Meditation is about bringing awareness to the voice in your head, it’s about trying to calm the chatter in your mind and learning to disidentify from your thoughts. Read through why meditation is beneficial for you and discover some easy types to start right away.
Meditation has many benefits: it helps reduce stress and anxiety, improve your mood and immune system, lower your blood pressure, help to improve your sleep quality, and can improve your overall health physically and mentally.
Nevertheless, it is very important to listen on your needs to find out which type of meditation works best for you. You may experiment and see what works and then practice the type of meditation you actually enjoy. There is no sense in forcing yourself to do a certain type of meditation if you dont love it.
Follow these steps:
1. find the type you love.
2. Start small: even just 10 minutes a day is great.
3. Try to be consistent. You will be amazed at how it can have a positive impact on your life.
Here Are 6 Different Types of Easy Meditation:
1. Guided Meditation
Guided meditations are a great way to start meditating. Apps like Headspace make it really easy for you to get started. But you can also find plenty of different guided meditations for download or on YouTube.
Our lives are very busy nowadays, but we can all find at least 10 minutes a day to sit and listen to a guided meditation. It really doesn’t require much effort, just some consistency. You can even listen to a guided meditation just before bed to help you fall asleep. Basically, all you have to do is sit, listen and relax. How can you say no to that?
2. Breathing Meditation
This basic technique is really simple and consists of focusing on your breath. You can choose to focus on your belly filling with air and emptying or on the air going in and out of your nostrils. You can try sequences of 2 mins of breathing meditation, then pause for 1 minute and repeat several times. When you feel ready, you can start increasing the meditation sequence to 3-4 minutes and repeat as often as you want. This trains your mind to focus on something and you can do this anytime, anywhere. Even when you are at work, on the subway or in a stressful situation, you will train yourself to stop a second and focus on your breath. Everything gets easier after that.
3. Mantra Meditation
A mantra can be a single word (like “om” or “satnam”) or a phrase, usually in Sanskrit, that you repeat out loud or to yourself over and over again to help focus your mind. These phrases and words are usually chosen for their high vibration that have a positive impact on you. To some, this is easier than to focus on your breath because your mind is less tempted to wander. At first, it is easier saying the mantra out loud, and little by little you can lower your voice until you are just repeating it in your mind.
4. Candle Gazing Meditation
This meditation just requires you to sit in front of a lighted candle and stare at its flame. Usually, we meditate with our eyes closed. But some people find it easier to meditate with their eyes open so focusing on something like a candle flame helps focus your gaze. It’s a very easy meditation technique and is very soothing. For some reason, this meditation actually helps me focus for longer periods at once.
5. Walking Meditation
Walking meditation uses walking as a focus. It helps you clear your mind as well as your body by getting some fresh air. You will want to walk alone, at a slow place, with no distractions of course and no goal in mind (you are not rushing to your next meeting or going somewhere but just walking). When you practice this type of meditation, you will be more aware of your surroundings and also of your body in movement. And that is essentially what meditation is all about.
6. Body Scan Meditation
With this type of meditation, you tune into your body and become aware of each part of it, one at a time. You will usually start at your feet and work your way up to the top of your head, focusing your awareness on every inch of your body. It’s not an easy meditation for everyone and requires some practice. You can do it, sitting or lying down – I personally find it easier done lying down. It is a good practice to do in the morning when waking up to see how your body feels and what you need. I would recommend starting this type of meditation with a guided audio.
There are many, many other meditation types and techniques out there, but these are probably the most accessible to you right now. We hope this helped you a little to find your facorite type of meditation. Tell us which one you love most in a comment below <3 !
Photo: Teresa Enhiak
