Try These 4 Meditation Techniques and Begin Meditating like a Monk Today!
How many times have you said to yourself, I’m going to start meditating regularly - daily, even! Only to find that a week into your new practice you’ve miraculously forgotten it altogether.
Or, you begin the practice with all the best intentions but found it’s really difficult to shut your brain off so it deters your motivation to keep going.
Yup. Guilty also.
So here’s the part that maybe you don’t want to hear but need to hear: it’s all about practice.
I know, I know, I just want it to come naturally too! I want to be able to plop down on my pretty meditation pillow, close my eyes, take some deep breaths, and fall right into that delicious and deep meditation.
Here’s the great news though… That’s where it can start.
Let’s explore the difference between meditation and mindfulness, different types of meditation, and their benefits, and share some tips and tricks about how you can start meditating today and actually stick to it.
Meditation vs. Mindfulness
At some point or another most of us have confused meditation and mindfulness or assumed they are one and the same. But they actually have two different purposes altogether.
Meditation is the practice of being the observer of your internal world… your mind. While mindfulness is the practice of bringing all your attention to the present moment.
Meditation helps you develop control over what your mind tells you constantly, while mindfulness helps you to ground in the present moment and notice the world around you.
One is an internal experience while the other is an external experience.
Types of Meditation
Breathing Meditation
Breathing meditation can be a great place to begin your meditation practice. Its focus is simple: the breath. If you’re someone who struggles to sit in meditation without your mind immediately poppin’ online, this meditation is simple enough to stick to. There is no “right” way of going about it other than bringing all your attention to your breath and with each breath, elongating the breath as you go. When your mind starts to chatter, bring it back to the breath.
I might be making this sound too simplified so I’ll be honest… this doesn’t mean it will be easy at first. Your mind may still be quite chatty. But what is simple is only having to remember that all you need to focus on is your breath.
So if you’re looking to start small and consistency is your focus, start here. If being in a group meditation is more your jam, we’ve got two different classes that can help: Ascend and Reflect.
Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation® is a form of meditation that is scientifically backed and proven to provide results. It’s different than any other form of meditation and is formally taught one-on-one. The Transcendental Meditation community is well developed and if you’re looking for more formal training to develop your meditation practice, this would be the one to try!
According to their website, the practice begins with a mantra repeated to yourself and the practice allows you to reach a deep inner stillness that results in clarity, focus, and also many physiological benefits such as improved cardiovascular health.
Mantra Meditation
That brings us to our next form of meditation: Mantra Meditation. If you’re not quite ready for a formal training on Transcendental Meditation but would like to experience parts of it, give Mantra Meditation a go!
Mantra Meditation is choosing a mantra of your own to repeat and focus your attention on during your meditation. The mantra can be repeated internally and quietly or said aloud.
What’s rad about saying the mantra aloud, however, is there is evidence to show that as you repeat the mantra aloud, the vibrations created in the sound activate your brain, and specifically your pineal gland, which enhances calm, clarity, and focus.
Body Scan Meditation
The final form of meditation we’ll mention is kind of a unique blend between meditation and mindfulness: Body Scan Meditation.
With this meditation, you typically begin with a focus on the breath but then turn your attention to various parts of your body. Your focus can begin at the top of your head as you slowly scan downward through all parts of the body, or, you can hone in on specific parts of the body that you feel called to based on your intuition.
This practice of meditation is also a great grounding exercise to get back into the body. The focus is still centered inward so it’s not quite mindfulness, but it is mindfulness of your physical body.
Benefits of a Daily Meditation Practice
It’s not surprising that daily meditation practice will significantly improve your patience, your focus, and your clarity, and decrease anxiety and depression. Many report an ability to tolerate stress more effectively and improved job performance.
But there are also many physiological benefits to meditation. To name a few, it is shown that regular meditation decreases blood pressure and cortisol, improves cardiovascular health, and improves circulation.
When we are effectively breathing and allowing the nervous system to settle out of fight or flight, our entire body works more effectively and increases health in the long run.
Tips and Tricks to Beginning Your Practice
Choose a practice. It doesn’t have to be in this list provided, it can be something that you’ve pieced together and created for yourself, but choosing a practice that you can enjoy will help keep your momentum.
Start small. Literally, one minute. Just start with one minute and then build a minute longer each day. Or each week. The compound effect will absolutely work here. Especially in the beginning, it’s more about consistency to build the practice. So be gentle and go as slowly as you need.
Find a community. Whether it’s you and a friend, or significant other, committing to a daily practice together, or you joining a class, sometimes it helps to know someone else is with you on the journey and holding you accountable.
We’ve all heard about the countless benefits of meditation and why it’s so important to incorporate this practice into everyday life. But it’s one thing to hear about the benefits versus actually experiencing them for yourself.
Meditation is a practice that may take some time to build momentum on, it may be challenging to just get started, and maybe you don’t even notice the effects right away so it’s easier to just let it go…
But maybe, it’s worth all the hype… And there’s a better version of you and your life waiting on the other side of it.
