Did you know that there are as many meditation techniques as there are sports? And the only way to find out the best types of meditation for you is to try them.

As you may know, meditation has dozens of benefits, and everybody is doing it. You look for information online or on a bookstore, and see that there are a LOT of different styles of meditation. You wonder which way is best for you.

This is a very important question. Different types of meditation have different benefits. Some of them will work better for you than othersjust like different sports or diets work better for some people than for others.

There are literally hundredsif not thousandsof types of meditation, so here I will explore only the most popular ones. The purpose of this article is to help you experiment different meditation techniques, and find the ones that works best for you.

Finding the right style for you, and practicing it with the right approach, is one of the three essential Pillars of Meditation.

There is no cookie-cutter approach to meditation. You need to experiment many, and find the one that works best for your unique needs and personality. The type of meditation that is most helpful against anxiety, for instance, is not necessarily the best one against depression or for spiritual awakening.

If you prefer more dynamic meditation techniques, have a look at my walking meditation guide.

The advice regarding the posture of meditation is very similar among the different styles of seated practice, so I will go into more detail about it only once, when talking about the first technique (Zen meditation).

I have strived to include a Is it for me? section, with general observations about each practice. Keep in mind these are tentative; they are there to give some direction, and potentially any person could feel attracted to any of these modalities.

This article does NOT tell you which isthe best type of meditation because there is no such thing, and Im not here to create controversy. Also, I have here focused more on meditative practices; I may write another article on other similar practices, that are more about relaxation or contemplation.

If you are a beginner, you may also enjoy the post onmeditation for beginners how to build the habit.

On the other hand, if you are looking for the historical background of how meditation developed over the centuries, check out my history of meditation article.

By the way, do you want to have a PDF version of this article, for easy future reference?

Scientists usually classify meditation based on the way they focus attention, into two categories: Focused Attention and Open Monitoring. Id like to propose a third: Effortless Presence.

Focusing the attention on a single objectduring the whole meditation session. This object may be the breath, a mantra, visualization, part of the body, external object, etc. As the practitioner advances, his ability to keep the flow of attention in the chosen object gets stronger, and distractions become less common and short-lived. Both the depth and steadiness of his attention are developed.

Examples of these are:Samatha (Buddhist meditation), some forms of Zazen, Loving Kindness Meditation, Chakra Meditation, Kundalini Meditation, Sound Meditation, Mantra Meditation, Pranayama, some forms of Qigong, and many others.

Instead of focusing the attention on any one object, we keep it open, monitoring all aspects of our experience, without judgment or attachment. All perceptions, be them internal (thoughts, feelings, memory, etc.) or external (sound, smell, etc.), are recognized and seen for what they are. It is the process of non-reactive monitoring of the content of experience from moment to moment, without going into them. Examples are: Mindfulness meditation, Vipassana, as well as some types of Taoist Meditation.

Its the state where the attention is not focused on anything in particular, but reposes on itself quiet, empty, steady, and introverted. We can also call it Choiceless Awareness or Pure Being. Most of the meditation quotes you find speak of this state.

This is actually the true purpose behind all kinds of meditation, and not a meditation type in itself. All traditional techniques of meditationrecognize that the object of focus, and even the process of monitoring, is just a means to train the mind, so that effortless inner silence and deeper states of consciousness can be discovered. Eventually, both the object of focus and the process itself is left behind, and there is only left the true self of the practitioner, as pure presence.

In some techniques, this is the only focus, from the beginning. Examples are: the Self-Enquiry (I am meditation) of Ramana Maharishi; Dzogchen; Mahamudra; some forms of Taoist Meditation; and some advanced forms of Raja Yoga. In my point of view, this type of meditation always requires previous training to be effective, even though this is sometimes not expressly said (only implied).

Zazen ()means seated Zen, or seated meditation, in Japanese. It has its roots in the Chinese Zen Buddhism (Chan) tradition, tracing back to Indian monk Bodhidharma (6th century CE). In the West, its most popular forms comes from Dogen Zenji (1200~1253), the founder of Soto Zen movement in Japan. Similar modalities are practiced in the Rinzaischool of Zen, in Japan and Korea.

It is generally practiced seated on the floor over a mat and cushion, with crossed legs. Traditionally it was done in the so-called lotus or half-lotusposition, but this is hardly necessary. Nowadays most practitioners sitlike this:

Or on a chair:

The most important aspect, as you see in the pictures, is keeping the back completely straight, from the pelvis to the neck. Mouth is kept close and eyes are kept lowered, with your gaze resting on the ground about two or three feet in front of you.

As to the mind aspect of it, its usually practiced in two ways:

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Zazen is a very sober meditation style, and you can easily find a lot of strong communities practicing it, as well as plenty of information on the internet. There is a lot of emphasis in keeping the right posture, as an aid for concentration. It is usually practiced in Zen Buddhist centers (Sangha), with strong community support.

In many of them you will find it coupled withother elements of Buddhist practice: prostrations, a bit of ritualism,chanting, and group readings of the Buddha teachings. Some people will like this, others wont. Personally, I practiced zazen in a Buddhist group for 3 years, and I found that those elements and a bit of formality can also help create a structure for the practice, and in themselves they are also meditative.

Vipassana is a Pali word tha

Due to the popularity of Vipassan-meditation, the mindfulness of breathing has gained further popularity in the West as mindfulness.

Ideally, one is to siton a cushion on the floor, cross-legged, with your spine erect; alternatively, a chair may be used, but the back should not be supported.

The first aspect is to develop concentration, throughsamatha practice. This is typicallydone through breathing awareness.

Focus all your attention, from moment to moment, on the movement of your breath. Notice the subtle sensations of the movement of the abdomen rising and falling. Alternatively, one can focus on the sensation of the air passing through the nostrils and touching the upper lips skin thoughthis requires a bit more practice, and is more advanced.

As you focus on the breath, you will notice that other perceptions and sensations continue to appear: sounds, feelings in the body, emotions, etc. Simply notice these phenomena as they emerge in the field of awareness, and then return to the sensation of breathing. The attention is kept in the object of concentration (the breathing), while these other thoughts or sensations are there simply as background noise.

The object that is the focus of the practice (for instance, the movement of the abdomen) is called the primary object. And a secondary object is anything else that arises in your field of perception either through your five senses (sound, smell, itchiness in the body, etc.) or through the mind (thought, memory, feeling, etc.). If a secondary object hooks your attention and pulls it away, or if it causes desire or aversion to appear, you should focus on the secondary object for a moment or two, labeling it with a mental note, like thinking, memory, hearing, desiring. This practice is often called noting.

A mental note identifies an object in general but not in detail. When youre aware of a sound, for example, label it hearing instead of motorcycle, voices or barking dog. If an unpleasant sensation arises, note pain or feeling instead of knee pain or my back pain. Then return your attention to the primary meditation object. When aware of a fragrance, say the mental note smelling for a moment or two. You dont have to identify the scent.

When one has thus gained access concentration, the attention is then turned to the object of practice, which is normally thought or bodily sensations. One observes the objects of awareness without attachment, letting thoughts and sensations arise and pass away of their own accord. Mental labeling (explained above) is often use as a way to prevent you from being carried away by thoughts, and keep you in more objectively noticing them.

As a result one develops the clear seeing that the observed phenomena is pervaded by the three marks of existence: impermanence (annica), insatisfactoriness (dukkha) and emptiness of self (annata). As a result, equanimity, peace and inner freedom is developed in relation to these inputs.

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Vipassana is an excellent meditation to help you ground yourself in your body, and understand how the processes of your mind work. It is a very popular styleof meditation. You can find plenty of teachers, websites, and books about it, as well as 3~10 days retreats (donation based). The teaching of it is always free.There are no formalities or rituals attached to the practice.

If you are completely new to meditation, Vipassana or Mindfulness are probably good ways for you to start.

Mindfulness Meditation is an adaptation from traditionalBuddhist meditation practices, especially Vipassana, but also having strong influence from otherlineages (such as the VietnameseZen Buddhism from Thich Nhat Hanh).Mindfulness is the common western translation for the Buddhist term sati. Anapanasati, mindfulness of breathing, is part of the Buddhist practice of Vipassana or insight meditation, and other Buddhist meditational practices, such as zazen (source: Wikipedia).

One of the main influencers for Mindfulness in the West is John Kabat-Zinn. His Mindfulness-Based Stress Reductionprogram (MBSR) which he developed in 1979 at theUniversity of Massachusetts Medical School has been used in several hospitals and health clinic on the past decades.

Mindfulness meditation is the practice of intentionally focusing on the present moment,accepting and non-judgmentally paying attention to the sensations, thoughts, and emotions that arise.

For the formal practice time, sit on a cushion on the floor, or on a chair, with straight and unsupported back. Pay close attention to the movement of your breath. When you breath in, be aware that you are breathing in, and how it feels. When you breath out, be aware you are breathing out. Do like this for the length of your meditation practice, constantly redirecting the attention to the breath. Or you can move on to be paying attention to the sensations, thoughts and feelings that arise.

The effort is to not intentionally add anything to our present moment experience, but to be aware of what is going on, without losing ourselves in anything that arises.

Your mind will get distracted into going along with sounds, sensations, and thoughts. Whenever that happens, gently recognize that you have been distracted, and bring the attention back to the breathing, or to the objective noticing of that thought or sensation. There is a big different between beinginside the thought/sensation, and simplybeing aware of its presence.

Learn to enjoy your practice. Once you are done, appreciate how different the body and mind feel.

There is also the practice of mindfulness during our daily activities: while eating, walking, and talking. For daily life meditation, the practice is to pay attention to what is going on in the present moment, to be aware of what is happening and not living in automatic mode. If you are speaking, that means paying attention to the words you speak, how you speak them, and to listen with presence and attention. If you are walking, that means being more aware of your body movements, your feet touching the ground, the sounds you are hearing, etc.

Your effort in seated practice supports your daily life practice, and vice-versa. They are both equally important. Learn more:

For the general public, this is perhaps the most advisable way to get started with meditation. It is the type of meditation that is most taught at schools and hospitals, as far as I am aware.The mindfulness movement as practiced nowadays in society at large, is not Buddhism, but anadaptation of Buddhist practices due to their benefits ingood physical and mental health and general wellbeing.

For most people, Mindfulness Meditation may be theonly type of meditation they will like, especially if their focus is only the physical and mental benefits of meditation, as it is usuallytaught dissociated from several of the easternconcepts and philosophies that traditionally accompaniedthe practice. And for that it is great it willbring many good thingsto your life.

If your focus is a deeper transformation and spiritual development, however, then mindfulness meditation may be just an initial step for you. From here you can then move into Vipassana, Zazen, or other types of meditation.

Demonstrated benefits include:boosting ones ability to empathize with others;development of positive emotions through compassion, including a more loving attitude towards oneself; increasedself-acceptance; greater feeling of competence about ones life; and increased feeling of purpose in life (read more in our other post).

One sits down in a meditation position,with closed eyes, and generates in his mind and heart feelings of kindness and benevolence.Start by developing loving-kindness towards yourself, then progressively towards others and all beings. Usually this progression is advised:

The feeling to be developed is that of wishing happiness and well-being for all. This practice may be aided byreciting specific words or sentences that evoke theboundless warm-hearted feeling, visualizing the suffering of others and sending love; or by imagining the state of another being, and wishing him happiness and peace.

The more you practice this meditation, the more joy you will experience. That is the secret of Mathieu Richards happiness.

For one who attends properly to the liberation of the heart by benevolence, unarisen ill will does not arise and arisen ill will is abandoned. The Buddha

In this article, Emma Seppl, Ph.D explores the 18 scientifically proven benefits of Loving-Kindness meditation.

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Are you sometimes too hard on yourself oronothers? Or feel like you need to improve your relationships? Loving-kindness meditation will help you. It is beneficial both for selfless and self-centered people, and it will help increase your general level of happiness. You cannot feel loving-kindness and depression (or any other negative feeling)at the same time.

It is also often recommended, by Buddhist teachers, as anantidoteto insomnia, nightmares, or anger issues.

Some meditation teachers insist that both the choice of word, and its correct pronunciation, is very important, due to the vibration associated to the sound and meaning, and that for this reason an initiation into it is essential. Others say that the mantra itself is only a tool to focus the mind, and the chosen word is completely irrelevant.

Mantras are used in Hindu traditions, Buddhist traditions (especially Tibetan and Pure LandBuddhism), as wellas in Jainism, Sikhism and Daoism (Taoism). Somepeople call mantra meditation om meditation, but that is just one of the mantras that can be used.A more devotion oriented practice of mantras is calledjapa, and consists of repeating sacred sounds (name of God) with love.

As most type of meditations, it is usually practiced sitting with spine erect, and eyes closed. The practitioner then repeats the mantra in his mind, silently, over and over again during the whole session.

Sometimes this practice is coupled with being aware of the breathing or coordinating with it. In other exercises, the mantra is actually whispered very lightly and softly, as an aid to concentration.

As you repeat the mantra, it creates a mental vibration that allows the mind to experience deeper levels of awareness. As you meditate, the mantra becomes increasingly abstract and indistinct, until youre finally led into the field of pure consciousness from which the vibration arose. Repetition of the mantra helps you disconnect from the thoughts filling your mind so that perhaps you may slip into the gap between thoughts. The mantra is a tool to support your meditation practice. Mantras can be viewed as ancient power words with subtle intentions that help us connect to spirit, the source of everything in the universe. (Deepak Chopra)

OM is a well-known example of a mantra. But there are thousadns of others.Here are some of the most well-known mantras from the Hindu & Buddhist traditions:

You may practice for a certain period of time, or for a set number of repetitions traditionally 108 or 1008. In the latter case, beads are typically used for keeping count.

As the practice deepens, you may find that the mantra continues by itself like the humming of the mind. Or the mantra may even disappear, and you are left in a state of deep inner peace.

There are many methods of mantra meditation. I explain them in detail, together with why mantras are powerful, on my article on mantra meditation. Learn more:

People usually find that it is easier to focus with a mantra than with the breathing. Because a mantra is a word, and thoughts are usually perceived as words, it can be easier to keep the focus on a mantra rather than on the breathing. It is useful especially when the mind is racing with many thoughts, since it mantra meditation demands constant attention.

Meditating with a mantra can also make it simpler tointegrate your meditative state into your daily life. In whatever activity you find yourself into, it can be as simple as repeating the mantra in your mind.

Transcendental Meditation is a specific form of Mantra Meditation introduced by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1955 in Indiaand the West.In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Maharishi achieved fame as the guru to the Beatles, The Beach Boys and other celebrities.

It is a widely practiced form of meditation, with over 5million practitioners worldwide, and there isa lot of scientific research, many sponsored by the organization, demonstrating the benefits of the practice. There are over 600 scientific papers, many of them peer-reviewed, and I have used part of their research when composing my benefits of meditation page. However, there are also critics of the Maharishi and his organization, and some accusation of cultish behavior and doubtful research practices.

Transcendental meditation is not taught freely. The only way of learning it is to pay to learn from one of their licensed instructors. The support given seems to be good, though.

In general, however, it is known that TM involves the use of a mantra and is practiced for 1520 minutes twice per day while sitting with ones eyes closed. The mantra is not unique, and is given to the practitioner based on his gender and age. They are also not meaningless sounds rather, they are Tantric names of Hindu deities. This probably is irrelevant for most people.

This is the official site of the movement:TM site.

It is not possible. According to the TM organization, you can only learn Transcendental Meditation by a registered teacer.

However, there is another similar technique, called Natural Stress Relief, which was created in 2003 by a former TM Teacher, and is much cheaper to learn (47 USD instead of 960 USD), and has stripped out some mystical elements of the practice of TM, such as the initiation (puja) and yogic flying (part of TM-Siddhi). You can learn more about NSR in comparison to TM here and here.

Personally I dont feel comfortable advising anyone to try Transcendental Meditation anymore, especially if you are looking to go deep into meditation. To know more, check out this answer I wrote in Quora and this in-depth video review.

If you wish to try something similar, for a fraction of the cost or for free, have a look at NSR (above), or Mantra Meditation.

The Yoga tradition is the oldest meditation tradition on earth, and also the one with the widest variety of practices.

Here are some types of meditation practiced in Yoga. The most commonand universal Yoga meditation one is the third eyemeditation. Other popular ones involve concentrating on a chakra, repeating a mantra, visualization of light, or gazing meditations.

Yoga is a very rich tradition, with different lineages, so there are many other techniques. But the ones above are the most well-known; the others are more specific or complex.

For a start, this video is an excellent resource on how to do Yoga style meditation, and it combines breathing, body awareness, mantra, and chakra meditation.

Learn more:

With all these types of meditation in Yoga, you are likely to find one that you like.If you are a musician, perhaps nada yogais something that will attract you. If you are a devotional person, kriya yogais a good option. Kundalini and Chakra meditation should only be attempted with a teacher.

Probably the simplest one to try is the third eye meditation, which is simple and yieldsresults fairly quickly. For the other types you would probably need more instruction, either of a teacher or a good book (see references above). Besides, Pranayamais definitely something anyone can benefit from.

The modern non-duality movement (or neo-advaita), which is greatly inspired in his teachings as well as those of Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897~1981) and Papaji strongly uses this technique and variations. Many contemporaryteachers to employ this technique, the most famous ones being Mooji (whom Ive personally been with and recommend), Adyashanti, and Eckhart Tolle.

This practice is very simple, but also very subtle. When explaining it, however, it may sound very abstract.

Your sense of I (or ego) is the center of your universe. It is there, in some form or another, behind all your thoughts, emotions, memories, and perceptions. Yet we are not clear about what this I is about who we truly are, in essence and confuse it with our body, our mind, our roles, our labels. Its the biggest mystery in our lives.

With Self-Enquiry, the question Who I am?is asked withinyourself. You must reject any verbal answers that may come, and use this question simply as a tool to fix your attention in the subjective feeling of Ior I am. Become one with it, go deep into it. This will then reveal your true I, your real self as pure consciousness, beyond all limitation. It is not an intellectual pursuit, but a question to bring the attention to the core element of your perception and experience: the I. This is not your personality, but a pure, subjective, feeling of existing without any images or concepts attached to it. Whenever thoughts/feelings arise, you ask yourself, To whom does this arise? or Who is aware of _____ (anger, fear, pain, or whatever)? The answer will be Its me!. From then you ask Who am I?, to bring the attention back to the subjective feeling ofself, of presence. It is pure existence, objectless and choice-less awareness.

Another way of explaining this practice is to just focus the mind on your feeling of being, the non-verbal I am that shines inside of you. Keep it pure, without association with anything you perceive.

With all other types of meditation, the I (yourself) is focusing on some object, internal or external, physical or mental. In self-enquiry, the I is focusing on itself, the subject. It is the attention turned towards its source. There is no special position to practice, although the general suggestions about posture and environment are helpful for beginners.

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This meditation is very powerful in bringing inner freedom and peace; yet, if you dont have previous experience with meditation, you may find it very hard to follow through. As an initial aid to give you a feeling for it, I would advise following some guided meditations from Mooji, in YouTube.

The chief characteristic of this type of meditation is the generation, transformation, and circulation of inner energy. The purpose is to quieten the body and mind, unify body and spirit, find inner peace, and harmonize with the Tao. Some styles of Taoist Meditation are specifically focused on improving health and giving longevity.

Image from InternalArtsInternational.com

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