There are several ways to meditate. What meditation will work for you? Well, that’s only up to you. Try one or all and see which one you like best and practice that one or practice all of them. The benefits of mediation (I will explain in a later blog), are vast so you simply cannot go wrong.
There is Pranayama, or breathe meditation. In this meditation, you do a series of pattern breath exercises while your awareness is on your inhalation and exhalation. You bring your awareness to the pattern of your breath. If you are feeling stressed in the grocery store this can be practiced by simply closing your eyes and deeply breathing, being aware of only your breath. You can quickly relieve stress and
. This does take practice but with time, it can be an effective tool.
There is mantra meditation where you chant, pray or if you prefer, hum a series of words or other rhythmic sounds. The words can be anything from positive affirmations to religious prayers or anything in between. It can be anything you want it to be. All that matters is that you bring your awareness to the rhythm of the sound.
Focal point meditation is a meditation where you sit and gently gaze at an object and breathe a normal breath pattern. As you begin to gaze you allow your awareness to rest on the object and breath patterns, let the rest just happen. The most widely used object for this meditation are candles but can really be any object you choose.
Mindfulness meditation is the easiest of all because it can be done any where, any time. All you have to do is stop and be aware, be present right now in this moment. Take one minute every day to practice this. In this moment, have no judgements, no expectations. Just practice having acceptance in the moment. BREATHE. Its not easy at first but the more you practice, the easier it gets. With practice you will be able to have greater amounts of time in this meditation.
Yoga Nidra is a deeper meditation where you start with a gentle yoga practice to prepare the body for meditation. Then you lay in a comfortable position while being guided to a deep meditation. This is a very relaxing meditation but needs a trained teacher to facilitate this for you. There are also apps and videos you can listen to.
Guided meditation is the most utilized meditation for people who want to learn how to meditate or for people who have trouble meditating on their own. Some people just prefer guided meditation because it takes you on a journey.
Guided meditation is a practice where you are guided by a teacher, video or audio recording through your practice. This helps you to guide your thoughts and help you in your journey through the breath. There are many kinds of meditation scripts within the practice of guided meditation. Every meditation experience is different and no two individuals even in the same room during the same practice will have the same result. As with all meditation, the more you practice, the easier it gets. You can even get to a place where you can create your own guided silent meditation in your mind and just go there. I do. But then again, I have been meditating for many years!! Practice, practice, practice!!!!
