Different Styles of Meditation
Nothing is impervious to change and so is not meditation. While the fundamental focus of Meditation has not shifted from what it had started with, there have been several other changes that have led to different styles being followed at different places of the earth over different periods. It helps to know what styles are in practice today so that you can make an informed choice when you plan to undertake meditation yourself.
Watching Your Breathing
One of the very basic forms of meditation is to just control the way you breathe. All you are supposed to do is to sit in an upright position, close your eyes and just concentrate on the way you breathe. While this sounds pretty simple and is actually not that hard to practice, it can make a world of difference. During our day-to-day life we hardly have the time to settle down for a few minutes. That means irregular breathing. Allowing our body some time to actually stay calm and carry on the processes quietly can make a significant difference to how our body performs. With more fresh air in our lungs the heart performs at its best and our body feels rejuvenated.
Watching Your Thoughts
This is one of the tougher practices of meditation. Though physically not that demanding, it is an emotional challenge. The idea is to clear your mind of any thoughts and just let it be. You can sit in the normal upright posture and with your legs crossed. But the trick is to let go of your mind, because, at least initially, the more you will try this, the harder will it get.
Walking Meditation
One of the more innovative versions of meditation, this not only helps you at the level of the mind but you also get some exercise as you pace up and down. You can practice this in a room or outdoors, as long as there are no distractions. Don’t try it in a room where the television is on or in a park with children playing. Again the process is to maintain a relatively brisk pace as you focus on your breathing and walking. Concentrate only on these two things and let go of your other concerns. Staying focused here is the real challenge.
Meditating While Chanting
This is a good style of meditation for the beginners. It has often been a problem for the ones who are starting off on meditation to actually stay focused and not let thoughts wander into their heads. Chanting a mantra can be of much help for them. This helps to keep away other thoughts and lets you focus more. The chant should be chosen carefully so that it is easy for you to remember and say. You need not say it aloud and can just repeat it in your head. As long as you are able to stay focused you know it is working right for you.
About the Author
by Mark Zolinski
There are various other styles of meditation such as the meditation based on a particular concept, or meditation where the mind is at a higher level of awareness. These are some of the more difficult styles to get used to. You find out more about various styles of meditation from www.herbsandyoga.com. A great website with huge amount of information on meditation and yoga, it is an ideal place for anyone who wants to learn more about the practice of these disciplines.
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In modern society there are so many pressures on our time and lives that it can seem difficult to be able to find time for relaxation. Even if we do find time we may have so many thought and anxieties going through our mind that it seems difficult to be able to switch off and enter into a more relaxed frame of mind. Many people consciously want to be able to relax and these are a few strategies that will help the process of relaxation.
1.   Relax Through Breathing. Our breathing is an important bearing on our state of mind. When we are anxious, unconsciously our breathing will become more forceful and heavy. To practise relaxation we can try a breathing exercise of concentrating on our breath. We should try to slow down our breathing and focus on our breath and nothing else. Slow rhythmic breathing is a very natural and spontaneous exercise. It will definitely help us to relax.
2.   Live in the Here and Now. A lot of our mental energy is taken up with thinking about the past or worrying about the future. We should try to make a conscious effort to give less importance to the future and let go of the past. There is an old saying that goes something like. 80% of our worries don’t come true. There is nothing I can do about the other 20% so therefore there is no need to worry at all. Try to remind yourself of this idea throughout the day.
3.   Working with plants or animals. It can be very therapeutic working in a garden. Even if we have only a windowsill we can grow plants. When we take care of other things like plants and a garden it enables us to become less self absorbed and so we lose a lot of our mental tension, enabling us to become more relaxed. Similarly spending time with animals may help a lot.
4.   Music for relaxation. The power of music should never be underestimated in effecting our mood. It is worth hunting for music which really helps us to relax, this may be classical music or new age music. To some extent music is a personal choice, but you can intuitively feel which kind of music helps you to relax. Download your favourite tracks to an ipod so you can listen travelling on the tube or bus. It will definitely help to drown out the busy noise of city life.
5.   Meditation for relaxation. Meditation can definitely help us to relax. When we meditate what we are trying to do is to clear our mind of thoughts. If we can learn to empty the mind we will be able to clear a lot of our mental garbage. Removing our negative thoughts will be a significant calming influence on our state of mind. By developing our meditation we will definitely be able to relax furthermore meditation can give us real peace of mind. However to get the most from meditation we do need to give it a certain importance. We should try to meditate every day, preferably at the same time. This will gradually make our meditation more powerful.
6.   Develop harmonious relationships with others. Often the biggest stumbling block to enable relaxation is when conflicts develop in relationships with others. To develop greater harmony it is always worth trying to maintain a loving and forgiving attitude. Sometimes it is better to be happy rather than right. We shouldn’t feel we have to have the last word on everything, otherwise there will be no end to conflict.
7.   Find Time for relaxation. Often we feel pressured by so many things we need to do. However we should feel the importance of making time to relax. If we have a good state of mind then whatever we do will be more effective.
Richard lives in Oxford and is a meditation student of Sri Chinmoy.
Sri Chinmoy has composed many recording of music suitable for meditation and relaxation.
Music for relaxation is available at Radio Sri Chinmoy.
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