Meditation that Works for You.
Hello dear readers,
This is a long one and I would love for you to read it, but if you are in a hurry you can scroll through and see what types of meditation your interested and read about those!
Meditation for who you actually are:
“Okay, so I know I need to meditate more but I just can’t seem to!” I hear this all the time from clients and to be honest I have heard this at times in my own inner narrative.
In my last post, I shared about my love for transcendental meditation or “nothingness” meditations. If you read it, you may have thought I was a natural lover of meditation, even if certain types didn’t always work for me.
In truth, I only started meditating because I had to.
Several years ago, I was going to my yoga teacher certification training and meditation was a requirement. I had only ever done Shavasana at the end of yoga and in a short amount of time I was going to need to practice meditation for hours a day…on a cushion, on the floor, with a straight spine. (Yikes)
So of course, I told my intake interviewer I meditated regularly and would practicing even more before the immersion in the summer.
Now I had to do it! So I think I googled how to meditate and just started with whatever I found. “Focus on the breath” meditations were my beginning and I didn’t know much else until my own spiritual practice evolved.
Often I find that people who can’t seem to meditate, haven’t found the right meditation for them. They haven’t discovered a practice that meets them where they are in life and pulls them closer to their spiritual self.
So I am going to explain some of the different types of meditation I use, how they are practiced, and when I use them.
Please note, this is my experience and not a comprehensive list. There is no one right way to meditate and there are so many different styles and even within those styles are different opinions on how to do them. Try not to get caught up on the details and focus on what appeals to you.
Yogic Meditation:
While there are as many styles of yogic meditation as there are asana (yoga movements) the style I worked with was focusing on the breath.
It is practiced by sitting down, spine straight, legs crossed and focusing on your inhale and exhale for 30 minutes to an hour.
Breathing through the nose and keeping a narrow focus on the natural breath, begins to relax the body and the mind.
The key to this type of meditation is keeping a strong focus on the breath. If this is difficult, (which at fist it can be) then you can exaggerate the breath by slowing it down or deepening it.
Yogis often practice pranayama, or breath work, before hand. One example would be a counted breath like 4 counts in, 4 counts holding, 4 counts out and 4 counts empty and then doing several rounds of that.
In addition to the breath, mantra, or sacred chanting, is also practiced. Traditional yogis use Sanskrit mantras, while more modern practices use English words. (Or whatever the spoken language is)
I like Ham Sa, meaning “I am that” for Sanskrit and for an English modern mantra I love “everything is working out for me”. (This last one is much more manifestation then yoga but it is a mantra that works)
When using mantra, you repeat the phrase aloud (or silently if you wish) a certain number of times. Typically 108, for the beads on a mala. (The long beaded necklaces yogis wear)
I like to use this type of meditation when I am worried or in a state of overwhelm as it brings my mind to a state of calm, over time, and trains me to focus on and utilize the breath. It is great for anxiety!
To find a practice like this, attend a yoga studio in person or online that you know has great meditation classes. Or of course check out the internet for some other resources but it can be really nice to practice live with a group.
Vipassana Meditation:
This Buddhist based practice I specifically learned when I attended a 10 day silent Vipassana retreat. That is right, silent. No talking for 10 days, no eye contact, nothing. It was a chance to feel as though you were alone in meditation while actually being supported by a community and staff.
It was incredibly challenging but amazingly transformative.
The practice itself is also a seated meditation. And initially you focus on one area of the body like under the nose for the entire meditation, until you can feel more subtle sensations.
Your focus then moves to subtle sensations all over the body. The idea is to shift from your normal awareness of the physical self and start to feel the subtle energetic movements in the body.
But the key is not to attach or focus on any certain place or sensation too long. You remain equanimous, or emotionally neutral to all things.
For context, when I did this, I had terrible poison ivy on my leg and it was difficult to remain equanimous, but eventually when my focus shifted to subtle sensations the burning and itching was undetectable. (Pretty nice!)
I like to utilize this meditation when I am very reactive to the outside world.
It brings my focus inward, changes my awareness to the most subtle of things (and not my seemingly giant emotions)and reminds me that I don’t have to attach a polarized feeling to anything.
To practice this type of meditation you can search Vipassana meditation on YouTube or online for deeper explanations and guidance.
But to get the immersion (which I only recommend with lots of research and consideration) you can attend a 10 day Vipassana meditation in many different locations for a donation under the teachings of S.M. Goenka at:
Mindfulness Meditation:
Mindfulness is quickly becoming one of the most popular types of meditation. Also based in the Buddhist traditions, mindfulness has many practices and teachings associated with it. I’m going to focus on the meditation itself.
This is also a seated meditation but your focus is on what is present in the body; the emotions, the physical sensations and the breath. You do not attach to any one observation but you become a witness and bring your awareness to it.
You are essentially “holding space” for yourself.
I use this meditation when I am in avoidance and distraction mode. I practice mindfulness when my current physical experience becomes too uncomfortable for any reason and I try to distract and avoid by focusing on things outside of me, like T.V., social media, or reorganizing a closet that doesn’t need doing (you know how you are).
Mindfulness helps me to safely witness and allow my internal experience so I don’t have to avoid it and I can be present with myself.
Both Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach have amazing mindfulness meditations online. Just type their names and mindfulness in to google and many options will come up.
Shamanic Journeys:
Modern Shamanism is different then what you think of when you think Shaman. What often comes to mind is a man in a village somewhere, providing insight and medicine to his people. This still exists today and is amazing in its own right but what I am referring to in modern Shamanism is being that role for yourself.
So the Shamanic journey is an inner exploration of yourself.
It’s a subtle sensory experience. Meaning, you experience a dream like world in which you may visualize, hear, and feel many things just not in the physical body but in the mind. (Think of it as a vivid memory in which you can almost smell your grandmothers kitchen and you see her standing by the stove cooking, and you can feel her hand on your back as she hands you a plate of food, her voice still resonating in your mind)
This meditation can be done seated but is often done lying down preferably in darkness or with eye shades on. The darkness helps with visualization. You can either listen to drumming or other music and create your own inner landscape or you can listen to a fully guided journey.
If you are just starting out, following along to someone else is really nice.
I love this type of meditation when I am seeking answers and insight. When my mind is caught on a particular question or I am needing direction and guidance, I turn to a shamanic journey.
These are also great for developing intuition or for physical and emotional healing.
I have had amazing insights come through in the journey space and seen many people have revelations during their meditation.
One of my favorite guides for this is Asia Suler of Onewillowapothecaries.com. All of her classes have journeys in them and they are amazing!!!
I will also be recording some of my own journeys and releasing them soon, so stay tuned…
Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation was the topic of my last post and the meditation I am utilizing a lot right now. Many different spiritual paths practice this type of meditation and I am sure there is more than one way to do it.
At the moment, I am using one led by Dr. Joe Dispenza.
The idea is to focus on the empty dark space behind the eyes. You keep your focus there the entire meditation and when your mind wanders you bring it right back.
By doing this, you are keeping your attention on nothing or “no-thing”. This is a focus on possibility and not on the known outcome of things. This allows you to healthily detach from your current (and past) self and circumstances and invite in new possibility. It gives separation to anything and everything you may be attached to.
I like this meditation for getting space from my internal narrative and for feeling into potential.
I do this when I am ready to go into a deeper meditative state, to feel into the essence of my self and when I am ready to let go of my attachment to my life and identity as it is.
Dr. Joe Dispenza has many free meditations on YouTube this one is called “Tuning In To Potentials Meditation”. A quick search will bring it right up.
Visualization Meditations:
The last one I will share about is visualizations. These are often used as a way of shifting mood, practicing energy healings and manifesting specific outcomes.
You can visualize any scenario you want so there aren’t a lot of specifics. The idea, however, is to visualize and feel into what you are picturing to create a particular emotional experience and to gain mental practice of what you want to see in your life.
Visualizing can be used as a mental training or to practice new habits of thought and imagine new behaviors.
You can do this sitting, standing, walking or a really anywhere that you can have your focus in your mind and not fully on what you are doing. (So probably not best for chopping onions). Eyes closed is helpful but not necessary.
I use this type of meditation when I want to manifest or attract something into my life as well as when I want to change a mental pattern.
For example, if I find myself thinking the same negative thing over and over, I might visualize myself in my day thinking that thing and then stoping and shifting it to something positive. This allows me to train my brain to alter the automatic thought process.
Eventually, I would just shift to visualizing the new positive thought process only but when a mental habit is strong, it is best to prepare to have it come up and to change it.
Gabby Bernstein has some great manifesting meditations that utilize visualization on YouTube.
Final note:
Again, this is not a comprehensive list so there are many other types and ways to meditate and spiritually connect.
Meditation is not prescriptive so you can’t just pick a symptom and apply a meditation to it. But I listed my particular reasons to help steer you towards a type of meditation that might work for you.
Each of these practices have more going on then just my listed benefits of them. Many people practice one type of meditation most of their life and get a full range of experience.
So use your intuition and pick one that calls to you, one that peaks your curiosity. Practice it for a little bit everyday for two weeks and see how it affects you.
I would love to hear your experience! Respond/comment with your favorite meditations and what internal shifts you see in yourself when you regularly practice them.