In my article on getting started with meditation, I briefly touched on the two basic streams of meditation, breathing and guided meditation. In this post, we’ll go in-depth into the details of some of the most well-known techniques of meditation that you might want to try if you’re interested in meditation practice. All of these techniques can be effective ways of encouraging the relaxed awareness which is a prelude to a true meditative state. Meditation is ultimately a very individual practice, and it’s up to you to discover the best technique to focus your mind. You can choose one meditation technique or experiment with combining two or more. Just remember to keep your posture active and keep track of your breathing.
Deep breathing that oxygenates the body and activates the muscles is important in all techniques of meditation, and there is more than one way to breathe effectively. A Buddhist technique recommends paying attention to your breathing: whether it feels strong, raspy, uncomfortable, etc. Buddhist meditation techniques identify focal points in the body where you can tune into the feel of your breathing: examples are the tip of the nose, palate, base of the throat and the breastbone. Pay attention to how these spots feel as you breathe and adjust your breathing until it feels comfortable and even. Classic meditative breathing involves a long inhale and exhale, but if this doesn’t feel comfortable you can try other patterns such as short breaths, or one long breath and one short breath. Breathing meditation gives you greater awareness of your body, and the process of tuning into your breaths helps focus the mind and ward off distracting thoughts during meditation.
Guided techniques of meditation focus your mind on a single mental exercise such as visualization, focusing your attention on an object or concept, or repeating a mantra or affirmation. It is still important to monitor your breathing and posture during guided meditation to help you maintain a state of relaxed awareness. The simplest kind of guided meditation is to choose a mantra or affirmation to repeat aloud or in your mind. Mantra translates as “that which protects the mind”, and is defined as a short phrase or word repeated with each breath during meditation. Mantras are aimed at charging your breath and attention with the power of the mantra as a way to focus and clear your mind. Affirmations are meditative chants several lines long that a practitioner mentally recites with each breath. As the name suggests, affirmations are designed to increase your positive energy and self-awareness when you combine them with meditation. To tap the power of a mantra or affirmation, choose a word or saying that has significance to you.
Instead of a phrase, you may choose to focus on an object or icon to center your mind. It can be a real object that you include as part of your shrine or an image that you hold in your mind. If you go this route, choose an icon that is meaningful to you and that encourages peaceful contemplation: Buddhists could imagine a lotus or an image of the Buddha, for example, while Christians might envision the cross or the Virgin Mary. The object of icon meditation is to provide a soft focus for your attention which will lead to a relaxed, self-aware state.
More elaborate visualization techniques guide you through an imagined landscape or space during meditation. You can imagine any kind of scene as long as it’s a space that encourages peace and contemplation; a beach or a garden path are two suggestions. As you guide yourself through the scenery, create the images, sounds and feel of the place as vividly as you can. The act of creation will help direct your mind to a conscious goal within the meditative state. It is also helpful practice for lucid dreaming. Imagine yourself descending further into the imagined landscape as you approach a state of calm alertness. It may be hard to hold onto the images and induce feelings of peace at first, but with practice you will be able to enter this state more easily. You can practice guided meditation techniques on your own, or find a teacher or guru who will lead practitioners in a variety of these techniques. If there are no teachers in your area, you can find recordings of guided meditations on the internet. The advantage of practicing with a teacher is that they can show you new techniques of meditation to expand your practice.
All the techniques of mediation above are training to focus your mind on a single thing; yet the pinnacle of meditation practice is to gain the ability to focus on nothing, to become pure awareness in which your mind is clear of all thoughts. This state of inner stillness is often called transcendental meditation: people who have achieved this state describe it as a connection with the true Self that exists beyond the surface trappings of our thoughts, emotions and physical body. Traditionally, serious practitioners would retreat from society and devote years to meditation and exercises to achieve transcendental meditation. Buddhist texts tell how Buddha retreated to a mountain hut to meditate for seven years before becoming enlightened.
However, you don’t have to find a mountain to benefit from meditation. Even in small doses, meditation practice promotes emotional equilibrium and helps to reduce your attachment to external objects and stimuli. You can spread meditative moments throughout your day, taking two to five minutes at a time for contemplation or to recite a positive affirmation. Here’s one you can practice to start off your day:
-I am a radiant person of positive energy.
-Every day in every way, I am getting better and better.
-I am a radiant being of light and spiritual love.
Remember, meditation practice is experimentation: don’t be afraid to mix and match these techniques in each session to find what works best for you!