The key to finding the right style of meditation that suits you, is defining the reason why you’re meditating in the first place and your purpose.
To do that, you need to find a
style that suits your goal, whether it is to find calm or discover clear
thinking to reducing pain or connecting with the world, says mediation
teacher and counsellor Nadine Cameron.
Here are a few meditation styles to kick-start your journey:
Also known as vipassana, is the most popular form in the
Western world. It’s about ‘being present’ and letting your mind run.
It’s not recommended for those with pre-existing mental illness or
emotional difficulty because spending too much time in your head can do
more harm than good.
As the generic term for seated meditation in the Buddhist
tradition this is a minimal kind of meditation, done for long periods of
time. There’s little focus on breath and with little guidance it can be
hard to learn.
Put simply, you sit with your back straight (ideally in the
lotus or half-lotus posture) and repeat a mantra. It’s a simplified
version from the non-dual Hindu paradigm Vedanta.
Also from Vedanta, the aim of this style is to become aware of a
rising stream, which you ride to infinity through concentration on
breath. Be weary though, this can have lead to the Kundalini syndrome,
where people become hypersensitive to touch, light and sounds.
NEXT: Discover the benefits of meditation.