5 most popular types of meditation

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Demystifying meditation

Meditation has many benefits, this is well known. However, when we talk about meditation, the concept can be a little vague when starting practicing. One may have in mind the image of the super flexible Indian yogi who spends hours seated in the lotus position, eyes closed and reaches levels of high consciousness that ordinary people do not have access to. In fact, meditation is a training of the mind. There is no secret. To train one’s mind to be in the present moment is a discipline that is acquired with practice. A practice that can be easily started with short periods of 3 minutes per day. One can feel the benefits of meditation by meditating once a day, or more, if your agenda allows it. Daily practice is recommended so that benefits can be felt over time.

Where to practice?

Meditation is practiced in a quiet place. It can be at home, in a meeting room, in your car, in a park or any other place that appeals to you. It can be done in silence, listening to relaxation music or accompanied by guided meditation. With your mobile device and headphones, it is possible to isolate yourself from the world to refocus a few minutes. You can practiced even by doing an activity like walking and running.

The 5 most popular types

A person who starts meditation practice will try different techniques to find the one that best suits him or her. Some will challenge you more than others. Below are some popular meditation techniques that reach a majority of practitioners.

• Concentration meditation
• Mindfulness meditation
• Heart centered meditation
• Body focused meditation
• Chakras focused meditation

Concentration

This type of meditation is the basis of all other meditations. The exercises performed need to focus on elements such as breathing, physical sensations of breathing, counting breaths, concentration on body parts, visual focus (flame, image, landscape, etc. .), focusing on an emotion or feeling, focusing on a mantra. Concentration meditation is the yang of meditation, the inner strength needed to perform and stay in the exercise of meditation. The force we are talking about here is built with practice. During a meditation session, it is normal for the mind to wander and thoughts to come and go. The exercise is simple. Without judgment, without reproach, one must reduce one’s concentration to the object of meditation, for example, breathing, counting, or mantra. One must look at one’s thoughts as if it were car traffic that one is looking at but without being part of the traffic. Simply become a traffic observer by letting the cars pass by. This is well illustrated in a short video of the Headspace application. A good way to start meditation can be with guided meditations that help you keep your focus on the subject of the meditation. I will come back to the different concentration meditations in a future article.

Mindfulness meditation

Mindfulness is the complement of concentration meditation. It is the yin of meditation that calls for sensitivity, emotions, feelings, the conscious and the unconscious, in the present moment. The two work together because concentration is the force that keeps attention on the object of meditation and opens the door to self-awareness, which expresses itself. Bhante Henepola Gunaratana defines it as follows: « Mindfulness (Vipassana) is to look at something with clarity and precision, to see each component as distinct and separate, to pierce deep to discover the fundamental reality of the object being looked at. ». Mindfulness allows you to see things as they are in the present moment. To do this, one must be ready to receive and be ready to let go. The attention is carried without judgment, without criticism. Mindfulness brings us back to the state of traffic observer, as mentioned above. We see thoughts, emotions, images. Mindfulness meditation can be anywhere: lying in bed, sitting at the desk, walking, practicing yoga. As part of mindfulness meditation, positive affirmations can be used as mantra. Several guided mindfulness meditations exist on Youtube. You will find some on my channel too.

Heart centered meditation

Heart coherence is a heart-centered meditation exercise. It is effective quickly and is very simple to set up. Cardiac coherence is recognized for these anti-stress effects. The technique is simple. Inhale for 5 seconds and exhale for 5 seconds throughout the meditation for 5 minutes. Pay attention to breathing only by counting the seconds. The phenomenon explained by Dr. O’hare is that at the inspiration, the heart accelerates and at expiration, the heart slows down, which has the effect of refocusing and reducing stress. To add an emotional dimension, you can practice it with a smile, with pleasant thoughts, with a feeling of gratitude and kindness. The free application « Respirelax » is simple and allows you to practice this technique from your mobile device. Several guided meditations also exist on Youtube and I propose a version also.

Another form of heart-centered meditation is the meditation of loving kindness and gratitude that I will discuss in another article.

Body focused meditation

This form of meditation focuses on body parts. In this meditation, every part of the body is explored in order to become aware of it and release it. Concentration is performed on all parts of the body: from the right foot to the hip, from the left foot to the hip, the abdomen and pelvis, the back, from right hand to shoulder, from left hand to shoulder, neck, head, tongue, jaw, eyes, cheeks, forehead, brain, top of head. The goal of this meditation is relaxation. Many guided meditations of this kind exist on Youtube.

Chakras focused meditation

This form of meditation has its origins in India. The chakras are used to visualize the seven energy wheels of the subtle body. These centers of energy are located at specific points of the body and are connected to the nervous system. They each have a distinct color.

Red. It is located in the lower back (3 vertebrae at the bottom of the spine). It is the chakra of stability and security.

Orange. It is located above the pubic bone. It is the chakra of creativity and sexuality.

Yellow. It is located at the level of the solar plexus. This is the chakra of personal power.

Green. It is located at the heart level. This chakra is a connection between the first three chakras and the last three. It is the link between the physical chakras and the chakras of the mind. It is the chakra of love and connection.

Blue. It is located at the level of the throat. This chakra is about speaking and expressing your own truth.

Indigo. It is located between the two eyes and is often named the third eye. This is the chakra of intuition.

Purple. It is located at the crown of the head. It is the chakra of spirituality and connection to your higher self and the divine.

The chakra meditation is a visualization of one of the points named above, focusing on the location of the chakra and its color. The meditation can be done on all the chakras in the same session by feeling the flow of energy of each one. It can be performed on a single chakra in a session, depending on how it feels. The purpose of meditation on the chakras is to restore harmony in one’s physical being and in one’s psychic and spiritual being.

Are these most popular?

Several other types of meditation exist but, according to what I have read and observed, these are the most popular. I hope this article has been able to clarify a little bit more about the main types of meditation, which have been gaining popularity these recent years. They are simple and accessible to everyone. Meditation makes it possible to return to oneself, to find one’s balance, to savor the present moment, to relax, to feel centered and in one’s place in this moving world.

The practice

If you already practice meditation, you can try new forms of meditation, if you have not done so already. I encourage you to share your experience and comments with me. If you want start practicing, you can start with guided meditations available on Youtube or mobile apps. I started a few years ago with guided meditations, which led me to study and practice meditation in many forms afterwards. Sources of this article at the end of the post.

If you like this post, please share it on social medias to spread the beautiful world of meditation.

Check out my guided meditation on Youtube. You can get the MP3 version on my online shop.

May your life be filled with colors, joy and loving kindness.

Namaste

Chantal Rioux

Sources :

5 minutes le matin : Exercices simples de méditation pour les stressés très pressés, David O’hare, Éditeur Thierry Souccar, 2013

Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, http://www.bhavanasociety.org/main/teacher/bhante_henepola_gunaratana/

http://www.vipassana.com/meditation/mindfulness_in_plain_english_16.php

Giovanni Dienstmann, www.liveanddare.com

Michelle Fondin, https://chopra.com/articles/what-is-a-chakra

https://blog.mindvalley.com/chakra-meditation/

www.headspace.com

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