Meditation Techniques (Contemplative, Transcendental)

Many people love to meditate to find themselves. They are quite right. Indeed, meditation allows you to relax completely and have a calm mind and body... among a long list of benefits (which we will talk about here).

However, when one is interested in the subject, the question of the different types, schools and techniques of meditation comes into focus. And then everything gets complicated.

In this article, we will present different types of meditation and techniques from which you can choose the one that best suits your needs.

Between practices aimed at relaxation, well-being, concentration or even the development of extrasensory abilities, zoom in on the subject!

Contents :

The different types and techniques of meditation

The positive points of meditation on health

And so ? Why start practicing meditation?

Meditation: an anti-aging remedy!

Meditation techniques: a well-being ally

Summary of different meditation techniques

Lucky charm featured in this article

The different types and techniques of meditation

A practice that has existed for hundreds, even thousands of years, meditation is present in all civilizations and transcends different ages. Even if you have several techniques sometimes with different goals in front of you, the different types of meditation have common points.

Furthermore, when we undertake a process of meditative introspection with the different techniques proposed, it is the meditation itself which is more important. No meditation is good or bad? Everyone must find the meditation that suits them.

To tell you the truth, meditation is very popular at the moment and many people are becoming more and more interested in it. Also, with the articles that talk about its benefits and its virtues on health, even if the methods vary, know that meditation, whatever the technique chosen, will necessarily present advantages for the body and mind.

Yes, if our collection dedicated to yoga and meditation is so popular, perhaps it is not a coincidence.

Contemplative meditation

This type of meditation involves settling into nature. Indeed, for contemplative meditation, putting yourself in a place where you can reconnect with the essence of things is necessary. In fact, this meditation makes you contemplate and observe an object of nature so that you can enter into the concept that it represents.

So that you understand, take for example a pebble on the river. This pebble has chosen its own existence, and if you free your mind from all parasitic concepts, you will be able to achieve a state of equality with the pebble. Which means, you can be free and far from your worries.

In this case, with even deeper contemplation, the object (the pebble) and you the meditator will become one, in the same natural and primordial forces.

Sound meditation

In the practice of sound meditation, you must use an instrument, music or simply a voice as the object of meditation. Indeed, using a musical instrument can touch you deeply. So profound in fact, that it has a direct effect on your cells and the functioning of your brain.

If you do not have a meditation instrument (which is unlikely), know that you can obtain one on our site in this collection of sound therapy instruments.

The Tibetan bowl (which you can find here) is arguably the most famous. The sound it produces is truly therapeutic and helps regulate our emotions as well as our physical being.

However, there are many other meditation instruments capable of calming your mind, which we invite you all to discover.

Mindfulness meditation

Also called "mindfulness" meditation by the Americans, mindfulness meditation allows you to connect more with the present moment and to be aware of the moment in which you live, of what you feel and of what you are Really. This meditation is a kind of awakening of the mind to everything around you. And the bonus is that this type of meditation can be practiced on a daily basis.

The primary goal of mindfulness meditation is to quiet the mind. That is to say, to move away from the many ideas that rush through our heads... but also to move away from judgments, preconceived ideas and prejudices that we have about the world and others.

The main technique used for this practice is focusing your attention on a specific object. What follows is a concentration on your breathing, on an activity and on your body. In short, on his being in consciousness.

Tibetan meditation

This type of meditation aims to harmonize your body and mind to find the right “balance point”. To do this, his technique often uses Tibetan bowls which emit resonances (yes, the same ones we told you about a little earlier). Their sounds allow you to let go and relax.

In fact, each type of bowl has its own frequency and offers different vibrations. The most impressive thing is that each frequency emitted by the bowl corresponds perfectly to one of our 7 chakras (or points of circulation of energy in our body).

Transcendental meditation

This type of meditation consists of a method of deep relaxation which allows the development of our consciousness. Indeed, transcendental meditation is based on the use of mantras, phrases and words that are repeated several times.

In some parts of the world, mantras are said to bring happiness and positivity to the world. In Tibet, for example, gigantic prayer wheels are placed in front of temples so that the faithful can turn them, and thus benefit from blessings.

The idea behind this prayer wheel ring is even more powerful: you will always have such an instrument with you, and can turn it when luck, zen or relaxation are needed.

Zen meditation

Also called le tch'an, Zen meditation originated in China and was transported to Japan under its Zen name. In this type of meditation, you have 2 branches:

• Sōtō Zen: this meditation consists of sitting without doing anything, aimlessly, facing a wall (that is to say facing yourself) and concentrating on your posture and breathing. Even if you have thoughts running through your mind, let them pass and return to your focus.
• Rinzai Zen: it consists of sitting facing the room. You use the koan (a phrase or question that the master asks that the disciple must dissolve). As it is a misunderstood and logicless phrase, it invites you to let go and open your mind to reality.

Yogic meditation

Meditation is a practice intrinsically linked to that of yoga.

In yoga, to receive better, you must stop sending and thinking. However, it is quite difficult not to think. If it's just for a few seconds, we can all get there, but beyond that, it's more complicated. You can always wait for the thoughts to stop themselves, but it takes a long time.

So to help you, yogic meditation techniques aim to still the mind. To do this, you will need to focus your attention on an imaginary or concrete point, on an image or a geometric shape or even a sound. So your body listens, observes, but stops thinking. And this is what allows you to best prepare for a yoga session.

Tantric meditation

Tantric meditation offers you the opportunity to raise your consciousness and your connection to the Divine in different areas of life. Indeed, this type of meditation has as its principle sexual energy which is linked to excitement, yes, but also to higher creative principles.

Tantra places you in a complex duality between sex and love, which creates confusion and frustration in your mind. Tantric ecstasy involves channeling this energy of excitement and transforming it into creative love and happiness.

This is when sexuality is experienced as a kind of meditation where with breathing and body relaxation techniques, you and your partner can feel a very deep feeling of unity.

Guided meditation

This type of meditation is really simple. In fact, you just have to listen and follow instructions to practice it. Guided meditation allows you to apply simple techniques to know what meditation is. This is ideal if you are still a beginner in the practice.

It often comes in the form of an audio file or video with a voice that tells you what to do during the session. We have also produced several dozen which you can find on our YouTube channel (by typing the four letters LPDB in your YouTube search bar).

Shamanist meditation

A form of meditation originating from Native American tribes, shamanistic meditation gives an important place to spirituality and spirits.

If we had to propose a definition of shamanism, it would undoubtedly be something like: “ A meditation which allows you to modify your state of consciousness, which allows you to travel into the world of spirits and find there the healing, with the help of a guide (the shaman) and his teachings. ”

Thus, shamanistic meditation is rather a meditation which is closer to a broad meditative state than to a simple meditation with a beginning and an end.

Tangram meditation

A form of secular meditation, tangram connects you with the origins of meditation. Tangram meditation allows you to find your true nature (who you really are). It is a kind of psychoanalysis of silence, a type of meditation that trains you to do deep work on yourself to transform your life.

If you want to find yourself, leave less room for your ego, and therefore for your desires. When you finally stop seeing yourself, you will finally see others and the world.

Vipassana meditation

Vipassana is a method of meditation which was transmitted by Buddha, and which has as its principle the awakening of the mind in order to avoid suffering, all thanks to the observation of one's thoughts.

Vipassana meditation is based on four major Buddhist principles of well-being which, once applied, help ward off depression, reduce anxiety and relieve stress, among a whole host of other benefits.

The positive points of meditation on health

To tell you the truth, meditation offers you many advantages and benefits for your health. Even if it is not yet accepted in “conventional” medicine, know that you will experience real benefits with meditation.

Here is a non-exhaustive list :

• The ability to stay focused longer
• Elimination of your stress and symptoms of depression
• An ability to manage anxiety and pain
• Brain stimulation and awakening
• Reduction of cell degeneration (especially neurons)
• Strengthening the body's immunity
• An increase in memory
• A clear reduction in the feeling of fatigue
• Easier to manage your emotions, and therefore to be more social
• Better empathy for others and nature
• An increase in your creativity (particularly artistic)

And so ? Why start practicing meditation?

If sport is a good resolution to start a new year, starting meditation is just as good. We have just listed some of its benefits, but let's focus on some in more detail.

Meditation reduces stress

You know that stress and anxiety are often caused by dwelling on thoughts that are linked to your past or, conversely, to your future. Most meditation techniques will allow you to free yourself from it.

By allowing you to focus more on the present moment, meditation will help you focus on your current emotions, and just those.

Meditation improves sleep

Sometimes it's the thoughts that invade our mind that cause insomnia. If you want to sleep better, eliminate this mental agitation by refocusing on the present moment.

Also, by eliminating stress, your consciousness will tend more easily towards inner peace and will therefore allow you to let go. When you are calm, you will sleep better, that's for sure.

Reduction in cardiovascular disorders

By always being stressed and with a lack of sleep, the risks of cardiovascular disorders increase. By helping you combat these two factors, traditional meditation techniques improve your heart health.

Furthermore, if you practice meditation, it will reduce blood pressure and therefore reduce the risk of cardiovascular disorders.

Meditation changes you

Practicing mindfulness meditation allows you to see your emotions without judging them.

With meditation, you will know how you behave towards yourself and others. You will become a positive, caring being who will radiate good vibes. Your energy will change profoundly, your aura will shine more intensely and your daily life will be less gloomy.

Meditation: an anti-aging remedy!

According to studies carried out on elderly people, meditation has a truly exceptional impact on their mental health, yes, but physical. Indeed, it allows an individual’s emotional regulation. As a result, seniors are better able to tolerate pain.

It has also been noted that the practice of meditation is correlated with improved mood in patients suffering from chronic pain. Also, meditation helps to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, or even those of panic attacks.

For an elderly person, meditation allows them to be in a state of full consciousness naturally. This offers an improvement in psychological well-being, and therefore ease in regulating one's emotions. This ability is crucial, because many elderly people die of a heart attack after too much joy or sadness.

To dig deeper into the subject of meditation and age, here is an article that talks about how it helps slow aging.

In short, if your mother, father, grandfather and grandmother have some free time, try to get them to practice meditation, why not by introducing them to the techniques discovered in this article!

Meditation techniques: a well-being ally

Meditation techniques help fight aging, they bring sleep, help us concentrate, and so on.

Do you know that a meditative practice is also an ally of well-being at the physical level, directly at the level of the muscles and joints in reality?

As meditation helps regulate emotions, it is a kind of training for the mind. The practice mainly mobilizes attentional capacities, which mobilize the use of muscles.

Meditation thus increases the general health of the body and naturally pushes it towards well-being. When the mind is peaceful, the physical is too.

Let us take a simple example so that you can understand better. Sport for example. When you play sports, your physical body is moving all the time. The muscles are the main ones affected, so these muscles keep their shape. Which then allows your body to stay young and maintain strength. Meditation works in the same way: through the position held, muscular tension is released, and we feel better.

In order to stay in shape, meditation can also help to temper the right forks, to help us not give in to that chocolate bar or that cake. Remember everything we said about being able to control your emotions.

Here again, to go further, here is an article which talks about the (obvious) link between meditation and stress regulation.

Summary of different meditation techniques

With the different techniques discovered here, you can do according to your desires and needs, that’s clear.

Meditation will help you calm your inner being and, with enough effort, experience what we call “inner peace.” When you are at peace with yourself, you will experience balance, harmony and happiness. This is actually the ultimate goal of most meditation techniques around the world.

Although you won't reach this mental state right away, when you meditate, you relax and find yourself within yourself. This allows you to better know who you really are, and to know how to listen to others while forgetting (at least a little) your ego.

Doing meditation completely changes a person: whatever form you choose, the practice is important and shows you the path to serenity. If you feel that you are overwhelmed by too many ideas, rest your mind with a good meditation session!

If you are still hungry and want to learn more about the various meditation techniques, here is an article from the site alternativesante.fr dealing with Western-style meditation, as well as another which lists some more Eastern techniques.

Either way, we hope you enjoyed reading this and found it informative.

Have a nice day... and namaste!

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