Meditation can be a powerful tool. I was pondering the concept the other day and had to ask a friend why so many people shun the practice.

“Because not many people like to sit around or their arses doing nothing,” was his response.

Crude, but fair. Meditation is considered just that, being still, being quiet. Being bored–on purpose. Of course this couldn’t be further from the truth! In fact meditation is about single-minded focus, like staring at a candle flame, or repeating a mantra–only listening to the words you utter and basking in their meaning. It’s about withdrawing the senses and quietening the mind.

It’s incredibly good for you! Even only five minutes a day can drastically change your life–and honestly, who doesn’t have five minutes? If you still feel you’ll need, say, 100 reasons to become a believer, be sure to check out this:

http://www.ineedmotivation.com/blog/2008/05/100-benefits-of-meditation/

But if the “boring” sit-and-stay mode of meditation isn’t your cup of tea, here are five different types of meditation that might suit you–and some that might even surprise you.

Yoga Nidra: A guided meditation becoming increasingly popular throughout the world. The student is guided through a sleep-like state as their awareness flows over individual parts of their body, before moving on to visualisations. Very powerful.

Mindfulness meditation: Starting at 100 and counting down to 0. Each exhale and inhale is 1 count each, making every even number an exhale and every odd number an inhale. The point is not to cheat! The moment you begin to doubt which number you’re on is the moment that you’ve let your mind stray–however briefly. To get to 0 is actually quite a challenge, particularly for the busy/impatient types. Prepare to be frustrated by it’s child-like simplicity!

Music: When we listen to music our emotional states become attuned to it. Basically, the music shares its emotional state with us. Particularly when combined with our general meditation practice, listening to calm music can help calm your mind as well as your body. The best kind of music is, of course, the music of nature–so try a “sounds of the rainforest” CD and see how it works for you.

Running: Yep, it’s true. Going for a run can kick that focus up a notch, whilst working up a sweat as well! Be sure to run outside, and keep off a treadmill–the body might feel like it’s going somewhere, but the mind knows better! The unbalance between these two “realities” can sometimes take its toll, so get out in the sunlight and do some exploring. The run-to-music combo is quite powerful also.

Gaming: A little harder to believe, but it can be quite therapeutic. Playing a video game does take some focus and because of this it has the power to remove your mind from the troubles of this physical world. Unfortunately, staring at a screen for too long will generally leave you feeling disconnected with reality and unbalanced, so just remember–everything in moderation!

And that’s it for today’s post. I do actually have a number of different meditations left on my list, but perhaps we’ll just have to make this one a two-parter ; )

What type of meditation works best for you? Do you have a different/unique form of meditation that you practice? I’d love to hear about it, so please share in the comments section below.

“I’m simply saying that there is a way to be sane. I’m saying that you can 
get rid of all this insanity created by the past in you. Just by being a simple 
witness of your thought processes.”
–Osho

Namaste,

Shannon

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