It was recently in the news about one million Tibetan children gathered together, meditating for world peace. These days, celebrities, housewives, CEOs and everybody in between is starting to rave about this ancient practice that has taken centre stage on the wellness platform. What is meditation exactly and how does it help? Is it a hoax or is it the next big answer to world peace?
In this profound sentence spoken by an “unknown” person, meditation is all about silence. Though beginners mostly use guided meditation CDs and .mp3s. The basics of every form of meditation include the following:
- resting in a comfortable position (lying down, sitting, standing)
- eyes closed or downcast
- focus (mantra, breathing, vision)
To make it easier for you, we are sharing 3 Different Transforming Meditation Techniques that you will benefit from:
Vipassana Meditation
This form of meditating involves concentration. The main aspect of this focusing exercise is to drop everything else out of the mind and concentrate on one particular aspect. Some monasteries even have their practitioners in an enclosed darkened space with just one hole of light beaming through. In the beginning you will feel extremely restless, but soon your mind begins to calm down and resonate within the silence.
Mindfulness Meditation
Another popular form of meditating that has taken over the west is about Mindfulness. What is it exactly? Some spiritual teachers like Thich Nhat Hanh are advocates of this practice, though other, more contemporary teachers like Eckhart Tolle admonish it for the concept of “mind” and “fullness”. Nonetheless, mindfulness meditation is all about concentrating on an inner thought by first focusing on breathing. It basically calms your mind down and makes you understand that all other thoughts, except for the one main one, are unnecessary and just a distraction from what really matters.
Vedic Meditation
Practiced by the Hindu culture in India, the Vedic Meditation involves usage of words. Instead of complete silence, it encourages the meditator to chant one word repeatedly. As read in the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, it sometimes involves using the 108-bead mala and using an affirmative word like love, peace, God, etc. repeatedly.
There are many, many forms of meditation propounded by different teachers and practitioners over the world for centuries now. From Christian priests to Buddhist monks and even Islamic sufis and Jewish Kabbalists, more and more voices are being raised for meditation awareness. The best part is you don’t need to be following any particular “order”, neither do you have to obey rules or teachings. Meditation is about finding INNER solace and peace and discovering that the answers are always just beyond stillness.
For 23 Types Of Meditation techniques, visit liveanddare.com.
