range of music, chants, solfeggio tones etc for meditation, relaxation, sleep and healing

Transendental Meditation
www.TM.org
https://transcendentalmeditation.org.nz/