2 Major Meditation Types To Improve The Quality Of Your Life

Meditation is the key to a stress-free life as well as the peace and happiness we keep searching for.

Many of you must have tried it at one point and given up just because you couldn't focus on your breathing.

But how long did you wait till you give up? Was it 10 minutes or was it an hour?

Like any other new thing to learn about, learning to meditate will take time. So, don’t just give up.

There might be different types of meditation but the core principle of meditation remains the same. As you learn more about these major meditation types you’ll realize that they are all just a variation of each other but at the same time, these approaches have been known for their uniqueness as well as effectiveness.

These are not really types of meditation but different approaches towards meditation that asks you to focus on different things.

1. Mindfulness:

• About:

If you google mindfulness you’ll find this definition for the noun: It is the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something.

Another definition states that it is a practice of focusing one’s awareness on the present moment at the same time accepting and acknowledging our thoughts, feelings as well as bodily sensations.

• Method:

1. Find a peaceful spot for mindfulness meditation. Then sit in a comfortable position. If you are sitting on the ground or mat cross your legs. If you are sitting on a chair then make sure that your feet touch the ground.
2. Keep your hands parallel to your body. Sit straight and let your spine retain its curvature, meaning that you have to sit straight but not be stiff. 
3. Let your head rest on your shoulders naturally don’t straighten it to the point that it becomes too stiff. Dip your chin a little it will help you to posture your head just right.
4. Now concentrate on your breathing, how you breathe in and breathe out and while you do this your mind is going to wander. Don’t let that worry you. It’s going to happen a lot of time so, when you lose focus, come back and concentrate on your breathing again.
5. And when you feel like you have finally got the hang of it. Move your focus to your bodily sensations, your thoughts and feeling at the moment.

• Benefits:

Reduces Stress and depression: Stress and depression are usually caused because we concentrate more on the negative aspects of our lives and keep torturing ourselves with it. And also because of the fact that many people dealing with stress and depression let their emotions rule them.  Mindfulness meditation boosts our ability to regulate our emotions and it is the reason why it works in reducing depression and stress.

Boosts your ability to deal with illness: It is not a cure but in its own way mindfulness helps you better deal with your illness.  And we are not just talking about a cough or cold here. We are talking about chronic and terminal illnesses. It makes the effects of that illness less severe as well as boost recovery from some of these chronic illnesses.

2. Guided Meditation:

• About:

It’s known as guided meditation because you have to be guided by some means such as a video or audio, or a person i.e a trainer. Sometimes the video or audio is composed of both music and audio instructions on how to perform the meditation.

We’ll see how guided imagery works in details. It's basically going to your happy place in your mind.

• Method:

1. Like any other meditation you have to choose a peaceful location and you have to find the appropriate time to meditate it should mostly be early morning.
2. Similar to your warmups before the exercises that make exercising better relaxing the body before meditation makes it easier and more effective.
3. Now that you have relaxed, imagine your happy place. A place that makes you feel calm, peaceful, happy and all the good things in the world.
4. It doesn’t just stop there. Suppose your happy place is a movie theater where you alone can enjoy all the luxury that it has to offer. Then once you imagine that setting, you have to remember the smell of popcorn and beverages that are served during the movie intervals. This makes the experience richer. Like you are not just imagining it but you are actually present in that movie theater enjoying your favorite movie.
5. Adding this as an afterthought because your happy place is bound to make you happy, but don’t forget to smile and enjoy the scenery that your mind created for you, after all, it is your happy place.
6. Now that you have found your happy place you can return to it any time you want. This will make meditation more like the luxury you want than a chore you don’t. And all you have to do is open your eyes to rejoin the world.

• Benefits:

Lessens Chronic pain: Studies have shown that many chronic pains are caused by emotional stress. And as meditation is known to reduce stress and depression it also works quite well against chronic pains such as a backache, joint pains etc.  The more we concentrate on the negatives the worse the pain gets.

A treatment for insomnia: We are already aware that it keeps away stress and chronic pains and it allows your mind to stop thinking about the negative as there are none left and brings you peace that will help you overcome your insomnia. Studies have shown that guided meditation has been known to remove many of the insomnia symptoms.

We have seen two major meditation types, each of which has its own purpose in your life. It’s true that no matter what approach to meditation you choose to partake in the benefits remain the same.

Even though guided visualization/imagery might seem like the easier of the two option you might be surprised to find that mindfulness works better for you.

So, before you make a decision based on what you read. Try both of these and then figure out which one works for you and if both do then you get to reap the benefits of both.