Ten Meditation Styles – Their Unique Qualities And Benefits, And How To Practise Them

There are many different styles of meditation, each of which has its own history, unique qualities, and list of benefits.

This article provides information on ten different styles, to help you decide which one may be most appropriate for you and your situation.

• Chakra Meditation
• Christian Meditation
• Dynamic Meditation
• Healing Meditation
• Heartfulness Meditation
• Mantra, Transcendental, And Japa Meditation
• Mindfulness Meditation
• Orgasmic Meditation
• Taoist Meditation
• Zen Meditation

CHAKRA MEDITATION

While Chakra meditation, specifically, may still be gaining followers, most of us have been exposed to (or, at least, heard of) the concept of chakras, or energy centres in the body, that focus on a specific function.

Chakra meditation believes that balance is important to our wellness and harmony.

What Is Chakra Meditation?

Chakra meditation is the practice of identifying whether our seven main chakras are aligned. It believes that if you are sensitive to the energy coming from and towards your specific chakras, you will be able to manage and balance, therefore being calmer and more well.

What Are The 7 Main Chakras?

Root Chakra: The main colour for the root chakra is red. It is said to be found at the base of your spine and it manages our connections to the outer world, the need for food, shelter, and stability. These are important human needs.

If the root chakra is not in balance, you may be subject to emotional and physical concerns and potentially digestive disturbances.

Sacral Chakra: The main colour for the sacral chakra is orange. It sits just below the navel area on our midsections. It is involved in processes that are creative in nature. It also assists with the functioning of reproductive organs and our imagination.

This chakra must be balanced in order to cope with new and spontaneous experiences as well as to explore the world. We can assume that artists, painters, and musicians may pay special attention to this chakra.

Solar Plexus Chakra: The solar plexus chakra’s main colour is yellow. It, opposite of the sacral chakra, sits right above the navel area. It is essential to the functioning of our digestive system. It also assists in the management of our mental and spiritual statuses.

If the solar plexus chakra is out of balance, it is said that we are unable to understand our full place or embrace our experiences.

Heart Chakra: The heart chakra’s main colour is green. It is, like its name, located in the centre of our cardiovascular systems. Because of this, it is closely responsible for the functioning of the organs near it.

In the event that the heart chakra is unbalanced, we could struggle with respiratory difficulties or high blood pressure.

A well-balanced heart chakra will allow us to be open for connection and intimate relationships.

Throat Chakra: The main colour for the throat chakra is blue. It is, like its name, located in our throat. The throat chakra assists with the management of our communication and self-expression.

If the throat chakra is not well managed we may feel isolated and struggle with infections or even hormone imbalances.

Third Eye Chakra: The third eye chakra is located just above our eyebrows and its main colour is indigo. This chakra allows us to manage our insight and intuition.

Ensuring the balance of this chakra will see that we are connected and understand our places.

Crown Chakra: The main colour of the crown chakra is purple and it sits on the top of our heads. It is often called the “business-end” chakra. It assists us with our power connection in the world.

A healthy crown chakra ensures that we have a sense of peace, well-being, and confidence about ourselves.

What Is Unique About Chakra Meditation?

Meditation as a whole assists us with being more present and connected in our bodies. Oftentimes while meditating we may complete a body scan to notice areas of tension or comfort.

Chakra meditation is unique in that it focuses in on many very specific body parts. While there are seven main chakras that you will want to pay attention to, as mentioned above, there are many different variations of this meditation practice.

This meditation practice is also unique because it requires the ability to interpret our bodily systems via our chakras. We must notice if our chakras are balanced or not and then identify what that means.

History Of Chakra Meditation

Chakra meditation was originally found in early Hindu practices in India between 1500 and 500 BC. The first reference to it was found in a text called the Vedas. It is closely connected to other Indian religions but also different in some ways. For example, Buddhist texts identify five chakras, whereas Hindu practices identify six or seven. Chakra meditation is a modern replication of this historical practice.

Benefits Of Chakra Meditation

What is unique about this meditation is also one of its main benefits: to become more aware and more present in our body. How can we expect our bodies to function for us if we don’t learn about it or focus on it?

Other benefits of chakra healing or balancing are physical and emotional well-being and developing spiritual fitness. It assists with reducing bad energy that is being trapped within the body and promotes joy in life. It also allows you to learn more about yourself and your desires.

Some texts state that it turns weaknesses into strengths and helps with financial wisdom or management. It can help you to turn dreams into reality and strongly develop your intuition.

Finally, it helps with expressing and releasing information in a healthy way.

How To Practise Chakra Meditation

1. Begin by sitting in a position that feels comfortable, with a straight spine.
2. Focus on each part of your body, first starting with your feet and working your way up.
3. As you do this, ask each part of the body that you are focusing on to relax.
4. Focus on your breath. Allow it to nourish your lungs and your body and as you breathe out, imagine you are breathing out all of the toxins in your body.
5. Imagine the perfect functioning of your body. See your parts working in perfect harmony and notice how your breath is sustaining all of those parts.
6. Imagine the life-giving energy that you are breathing in and see the energy in a yellow colour. Allow it to encompass your entire body.
7. Imagine each individual chakra and allow the energy to heal it. Start with the sacral chakra, then to the solar plexus chakra, heart chakra, throat chakra, head chakra, and finally the crown chakra. Give each chakra some life-giving energy.
8. Finally, open your eyes and relax. Notice how your body feels energized and centred.

Try to practise this for 15 – 20 minutes each sitting.

CHRISTIAN MEDITATION

People generally practise a style of meditation that historically stems from the religious preferences of that society. In India, for example, people will predominantly practise Hindu meditation or Buddhist meditation.

Similarly, individuals who identify as Christians or some form of a Christian religion, will practise meditation in a way that they have potentially been taught through that practice, which typically involves prayer.

Christian meditation is a bit different than that of other practices, such as those that stem from Hinduism, Daoism, or Jainism.

As you may suspect, Christian meditation assists someone in deepening their understanding of God, Jesus, or the Bible.

What Is Christian Meditation?

Christian meditation is a form of meditation that has a goal of purifying one’s moral or ethical status.

It seeks to allow someone to have a closer relationship with God, Jesus Christ, or the teachings from the Bible. It helps you to actualize your religious identity – and this is typically done through prayer.

What Is Unique About Christian Meditation?

Identifying a goal of moral or ethical purification is one unique goal of this type of meditative practice. While other meditative practices may allude to a type of enlightened state that assumes one to be moral or ethical, it does not outwardly state that request or goal.

Additionally, other meditative practices do not seek to connect you with a God or higher power, but rather seek to deepen the relationship with yourself. Christian meditation has the explicit goal of deepening one’s relationship with God or Jesus Christ.

Finally, the goal of meditative prayer is often to come to a resolution about the Bible passage that you may have recently read so that you can apply the behaviour to actualize or live that resolution.

Most meditation practices do not have the inherent goal of identifying answers or solutions, although that may occur naturally. This is unique about Christian meditation.

History Of Christian Meditation

The Bible itself references man’s need to meditate at least 20 times or more. Psalm 1:2 states: “his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night”.

Sacred reading has been referenced in Christian practices since the fourth century AD. It had four states that included reading, discursive meditation, effective prayer, and contemplation.

The following stages were defined by the following actions:

1. Reading: finding a passage and reading it deliberately.
2. Discursive meditation: pondering the text.
3. Effective prayer: asking God to reveal the truth in the readings.
4. Contemplation: resting in God’s presence after the meditative and prayerful journey.

In modern interpretations, it is taught that God is wanting us to regularly consider his word and that meditation is a pathway to doing so.

Benefits Of Christian Meditation

Meditation in the Christian religion has benefits relating to deepening one’s relationship with God, finding stronger purpose and understanding, and living a more ethical or moral life.

It also hopes to make people more loving and kind towards others. This is believed to start with God. Our relationship with a loving God will make you love others in a more full and pure way.

Christian meditation assumes that prayer itself is a meditative practice. Christians state that the benefits of praying are that faith is nurtured and allowed to grow, and we engage our minds and relationship with Christ.

It is assumed that other general meditation benefits may be experienced when you sit calmly with your breathing and thoughts such as a decrease in anxiety and depression, and an increase in hope, connection, and understanding.

How To Practise Christian Meditation

There are several different ways to practise Christian meditation. They are as follows:

1. Contemplative prayer: This involves the silent repetition of sacred words and sayings, with focus, and while being devoted.
2. Contemplative reading: Reading various sections of the Bible and contemplating or asking God about them and their purpose.
3. “Sitting with God”: This practice is similar to many other types of meditation. It involves a silent meditation practice where the breath is focused on. The focus during this time turns to the presence of God where you should focus your mind, heart, and soul.

Prayer is believed to be a meditative practice. The structure of most prayers are as follows:

1. Read your Bible material. Read it slowly, perhaps two to three times.
2. Stay with any part that keeps your attention strongly.
3. Meditate on the reading that keeps your attention. If your thoughts drift, regain focus with the words of the passage by reading them again.
4. Come to a specific resolution during your meditation and prayer time. Know how you will apply these resolutions you come to and plan to apply them immediately after practice.
5. End with a prayer of thanks to God for assisting you in the resolution that you came to.

Please note that in Christian meditation practice, you should have a quiet place, time, and a Bible.

Note too that the above is not a definitive list of ways to meditate in this religion, and many will be specifically taught how to in their church services or with their Christian leaders. Many will meditate together in groups or pray in groups.

The Bible states in Philippians 4:8, New American Standard Bible (NASB), that during Christian meditation you should focus on “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

DYNAMIC MEDITATION

Many people have found meditation practice difficult. In fact, many report giving up on it only a few minutes in.

It is not always easy or effective to dive into meditation and expect that you will be able to sit still and be present for a period of time. Sometimes only a few minutes in that space can be overwhelming and even distracting.

Much like physical exercise, our minds require that we condition them as well to be able to begin meditation.

Dynamic meditation truly believes that in order to meditate, your must have a kind of catharsis, and that you cannot simply begin practising it with ease, but rather with a kind of active or dynamic approach.

What Is Dynamic Meditation?

Dynamic meditation is a playful kind of meditation practice that was started by Osho, who lived from 1931-1990.

This is a meditation practice that is meant to be done early in the morning for at least an hour.

It includes several different transformative stages that all work equally in integrating you into yourself and your practice. Each stage includes music that must be played and is integral to its practice.

According to the Osho Dynamic Meditation website: “The music is an hour-long track specifically designed to support this meditation. It supports the energy and activity described in each stage of the meditation, and also signals the timing of each stage.”

What Is Unique About Dynamic Meditation?

Dynamic meditation is unique in several ways.

Firstly, it is a linear process in that there are stages that you will transition through until the end. It is quite long in nature, sitting for around 60 minutes per session. (Most meditation practices are not traditionally so long.)

Secondly, it is unique in that it has a kind of chaotic nature at times.

Dynamic meditation starts by asking you to breathe deeply and rapidly in a pressured kind of way. This is how you begin your practice.

Most people typically think of meditation as relaxing and quiet and patient. This feels like a bit different of a start. The key in the first stage is literally to breathe irregularly, which can seem counterintuitive at times.

The second stage seems chaotic as well. It invites a person to move freely, aggressively, or in a kind of stormy way. It allows you to be present and hold literally nothing back. This also seems and feels quite unique, but also quite cathartic.

Dynamic meditation may at times feel like an exercise program. It may literally exhaust or wear you out. This is good because the later stage will allow you to be still after you have exhausted yourself, your thoughts, and your energy.

History Of Dynamic Meditation

Osho, who like we mentioned above, lived from 1931-2990, began the dynamic meditation practice. He believed that the most valuable and important path of humans is to look inward. That this is where humans would find peace and true silence.

He believed that dynamic meditation, as he developed it, would allow individuals to get there. He gave many talks, presentations, and creating writings about the importance of the practice and how to obtain this kind of stillness he referenced.

Benefits Of Dynamic Meditation

Osho’s dynamic meditation has many benefits to practising. One of the unique parts of dynamic meditation is the irregular breathing cycle and the next stages where an emotional release is allowed for. The practice of screaming, yelling, crying, etc. really does allow for a significant emotional release that many may have been holding in – and this can be very beneficial.

Oxygen uptake is increased by the erratic breathing being practised. This helps to expand our lung capacity and promote diaphragm breathing, which helps us to breathe deeply and avoid shallow breathing. And this helps to physiologically calm and relax us.

Dynamic meditation also helps us to feel more clear, sharp, and focused after completing the 60 minute practice. It helps to increase our self-awareness and promote well-being on all our levels including physical, emotional, and spiritual.

How To Practise Dynamic Meditation

Dynamic meditation, which can be practised either in groups or individually, includes five steps.

It requires that individuals practising it utilize the music that coincides with each step.

It also prefers that individuals practise first thing in the morning as the sun comes up, in order to set intentions for each day.

The five steps are as follows:

1. Irregular breathing: A person needs to chaotically breathe through their nose. The breathing should be intense, deep and fast. It will have no rhythm. While doing so, concentrate on the exhalation of your breathe. Notice how it feels. Do this as hard and fast as your body is able to, safely. Allow your energy to become depleted in this stage. This stage will last for ten minutes with the music.
2. Explode: Next, let go of all the feelings, experiences, and thoughts that you have that need to be thrown away. You may want to scream, cry, throw yourself around, shake, kick, dance, or any other kind of action. All are important. Do them. In this stage the goal is to not hold anything back. Do not let your mind keep you from doing this. Be as real as you need to be. This stage will last ten minutes.
3. Mantra: In the third step, according to its music, shout the mantra: “Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!” Do so while you jump up and down. Completely exhaust yourself during this stage in the practice. This stage will also last ten minutes.
4. Stop: Stop where you are and in whatever position you end up in after ten minutes. Do not reposition yourself. Simply be still for ten minutes according to the next piece of music. Notice what is happening to you: how you feel, what your thoughts are, etc. Do so for 15 minutes.
5. Celebrate: Spend the last 15 minutes celebrating the previous 45 minute of dynamic meditation practice. Allow yourself to truly feel alive. Do so by singing or dancing or being still again – but take that celebration through your day with you.

HEALING MEDITATION

Sorry - The Rest Of This Article Is Only For Self Help Nirvana Members

JOIN FREE FOR 7 DAYS

Self Help Nirvana is an online community for everybody whose goal is personal improvement and development. Become a Self Help Nirvana member today and get access to everything here at SelfHelpNirvana.com!

Already a member? Sign in.