What is the most effective way to meditate?

There are many ways to meditate, but what is the most effective way? This blog post will cover the different types of meditation. We will look at how they work, and which are best for beginners as well as more advanced meditators.

Meditation can help you attain a more peaceful state of mind, as well as get rid of negative emotions like stress, anxiety, depression and anger that may be causing you problems in your life. Meditation can even increase concentration and creativity.

There are many different types of meditation that you can try out if you’re not sure where to start. The goal of this article is to offer what we believe is the most effective way to meditate. We’ll compare different types of meditation to see what will work best for you.

Different types of meditation

Meditation is usually defined as a mental exercise of concentrating and relaxing the mind. There are many different types of meditation that can be practiced. Below here is a list of some of the most popular ones.

Body-focused meditation

One category of meditation is what’s known as “body-focused meditation”. This means that you focus on one of your senses internally or externally. You can meditate by focusing on what you see, what you smell, what you taste, what you feel, or what you hear. Even though the focus is on a sensation related to the body, the aim is also to calm the mind.

Breath focused meditation

This is a type of body-focused meditation. Sit with your eyes closed and take slow relaxed breaths. Focus on what the feeling of breathing in and out feels like in your body. Don’t worry if your mind starts wandering while meditating. Just bring your attention back to your breath each time this happens.

Body-scan

Once again, this type of meditation is what’s known as “body-focused” and involves what you can feel. Sit with your eyes closed and scan through your body from head to toe. Feel each part of your body as you go. If you notice anything that feels tense or uncomfortable, send relaxation there and acknowledge what you’re feeling.

Transcendental Meditation® or TM®

Transcendental meditation has been made famous by celebrities like Oprah, Jerry Seinfeld and Ellen DeGeneres. It generally consists of repeating a mantra for 15-20 minutes twice a day while sitting with your eyes closed. It is taught by certified TM teachers which can be found through the website of the Maharishi Foundation, a non-profit organization. We would like to mention that it’s not necessary to follow a trademarked meditation. The important thing is to find a type that suits you, and to practice it with consistency.

Mantra meditation

This is what’s known as a “mind-focused” meditation. You repeat specific words or phrases in your mind or out loud to help focus your thoughts and attention. You can make up your own mantra or choose a commonly used one like “Om”, which is pronounced to sound like “aa-uu-eemm” and is said to represent the origin, path and destination of life.

Visualization

To mediate with visualization, all you have to do is close your eyes and imagine yourself in a peaceful place. Pick a scenery that makes you feel relaxed and enjoy what you see, what you hear, and what you feel there. Another way of meditating with visualization, is to imagine yourself in a situation or in circumstances that you want to have happen. Then practice feeling like this thing has already happened in your life. This is basically what Law of Attraction entails.

Yoga

Yoga is often seen in the western world as a type of physical activity. But Yoga can just as well serve as a meditative practice. All it takes is practicing yoga with the intention to clear your mind and focus on what’s happening in the present moment while breathing deeply and calmly. Kundalini Yoga is a form of Yoga that focuses on the meditative aspects and on increasing consciousness.

Mindfulness meditation

This type of meditation involves observing your thoughts and feelings without judgment, while letting them flow by like clouds in the sky. Mindfulness meditation helps you develop an awareness and acceptance of what’s happening and what arises in your mind. Mindfulness has been found to be capable of improving several areas. In general it is about training yourself to be more focused and aware of what’s going on around and within you in the present moment. This can even be practiced while walking outside or working at your desk for example.

Insight/Vipassana meditation

Vipassana is translated as “Insight”. This form of meditation aims to increase self-understanding of your inner nature. A common practice with Vipassana is to simply focus on the breath and/or bodily sensations. As the mind calms down, we can learn to observe physical sensations as well as our thought patterns. You can gain insight into what is hindering your progress on the spiritual path, what habits you have that are not beneficial, what emotions need to be released, and what thoughts would be best to let go of.

Loving-Kindness Meditation

This type of meditation involves what we call positive intention. It’s focus is on cultivating an attitude of love and kindness toward yourself, other people and the world all around. If you want to do loving kindness meditation, practice feeling compassion, love and kindness and then expand that feeling out into the world.

A great resource for diving into loving-kindness is Embracing Your Boundless Heart by Sharon Salzberg. In this audio program she guides us step-by-step into cultivating loving-kindness, gratitude, and joy.

Guided meditation

If you are feeling a bit lost choosing a meditation or have trouble finding your inner peace, then guided meditation could be what you are looking for. A guided meditation usually involves listening to an audio recording which guides you through what steps to take in order to calm yourself down and go into a deep and relaxed state.

One of our favorite guided meditation audio programs is Mindfulness Meditation by Tara Brach. Here she offers nine of her most effective guided sessions. Connect with your innate capacity for love, clarity, and inner peace.

What is the most effective way to meditate?

As you can see there are many different types of meditations that you can choose from. There is no “right way” to meditate. Meaning you can try out the different types until you find one that works well for you. Some people find that listening to calming instrumental music or nature sounds while meditating helps them to relax and detach their focus from the outside world.

The type of meditation you choose to do depends on what it is that you want to achieve. If you are just starting out, then it’s probably best to begin with guided meditations. These will help you learn how to calm your mind and focus on something else than your thoughts.

The best type of meditation for a more advanced practitioner will depend on what they are trying to accomplish while meditating. So, whether you want to increase your focus, decrease stress, visualize what you want in life, or another goal, there is a meditation for what you are trying to accomplish.

Whichever way you find most suitable is the most effective way to meditate. The key is to do what feels right for you!

The best way to find what is the most effective way to meditate for you

There are many different types of meditation and what works best for one person may not work right away for someone else. It is always best to start with what is easiest for you to accomplish.

Once meditation becomes more of a habit, you may find that what worked for you in the beginning no longer seems as effective for what you are trying to achieve. That could just mean that you have progressed. This may be a good time to try out other types of meditation until you find what fits best for the current stage of your journey.

It may also take a bit of time until a technique works for you – which makes it very important to stay patient with yourself. The best type of meditation is the one that works for you, that fits your needs and that feels right. There’s no wrong way to meditate!