Brief overview of various meditation techniques and methods

A new meditation practitioner can be overwhelmed by the choices available. There are probably as many as two dozen different schools of meditation. They employ different meditation techniques and can be used to achieve different goals.

Here is a list of main techniques used:

Presence meditation:

This is where your attention is drawn into the current moment. Distractions from the past and fears of the future dissolve as your attention comes into the moment.

Mindfulness meditation:

This is used to maintain an open focus and encourage free-shifting perceptions. This technique aims to increase relaxation of conscious thought processes.

Concentrative meditation:

This technique involves concentrating on a particular object, thought or emotion.

Yoga meditation:

Hindu in origin, yoga uses variety of postures and poses together with meditation to achieve mastery of physical and spiritual energies.

Buddhist meditation:

Buddha himself is said to have transcended his earthly state and achieved enlightenment. Buddhist practitioners combine focus-building meditation with traditional wisdom, in the hope of a deeper understanding of reality. The goal of this technique is to reach “Nirvana”.

You can find out more about Presence Meditation here