In general, all types of meditation can be divided into two different categories: the active meditation techniques, with physical movement and the passive meditation techniqueswithout much physical activity.
Passive meditation techniques with brief instructions
With the passive meditation techniques are mainly about the mental aspect when meditating. In a comfortable sitting position, such as cross-legged, your body rests without moving. In some cases, you can also lie down completely. The eyes are usually kept closed. Depending on the type of meditation, you try to deal with your thoughts in certain ways.
Silent meditation
The stillness or silence meditation is the ideal meditation technique for beginnerswhich helps to reduce stress in everyday life. The aim of this technique is to calm the thought patterns that are stressed by everyday life. To reduce the state of thoughtlessness or silence, the meditator always focuses their attention on the relaxed mental mood and tries to reinforce this as the meditation progresses. The best way to learn this form of meditation is to start with a few minutes at first and then gradually increase your concentration.
Instructions on how to start meditating:
- It is best to find a quiet place.
- Make yourself comfortable, whether you are standing, sitting or lying down.
- Let all your thoughts - positive or negative - rise up and pass you by. Consciously feel how your breaths may become slower and longer
- When thoughts arise, try not to judge them or hold on to them. Simply acknowledge them and let them pass by like clouds. Start by meditating for 5 minutes and build up to longer sessions over time.
- About regularly and preferably at the same time of day and in the same place
Mindfulness meditation
At the Mindfulness meditation you switch to the observer position and mindfully observe what is happening in your body and mind in the present moment. So the aim is, thoughts, emotions and physical phenomena in the present moment completely to perceive and unconditionally accept. Surrounding noises can also be integrated by observing them attentively. This meditation technique is also very suitable for beginners.
A special form of mindfulness meditation is the body scan. This is usually performed while lying down and is also very suitable for before going to sleep to calm down before falling asleep. To do this, you start with conscious awareness of all body sensations at the tips of your toes and gradually work your way up to your feet, calves, legs, hips, stomach and finally the rest of your body. The aim of this technique is to focus all your attention on your body and to notice sensations that you were not aware of before. The body scan helps you to deep relaxation relaxation and is therefore ideal for counteract stress.
Instructions for the body scan:
- Find a quiet place where you can be undisturbed for the next 20 minutes
- Make yourself warm and comfortable lying down
- Close your eyes and imagine that you are lying in warm sand that clings to your body. With every breath you take, you sink heavier into the soft, warm sand
- Focus your attention on your right foot and feel your heel touch the ground. Then walk through your right foot, feel how it is supplied with blood right down to the tips of your toes and is completely warm and heavy.
- Walk in the same way to your ankle, knee and hip joint and feel how your entire right leg lies warm and heavy on the floor and your right groin gently opens up
- Walk through your left leg with the same mindfulness
- The pelvis rests on the floor like a large bowl. Feel how your abdominal wall moves up and down with your breath
- Then continue to walk through your body via your back, thoracic spine, shoulders, right arm, left arm, neck, head and face very slowly, vertebra by vertebra and joint by joint, and feel how the area lies on the floor, where you can feel pressure or where it feels soft - without judging your sensations.
- Finally, pay attention to your whole body - feel yourself from the tips of your toes to the ends of your hair, from the front and back
- Conclude the body scan with a snapshot. Perhaps you noticed something while scanning your body that you don't want to forget, then make an internal note of it
- Then take your time getting up. Loll and stretch and slowly come back to a sitting position
Concentration meditation
In concentration meditation, you focus on something very specific while meditating, such as your perceptible breath, a single thought, a candle or a fixed point in the room. The concentrated focus stops the everyday flow of thoughts and thus leads to a deep calming of the mind. Concentration in particular is trained, which is why people with concentration difficulties can gain particular benefits from this technique.
By continuously returning thoughts to the object of concentration (which can be anything: a candle, a point in the room, a picture, ...), the ability to maintain concentration over a long period of time develops over time and is therefore also very suitable for children and young people with concentration difficulties.
Instructions for concentration meditation:
- Light a candle and sit comfortably in front of it
- Concentrate and feel how your gaze lingers on the flame.
- Sit relaxed, with natural focus, try to blink as little as possible and ignore all distractions in your field of vision.
- In the meditative state, your gaze will become calm. After a while, close your eyes and imagine the flame in your mind's eye.
- You can also do the same at sunrise or sunset, when you look at the sun or the moon.
Active meditation techniques
Active meditation techniques differ from passive meditation techniques in that integrates movement is integrated. This means that physical movement becomes part of meditation, resulting in a wide range of possible applications. People who sit a lot in their everyday lives and are very stressed usually find it difficult to calm down while sitting. In this case, movement meditation is a very good way to calm your thoughts. Very flowing yoga sessions can also bring your body and mind into a meditative state. You can try out simple videos to begin with (e.g. Yoga for beginners), but it is advisable to have your execution of the yoga poses checked occasionally by an experienced yoga teacher in order to avoid incorrect postures.
Walking meditation
Many people perform the walking meditation more or less intuitively, because the walking is a good way to clear your head and escape from stress. It is also suitable for people who find sitting unbearable. Walking meditation is an even more intensive form of walking in which your thoughts are completely focused on the physical movement and all the mental processes involved. You learn to fix your thoughts on one thing without them wandering off, which also increases your ability to concentrate while your body and mind remain relaxed.
This meditation technique can be wonderfully integrated into everyday lifeas every walk can be transformed into a meditation that has a positive effect on everyday life, without having to invest any additional time. There is no time limit for meditation. It can be practiced for 2 minutes or even 2 hours. However, a duration of around 15 minutes is recommended.
Instructions for walking meditation:
- To begin, stand still for a few minutes with your eyes closed and notice your posture.
- Feel how you put weight on your feet and what sensations you can perceive in your legs, pelvis, stomach and back.
- Then open your eyes again and start walking slowly
- Your attention is completely focused on the movement of the body and you are mindful of every step: the process of lifting the leg, the hip swinging the leg forward, the leg coming back up and the step changing to the other leg. Meanwhile, you can also pay attention to the mental processes that take place in the mind and combine walking with breathing in a harmonious way. You will be amazed at how much you can perceive just by walking.
Dance meditation
Moving meditation is any form of meditation that brings us into flow. And so dancing can also become a form of meditation when the movement is completely intuitive and you forget space and time. Put on the music of your choice and let go of any tension in your bodyespecially in the lower abdomen and simply let the resulting movements flow. You may also like to close your eyes. Just let the movement come, don't control it and don't force anything.
Afterwards, remain still and feel for yourself.
Shaking meditation
Shaking is the oldest form of meditation and even babies and toddlers do this movement naturally.
Come to a firm stand, you can also turn on some music, then follow the rhythm of your body as a unit to the music. Shake yourself completely by starting with your hands and shoulders and then adding your upper body, pelvis, knees and feet. Let your body move from your feet to your head in a regenerating, rhythmic shaking movement movement.
Then stand still and feel for yourself.
