The very first tool my therapist recommended on my first day of therapy was meditation. What I had yet to learn was how many different types of meditation were available.
My Story About Meditation
I was excited. Meditation was something I had been wanting to get into that year and hadn’t found a regular app yet that I loved.
My word for that year was “Presence” and I had hoped to be more focused on the here and now. I had tried the free version of a meditation app but hadn’t been willing to buy the paid version.
When my therapist told me meditation would help my anxiety, I was all for it.
I immediately started asking her for recommendations on different apps and guided meditation websites.
Her response to me was “You’re not ready for that yet.” I was a little disheartened, but she went on to explain that I simply needed more practice calming my body before I jumped right into guided meditations.
Now that it has been over a year, I have learned how many different kinds of meditation there are. The variety is fascinating!
Types of Meditation
5-4-3-2-1 Meditation
This is the meditation my therapist had me start out with. It is a way to get grounded wherever you are and bring yourself back to the present moment.
I found this one extremely useful when I was experiencing high anxiety or full-on anxiety attacks. It uses all of your senses to bring you back to the present.
Here’s how it works:
- Look for 5 things that you can see. Focus on those for a moment.
- Then think about 4 things you can feel.
- Next is 3 things you can hear.
- Then focus on 2 things you can smell.
- Last is to think about 1 thing you can taste.
I love to do this one while I’m on my walks, however, you could do it anywhere you are at any given moment.
Here’s a walkthrough of an example of mine.
5 Things I Can see
- The way the sunlight reflects off the leaves
- The way the leaves blow in the wind
- The green color of the grass
- The texture of tree bark
- A flag flapping in the breeze
4 Things I can Feel
- The fabric of my dog’s leash
- The wind on my face
- The fabric of my jeans on my legs
- My feet hitting the ground with each step I take
3 Things I can Hear
- Traffic noise from the highway
- Birds chirping
- Leaves rustling
2 Things I Can Smell
- Mud from melting snow
- “Fresh” spring air
1 Thing I Can Taste
- Toothpaste from my freshly brushed teeth
Easy enough. My therapist even recommended only starting at 4 because sometimes it is hard to find 2 smells or even 1 taste, depending on the situation.
Mindfulness Meditation
Often times, when people first think of meditation, they think you need to sit and stop all your thoughts. That is not the case.
A mindfulness meditation is one where you sit in the present moment. The key to this meditation is to be non-judgmental about your thoughts.
You simply sit in a comfortable place. You can choose to focus on an object or sit with your eyes closed.
Just be in the moment. Thoughts will come into your head. The key here is that thoughts are just thoughts.
Observe them as they come through, then let them go.
When I’m doing this kind of meditation, I like to picture the thoughts flying by in a black abyss and just watch them go.
If you’d like to learn more in-depth about mindfulness meditation, check out this article from Verywell Mind.
Focused Meditation
When doing a focused meditation, you choose something to focus on to remain in the present moment. In this type of meditation, you do not want to allow your thoughts to wander as you did in the mindfulness meditation.
The goal is to focus on one thing and when the mind starts to wander, bring it back to what you are focusing on. I’ve done focused meditation using my breath.
What I do is concentrate on how it feels as I’m breathing. The way the breath flows in through my nostrils.
I then follow the breath down into my lungs as they fill up with air and then back out again.
When my mind starts to wander, I bring it back to the breath, judgment-free.
It can be tricky to stay focused. This article recommends starting with a short amount of time and then adding on to it.
The key to a focused meditation is to be kind to yourself when your mind does wander. Just remember that when it does, you can bring it back. Any time you do spend focusing is an improvement to the practice.
Movement Meditation
Movement meditation is very different from the type of meditation that you’d initially think of. It involves focusing on how your body moves during a motion.
You are still present in the current moment, but instead of focusing on your breath or calming your mind, you focus on how your body moves and how that feels.
Typically, movement meditation is slow, careful motions. You could be doing yoga, tai chi, or simply walking.
Movement meditation could also be repetitive motions, such as those found during cleaning. My husband finds certain repetitive actions in his woodworking fairly meditative, such as when he is using a hand plane.
Progressive Relaxation
Progressive relaxation meditation is one of my favorite kinds of meditation to do as I’m lying in bed at night. It can also be considered a total body scan.
It consists of a full-body scan. I like to start at the top of my head. First, I scan my head and how it feels there. I look for any feelings of tension, tightness, pain, or even relaxation.
Then, I make a point of relaxing that area before moving onto the next area. I’m typically tenser on the top half of my body, so I naturally spend more time there assessing how it feels and working to relax it.
By the end, you should have assessed your entire body, from to bottom.
Loving-Kindness Meditation
Loving-kindness meditation focuses on directing loving energy toward yourself and others. During this meditation, you repeat phrases to yourself that are either directed toward yourself or toward others.
When you are doing the meditation towards yourself, there are several different ways you could do it. On verywellmind, one way I read about is that you can repeat positive phrases to yourself, such as “May I be happy.” Then you bask in the feelings of self-love.
The other way I read about it on Berkeley’s website was to picture someone who loves you by your side. That person is sending you well-wishes for happiness and safety.
When you first start out practicing loving-kindness meditation, that is where you can stop. Once you get more experienced, you can start directing your thoughts towards others. You start with those closest to you, such as relatives and close friends. Then you can branch out until you get to acquaintances or even neutral people in the community (such as doctors, first responders, etc).
Gratitude Meditation
Gratitude meditation starts off similar to other meditations. First, you ground yourself in the moment, typically in a comfortable position. Focus on your breath for a bit and do a quick body scan.
Once you are relaxed, you can start thinking of the things that you can be grateful for. If you are new to thinking of gratitude, this could be difficult for you. I know when I am having hard days, I still have difficulty coming up with something to be grateful for.
Here are some examples:
- I am grateful for the sunshine today.
- I am grateful for the birds chirping.
- I am grateful for cozy blankets.
- I am grateful for electricity.
- I am grateful for doctors.
Visualization Meditation
Visualization meditation is thinking of an image in your mind that brings you relaxation. This is something I always did when I wanted a moment of peace, but didn’t realize what it was.
The goal is to create a very vivid picture in your mind, bringing to light as many details as you can, including things such as scents and sounds.
My favorite image to picture is the image of the lake where my parent’s cottage is. I picture myself relaxing in the hammock in between two trees near the water. I hear the quiet lapping of the waves on the seawall. See the shimmering light of the sun through the leaves above me. Hear the rustling of the leaves. Smell the general lake scents – a little fishy, a little weedy. I feel the gentle breeze brush against my cheeks.
I did this once during a physical therapy session when they told me to try and relax as they were stretching me out. I didn’t realize how well it worked until the physical therapist asked me what it was that I did. She said that she felt me immediately relax.
I didn’t know until then that calming imagery was that effective. I didn’t know until months afterward that it was visualization meditation.
Try out the Different Types of Meditation
When you are first starting out with meditation, all the different types of meditation can be overwhelming. I suggest just picking one that speaks to you and try it out. Practice it a few times.
If it doesn’t resonate with you, try another one. Not every kind of meditation will work for every person because we are all so different.
For example, movement meditation is the only one that my husband enjoys. In comparison, I utilize several different types of meditation, depending on what I’m in the mood for on that particular day.
Also, keep in mind that your ability to meditate will improve with practice. When I first started, I couldn’t do it for very long and my mind would often wander when it wasn’t supposed to.
After practice, I am now better able to concentrate on the type of meditation I choose. However, I still have harder days where my ability to focus on the meditation is not great. On those days, I give myself grace.
I recognize that even going through the action of trying will help me calm a little bit.
Pick one out and enjoy!
