Meditation

Eight different kinds of Meditation 

Loving-kindness meditation

This type is also known as Metta meditationTrusted Source. Its goal is to cultivate an attitude of love and kindness toward everything, even a person’s enemies and sources of stress.

While breathing deeply, an individual opens their mind to receive loving kindness. They then send messages of loving kindness to the world, specific people, or their loved ones.

In most forms of this meditation, the key is to repeat the message many times, until the individual feels an attitude of benevolence.

Progressive muscle relaxation

During a progressive relaxation session, practitioners start at one end of their body, usually their feet, and work through the whole body.

Some forms of progressive relaxation require someone to tense and then relax muscles. Others encourage a person to visualize a wave, drifting over their body to release tension.

Progressive relaxation can help to promote generalized feelings of calmness and relaxation. It may also help with chronic pain. Because it slowly and steadily relaxes the body, some people use this form of meditation to help them sleep.

Mindfulness meditation

Mindfulness is a form of meditation that urges practitioners to remain aware and present in the moment. Rather than dwelling on the past or dreading the future, mindfulness encourages awareness of an individual’s present surroundings.

Crucial to this is a lack of judgment. To illustrate, rather than reflecting on the annoyance of a long wait, a practitioner will simply note the wait without judgment.

Mindfulness meditation is something people can do almost anywhere. For example, while waiting in line at the grocery store, a person might calmly notice their surroundings, including the sights, sounds, and smells they experience.

A form of mindfulness is involved in most types of meditation. For instance, breath awareness encourages practitioners to be aware of their breathing, while progressive relaxation draws attention to areas of tension in the body.

Because mindfulness is a theme common to many types of meditation, it has been studied extensively. Research has found that it can:

• reduce fixation on negative emotions

• improve focus

• improve memory

• lessen impulsive and emotional reactions

• increase relationship satisfaction

Breath awareness meditation

Breath awareness is a type of mindful meditation that encourages mindful breathing.

Practitioners breathe slowly and deeply, counting their breaths. The goal is to focus only on breathing and ignore other thoughts that enter the mind.

As a form of mindfulness meditation, breath awareness offers many of the same benefits as mindfulness. Those include:

• reduced anxiety

• improved concentration

• increased emotional flexibility

Mantra-based meditation

Mantra-based meditation involves the continuous repetition of a set of syllables, phrases, or words either aloud or silently. A person may perform it with or without religious content.

It works by overriding and redirecting negative thoughts. A 2022 studyTrusted Source found it produced small to moderate decreases in anxiety, as well as small reductions in depression. However, study bias and the scarcity of research may weaken these findings.

Transcendental meditation

Transcendental meditation is a spiritual form of meditation where individuals remain seated and breathe slowly. The goal is to transcend or rise above the person’s current state of being.

During a session, a person should focus on a mantra. If they are working with a teacher, they will determine the mantra based on a complex set of factors.

An alternative form allows people to choose their mantra. This more contemporary version is not technically transcendental meditation, though it may look substantially similar. A person might decide to repeat “I am not afraid of public speaking” while meditating.

An older 2014 clinical trialTrusted Source assessed the value of this form of meditation in 40 teachers. The authors concluded that it may help reduce stress, burnout, and depression. However, further research is necessary to verify the results.

Mindfulness-based stress reduction

More than 30 years ago, Jon Kabat-Zinn developed a course in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) to manage chronic pain and mental health conditions in people who were not responsive to conventional treatment.

The original course lasted 8 weeks and included body scan, belly breathing, yoga, and present moment awareness meditation.

MBSR includes homework involving tasks, such as keeping a positive events log or gratitude journal. Researchers have found that people who participated in MBSR scored significantly better on psychological tests and experienced less pain, according to an older 2014 studyTrusted Source.

Guided meditation

The voice of either a live person or a taped recording can act as a guide in directing various types of meditation. This differs from forms of self-guided meditation that an individual’s own mind directs.

Someone may use guided meditation for mindfulness or MBSR. People who are new to meditation may wish to start with a guide in some form. A live guide may be available in group settings, while a recording is available via videos, podcasts, apps, and audio recordings.