11 Most Popular and Effective Meditation Techniques around the World Today

Article by Chun Jia

People meditate for a reason. Aside from finding the innermost of yourself, meditation gives you the ability and chance to achieve a greater and more sophisticated awareness of the environment around you. Not only this, it also allows you to claim harmony, peace, and tranquility – mentally, emotionally, and physically.

Meditation can be done using different types of techniques. While some are related and originated from cultures, religions, and civilizations around the world, others are primarily basic techniques mastered and polished by various persons. But one thing binds them all – that is the ability to put you on a state of relaxation and deep meditation.

1. Basic Meditation – this is the simplest of all meditation techniques. It does not require any special preparations nor does it need prayers or that sort of thing. What you do in basic meditation is simply be alone, sit still, be quite, and focus on yourself and nothing else. Although thoughts come and go inside your mind, never allow them to distract you. Thus, you have to have total control.

2. Focused Meditating – Focused meditating is different to that of basic meditation in a way that it requires you to focus on something specific. While basic does not want to give attention to any outside force, focused works the other way around. Its main objective is to train yourself to control your consciousness.

3. Mantra – this is a very unique type of meditation technique where sound plays a big part. A single or a series of sound patterns are played spontaneously as you concentrate on it. The person using this technique will experience extreme mental processing and psychic awareness.

4. Breathing Meditation – this type of meditation focuses on comfort. It does not really involve focus on a certain thing or thought. What you have to do in order to meditate is to breathe slowly and then absorb and process the way you breather in your mind. Feel the air passing through your nasal passages and the lungs. You can keep repeating it – breathe in, breathe out until your mind starts to relax and then wander.

5. Steady Gaze – steady gaze meditation is kind of similar to focused meditating. However, it is exclusively about gazing steadily at a certain outside object. The person meditating will now focus on it for a long period of time. The main benefit of this technique is developing the person’s optic function and intuition.

6. Chakra Meditation – this meditation technique is one of the most difficult. It is also the one that can take a person into the deepest levels of consciousness. It primarily deals with the expression and realization of mind control and inner energy production.

7. Music Meditation – what’s unique about meditating while turning the music on is that you’re actually not putting yourself in a deep meditative state but still you achieve the goal of meditation and relaxation with the help of soothing and calming tunes.

8. Clear Mind – Clear mind meditation is like the basic type. But what makes it different is that you have to clear your mind of anything that tries to go through. While basic meditation allows the passing of thoughts but not allowing it to distract you, clear mind meditation is all about emptying your mind. Liberate from any thoughts and distractions.

9. Mindful Meditation – the purpose of this technique is to meditate in order to become completely aware of the entire environment that surrounds you. You have to stay in an ideal place where you get a good view in your mind about what’s happening around you. What you need to do then is give a complete focus and fill in every detail of what you’re reading in your mind.

10. Walking Meditation – unlike majority of the meditation techniques we’ve encountered so far, this one involves physical movement. You don’t sit and relax in one place. Instead, you go for a walk but make sure you find a place where no one else is around. In this technique, you focus on your movement and breathing and then connect to your environment.

11. Binaural Meditation – this one is like music meditating but the difference is that it uses a different kind of tune. With the help of binaural beats, you can put yourself in meditative and relaxation mode. You will be amazed how powerful binaural beats are in quickly transitioning you to a calming state.

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