Types of Meditation and Benefits for Mental Health

Meditation can serve as a path to improved self-awareness, compassion, and health and wellness. The practice also has a slew of benefits for your mental health: it reduces stress and anxiety, helps you cope with your worries, increases your inner peace, and boosts your mood.

What Is Meditation?

Meditation is an ancient practice that involves focusing or clearing your mind using a combination of mental and physical techniques, such as breathing exercises, repeating a mantra, or focusing on an object, sound, or sensation. Meditation has many benefits for mental health and overall well-being and can easily be done anywhere and in a variety of ways. There’s no one correct way to meditate, and you can adapt the practice to your personal comforts and mental wellness goals.

Different Types of Meditation

Prayer

Although many people don’t realize it, traditional prayer is considered a type of spiritual meditation. No matter your religion or denomination, practicing prayer is beneficial for spiritual growth and finding a deeper connection to your higher power. It can also help you feel relaxed, centered, and at peace, give you a sense of purpose, and help you look beyond your troubles. Prayer can be done anywhere—in your place of worship, outside, in your home, and alone or with others.

Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness focuses on being present and aware of the current moment and not stressing or worrying about the past or the future. When practicing mindfulness, the purpose is to explore and unleash your natural curiosity, without passing judgment on the thoughts that pass through your mind or what you’re experiencing through your senses. Mindfulness combines concentration on the present with awareness of your bodily sensations, thoughts, and feelings.

Loving-Kindness Meditation

Loving-kindness meditation works to strengthen your feelings of compassion, kindness, and acceptance toward yourself and others. To practice loving-kindness meditation, you open your mind to receive love from others and then send well wishes to loved ones, friends, acquaintances, or even all living things. This type of meditation may be most effective for anyone who is harboring feelings of anger, bitterness, or resentment and wants to work toward acceptance and forgiveness. People often practice loving-kindness meditation by repeating phrases that express compassion, goodwill, or empathy.

Guided Meditation

In guided meditation, a teacher, recording, or app guides you through a meditation practice. This type of meditation can be effective for beginners who don’t know where to begin or those who find the silence of solo meditation difficult or overwhelming. It can also be helpful for those who struggle to stay focused or whose minds tend to wander.

Mental Health Benefits of Meditation

• Stress reduction and anxiety management: Meditation promotes relaxation and helps you focus on the moment rather than any stressors in your life. It also teaches you not to be overly reactive, acknowledge the stress and anxious feelings present in your body and mind, and work through them. Incorporating meditation into your daily routine can serve as an effective outlet for your anxiety, helping you breathe through the stress and focus on your inner peace.
• Depression relief: Studies show that meditation promotes brain health by breaking the connection between two regions of the brain – the medial prefrontal cortex and the amygdala, known as the “me center” and the “fear center,” respectively. In people with depression, these brain regions are often hyperactive, causing those with depression to become overly focused on their problems and worries.
• Improved focus and concentration: Meditation can effectively enhance cognitive function, helping you extend your attention span and maintain focus for longer lengths of time. Learning to remain present and increase your awareness while meditating will make concentrating on important daily tasks less challenging because your brain’s ability to control impulses will improve.

How to Get Started with Meditation

• Choose the right type: Consider your goals when trying to decide what type of mediation will be most helpful for you. To reduce stress and increase your focus, mindfulness might be right for you. If you’re looking to develop more compassion and empathy, loving-kindness meditation might be a good practice to try. If you’re a beginner and unsure where to start, finding a guided practice may make it easier to make meditation a consistent part of your life.
• Create a routine: Sticking with any new practice can be challenging at first. To create a meditation routine that you will keep up with, find a comfortable and relaxing place to meditate and set a specific time a day to practice. You may also find it helpful to anchor it to another daily task (such as making it a point to meditate each night after brushing your teeth).
• Use resources and tools: There are many meditation books, apps, and online videos that will help you get started, offer guided practices, and give instructions on popular meditation techniques, such as breathing exercises or body scans.

To gain the mental health benefits of regular meditation, all you have to do is get started! Do a bit of research to determine what type of meditation best meets your needs and goals, find some helpful resources to get started, and set a goal of just a few minutes of meditation each day. Before you know it, meditation will be a regular part of your daily routine and you’ll be reaping the vast benefits of this ancient spiritual practice.