The Four Immeasurables is a Buddhist meditation that is often used to dedicate your practice to the enlightenment of all sentient beings. It can be directed at yourself as well as others, and helps you to feel more compassionate. Practising the Four Immeasurables will remind you why you practise in the first place. It helps you to focus on your intention to awaken and to share your light and kindness with others.
Tonglen is a Tibetan Buddhist practice of giving and receiving. You take in the suffering and pain of others, and breathe out love, compassion and understanding. It’s a very powerful practice that uses visualisation to develop compassion and unconditional love for all.
Savasana is a very powerful yoga pose which can bring healing to the body and mind. Savasana means corpse pose, but don’t let that put you off! This pose is usually performed at the end of a yoga session and is ideal for total relaxation.
This is a guided meditation taken from the therapeutic practice of Psychosynthesis which was started by psychoanalyst Roberto Assagioli. It is a process of gradually stripping away the layers of false self-identification to reveal the true nature of the Self underneath.
The Body Scan is a guided meditation that is simple to do but brings excellent results. It can be done sitting or lying down and is a good way to check in with your body to see if there are any changes you need to make to improve your health. Using the information gleaned from the body scan you’ll be able to make timely changes to your diet, exercise regime or lifestyle that will have long term benefits. It’s also an excellent way to get back in touch with your body as it keeps you grounded and stops you from getting lost in your head.
Centring Prayer is a form of meditation that has a more spiritual meaning than many other types of meditation. Mindfulness, body scans, watching the breath, and even vipassana can all be practised without focusing on spirituality at all. They’re all great ways to learn to concentrate and discipline the mind.
Meditation doesn’t always have to be practised sitting down. Moving meditations can be practised while running, dancing, doing the gardening or cleaning, and when exercising or walking.
Martial arts, Tai Chi and Yoga are all forms of moving meditation. Athletes often have peak experiences while training or competing. The meditative awareness induced by being totally focused and present in the body as it moves can trigger a spiritual awakening.
Vipassana meditation is about looking into the true nature of the mind to discover who you really are. It’s also known as Insight meditation and was the form of meditation practised by the Buddha in order to attain enlightenment. Through practising vipassana he realised that suffering could be overcome by seeing into our true nature.
A mantra is a sacred word or phrase used in meditation to help focus and calm the mind. The mantra can be spoken or chanted out loud, or repeated as a thought in the mind. The idea is to focus on the meaning of the mantra as you chant, and doing this can have a transformative effect on your whole life.
The simplest mantra, and probably the most well-known, is ‘Om’. This comes from the Hindu tradition and is known as the source of all mantras. Om is the foundation of all existence, the seed from which the universe came into being. Chanting Om helps you to focus on the oneness of all and acts as a reminder of your true nature.
Mindfulness is one of the simplest and most powerful meditation practices because it can be done anywhere and at anytime. There’s no excuse for not practising mindfulness!
Mindfulness is about paying attention. Normally your attention is scattered all over the place. You can be doing one thing, or maybe even several things at once, but your mind is busy thinking about something else.
Meditating on the breath is simple but powerful and should be the foundation of your meditation practice. It’s good to start your practise session with this meditation, and then if you wish, move on to other types.
Watching the Breath helps to calm your mind and body. If you’re having trouble with negative thinking or difficult emotions, focusing on the breath will help you to gain control. It stops you from getting lost in your head because it brings your focus back to your body in the most direct and intimate way.
If you think meditation is just for religious people or crazy-eyed sadhus in loincloths, you could be missing out on one of the most powerful practices available to humanity. Meditation reduces stress and aids healing, clears and focuses the mind, and makes you happy.
You don’t have to be spiritual or religious to meditate, but if you are, there are meditative or contemplative practices in all religions. There are no special requirements, you don’t have to tie your limbs into esoteric knots or chant incomprehensible mantras – unless you want to!
