Meditation is a practice that produces a deep state of relaxation and a tranquility. Meditation is done by focusing attention and eliminating stressful or distracting thoughts. Long time practitioners of meditation express enhanced physical and emotional well-being.
Meditation has been in practice for hundreds, if not thousands of years. It was usually affiliated with a spiritual or religious background. It was then meant to get closer and help deepen the understanding of the sacred and mystical forces of life.
In modern times, meditation is commonly used for relaxation and stress reduction.
Types of meditation
There are many ways to meditate as outlined below. Each of these ways may differ in technique but all share the same goal of achieving inner peace.
Meditation types:
- Guided meditation - Practitioner forms mental images or situations that are relaxing. The process is assisted by a guide or teacher.
- Mantra meditation - A calming word, thought, or phrase is silently repeated over and over to prevent stressful and distracting thoughts.
- Mindfulness meditation - Person has an increase awareness and acceptance of being in the present moment. Usually the point of focus is what is being experienced at the moment such as breathing. This leads to letting thoughts, emotion and ideas flow in without restriction, stress, or judgement.
- Qi gong - This practice is part of traditional Chinese medicine practice. It generally combines meditation, relaxation, physical movement and breathing exercises to restore and maintain balance.
- Tai chi - This is a form of gentle Chinese martial arts. Self-paced series of postures or movements are performed in a slow, graceful manner while practicing deep breathing.
- Transcendental meditation - A mantra, such as a word, sound or phrase is repeatedly silently to narrow the conscious awareness and eliminate all thoughts from the mind. The point of focus is exclusively on the mantra to achieve a state of perfect stillness and consciousness.
- Yoga - A series of postures and controlled breathing exercises are performed to promote a more flexible body and a calm mind. Through poses that require balance and concentration, the person is encouraged to focus more on the moment.
Finding right meditation technique key to user satisfaction
New to meditation and already thinking about quitting? You may have simply chosen the wrong method. A new study published online July 7 in EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing highlights the importance of ensuring that new meditators select methods with which they are most comfortable, rather than those that are most popular.
If they do, they are likely to stick with it, says Adam Burke, the author of the study. If not, there is a higher chance they may abandon meditation altogether, losing out on its myriad personal and medical benefits. Burke is a professor of Health Education at SF State and the director of SF State's Institute for Holistic Health Studies.
"Because of the increase in both general and clinical use of meditation, you want to make sure you're finding the right method for each person," he said. Although meditation has become significantly more popular in the U.S., Burke said, there have been very few studies comparing multiple methods head to head to examine individual preference or specific clinical benefits.
