The Ultimate Guide to Meditation: 5 types of meditation for anxiety
Heart beating out of my chest. Fidgety fingers. Voice shakey. Self Esteem low. Top it off with the chaotic emotions, the critical voice in my head and thoughts rambling through my mind during moments of anxiety and high stress. I believed every thought I had. I believed every outside opinion about me. I ran away from the emotions that would suddenly take hold of me. I never sat with what triggered me until I found meditation. Meditation is a technique that creates space between your ego and your soul through quite observation NOT control. Beginning a meditation ritual shifted my relationship with my emotions, thoughts and perspective on life. That is why I’m so passionate about mindfulness and stillness because of the self awareness and clarity it has brought me. It is a quantum tool that I can easily access wherever I am – to withdraw the senses and listen within. Excited to share meditation with you and it’s many variations.
In this blog article, The Ultimate Guide to Mediation, we will dive into 5 different styles of meditation that will help relieve anxiety, stress and bring mental clarity.
Mantra Meditation
Vipassana Meditation
Guided Meditation
Visualization Meditation
Body Scan Meditation
How to Meditate
Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
If your’e new to meditation, don’t worry you are in the right place. Meditation is practice of stillness of body and mind. It is a useful tool to release heavy emotions, watch your thoughts and listen to your own inner wisdom. Every meditation session may not be the same. But the simple act of closing your eyes and going within, will shift something within you for the better. This process of calming the mind and focusing attention, often in a quiet space helps promote deep relaxation, mindfulness, and spiritual insight. Through regular practice, it is believed that meditation can improve mental clarity, emotional stability, and overall well-being. Check out my blog post on How a Daily Meditation Practice will shift your life – with insights on what I learned after 137 days of meditation straight! For this post, we’ll go over different styles of meditation, beginning with mantra meditation.
Mantra Meditation
Mantra Meditation is the repetition of a specific sound, word, or phrase (mantra) either out loud or silently. The repetition of the mantra helps to quiet the mind and bring focus. The most popular form of mantra meditation is Transcendental Meditation. This is where you silently repeat the phrase within your head like the universal primordial sound OM (Aum/Ohm). OM is the sound that the core of the earth vibrates, the trees silently sing and the bees buzz to. A commitment to practicing transcendental meditation will help one transcend to higher states of consciousness. This is a simple, yet powerful technique keeps your mind on a singular focal point. Even if you happen to drift during the meditation, the mantra brings you back to center. I really enjoy Davidj mantra meditations on Insight Timer because he uses Sanskrit words and phrases that ignite the brain centers. Check him out here – on YouTube, click here.
Vipassana Meditation
One of the older forms is Vipassana meditation is a form of Buddhist meditation that reveals the observer effect. Behind the veil of conscious thoughts lies the part of you that witnesses what you experience, interact with and do. This is the observer, who understands, accepts and realizes there is beyond this earth plane. The practice involves observing bodily sensations, thoughts, and feelings with the goal of developing insight into the nature of reality and achieving a profound understanding of impermanence, suffering, and non-self.
The nature of suffering, Dukkha, refers to the inherent dissatisfaction or unease that characterizes human existence. This is simply because everything changes and in the 3D plan there exists discomfort. My ego had a tough pill to swallow the night I realized that I was the one creating my own suffering. I would torment myself with worst possible outcomes and paint the world as the victor and myself as the victim. But I am beyond that, the observer within can see beyond the temporary world of the senses. This brings me a deep sense of peace that even though I feel this discomfort I can CHOOSE how I interact with it. How empowering?! With the Vipassana meditation, you’ll be on your way to release attachments and find peace within the flow of impermanence.
Guided Meditation
Sometimes it’s helpful to have someone to guide and support you through the journey of mediation. That’s where guided meditation comes in. Guided Meditation is when a teacher, live or recorded, leads the practitioner through a meditation session, often incorporating visualizations or instructions to help direct the mind. This can be helpful for beginners who find it hard to meditate on their own. By being offered suggestions, you will be guided to focus on the breath, body sensations, deeper awareness and even visualizations. I recommend this form of meditation for beginners or anyone looking for more structure during their meditation practice. You can find guided meditation sessions in various formats: in-person classes, apps (like Calm, Headspace, Insight Timer), YouTube videos, or audio recordings.
For a full playlist with 10 + of my guided meditations, click the link here.
Visualization Meditation
Visualization Meditation is a style of meditation where you use mental imagery to focus you mind on a positive, calming or empowering intention through thoughts, images or scenarios. This is a practice that pairs well when meditating on a specific desired reality to make manifest in your world. It shifts your mental state into a space that promotes relaxation, emotional healing, self awareness and manifestation. As with any meditation they can be guided or self-directed. For a guided visualization to connect with your Inner Child for self- concept healing, below is the video visual for the mediation.
Body Scan Meditation
Stress relief through mediation is a natural consequence of the practice. One of the best forms of mediation to calm the nervous system and decrease cortisol levels is a Body Scan meditation. It utilizes a form tension release, to relax every part of the body promoting a clearer mind-body connection. This practice that recalibrates the nervous system through intentional focus on different parts of the body. Begin at the top of your head and slowly work your way down, focusing on each body part—like your forehead, shoulders, arms, chest, and legs—one by one. Alternating tension and relaxation. The intention of body scan meditation is to bring mindful awareness to each area without judgement – helping you relax and release any built-up tension. Want to learn more? Click here – to read this blog post on Body Scan Meditation: How to perform one on yourself
How to Meditate
Although there is many styles of meditation, I’ve created a simple guide to get started with meditation, which is step-by-step perfect for beginners.
Find a Quiet Space: Choose a place where you won’t be disturbed for the duration of your practice.
Sit Comfortably:Â Sit in a relaxed but alert position. You can sit cross-legged, on a cushion, or on a chair with your feet flat on the ground. Keep your back straight.
Focus on Your Breath:Â Close your eyes and begin to notice the natural rhythm of your breath. Breathe deeply and slowly, in and out through your nose.
Stay Present: Whenever your mind starts to wander (which it will!), gently bring your attention back to your breath. It’s completely normal for thoughts to arise—just notice them and return to focusing on the breath.
Start with Short Sessions: If you’re new to meditation, start with 5–10 minutes a day and gradually increase the duration as you get more comfortable.
Key Benefits of Meditation
With all the unique forms of mediation, there are some major benefits from a spiritual, scientific and holistic standpoint. Meditation brings the practitioner to such a deep state of mindfulness that research has shown that the reactivity of the amygdala – the brain’s fear center – is reduced significantly. This part of the brain helps regulate the stress response. When reactivity is reduced – anxiety follows which allows you to become more aware of your thoughts and feelings without judgement. Mindfulness practices to focus on the present moment can lower excessive rumination that fuels anxiety. This is Meditation is the G.O.A.T. technique.
Some of the many benefits of meditation:
improved emotional regulation
stress relief due to lower cortisol levels
reduced sympathetic nervous system activation
increased grey matter in the brain
reduced ‘monkey mind’
calm spirit
better mind, body, soul connection
Why you should begin a Meditation Practice
If you experience chronic stress, low self-awareness, anxiety and you long for greater mental clarity, less emotional friction and a calmer spirit, meditation is for you. Not only would feel more open and loving, regular practice leads to long-term benefits such as improved focus, better emotional resilience, greater clarity and lower cortisol levels. These benefits make meditation a pivotal practice for anyone struggling with anxiety or seeking to improve mental and emotional clarity.
May meditation be the doorway towards deep inner peace.
Till the next one ~ Sai
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