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I earned my certification to be a mindfulness and meditation teacher 7 months ago, however the learning has not stopped for me!  I am constantly reading magazines, books, and blogs to learn new information. I started reading, “The Meditation Bible: The Definitive Guide to Meditations for Every Purpose” and using this new book as a reference for my own personal practice and for my teachings. 

One of the questions I get asked most frequently is “I have never meditated before, how do I start and what do I do?  I will share four different types of meditation with you and explain how each works.

Focus meditation

Focus meditation is just as it sounds, focusing your mind on one thing.  Being with the present moment focusing on something internal or external.  An external focus could be a candle, flower, picture of your favorite vacation spot, or religious symbol.  An internal focus would be on your breath (focusing your awareness on breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth).

I would recommend starting by setting a timer for at least 2 minutes, so you are not focused or worried about the time.  By focusing on one thing you are quieting your mind.  We are constantly in a state of thinking, multitasking, and pure overwhelm, and focus meditations help us attain a level of peace and calm.

Thinking Meditation

Thinking meditations are guided meditations structured to talk you through a troubling emotion, reoccurring negative thoughts, a difficult situation, etc. Instead of avoiding the struggle, you are purposely guided through the specific topic in a safe manner with mindfulness.  

The benefit to a thinking meditation is it allows you to think about a topic in a focused way to help facilitate a positive change.  Rather than obsessing thinking over and over again about the problem and feeling stuck, you can quiet all the other noise to open yourself up for a solution, to find what IS in your control.

Visualization Meditation

Visualization meditations create a picture in your mind as a means to calm you down, manifest your desires and create your reality, or set intentions to change behavior.  The benefit to visualization meditations enables you to tap into your five senses enhance your experience.

Experience Meditation

In an experience meditation you are sitting in silence and observing.  The silence allows you to pay attention to whatever you are experiencing in the moment.  This is mindfulness in its purest form.  The benefit is this trains your brain to increase awareness and be with the present moment.

This may be a difficult meditation for beginners, however when you are able to sit with the silence and really listen to yourself, it is the biggest growth opportunity.  This type of meditation allows you to go beyond yourself and your limitations for true authentic healing.

So where do I Start?

Each meditation has its own benefit.  I would recommend trying them individually and seeing which one is the best fit for you.  Everyone is built differently and therefore enjoys different things.  What helps relax and calm me could be different for you. 

One thing I want to make sure you are aware of is, if at any point during your meditation your mind wanders and you are having a hard time staying on track THAT IS OKAY!  This is a normal thing that happens.  I encourage you to continue to practice because the more consistent you are with meditation, the more benefit you will experience and the easier it will be!