Meditation

There are basically two main types of meditation, and they’re all about how you focus your attention:

1. Focused Attention Meditation (or Concentration Meditation)

This type is about choosing something to focus on and sticking with it. It could be your breathing, a word or phrase (like a mantra), a sound, or even a candle flame. The idea is to keep your mind anchored on that one thing. Of course, your mind will wander (because that’s what minds do), but the trick is to gently guide it back whenever it drifts.

The goal of this kind of meditation is to improve your concentration, reduce stress, and keep your “monkey mind” from jumping around in a million directions. Popular examples include breathing exercises or mantra-based practices like Transcendental Meditation.

2. Open Monitoring Meditation (or Mindfulness Meditation)

This approach is more about being at ease with whatever’s happening in your head. Instead of focusing on just one thing, you step back and observe everything—your thoughts, feelings, and sensations—without getting caught up in them or identifying with them. Think of it as watching clouds float by or a movie playing on a screen: you’re the observer, not the actor.

This kind of meditation helps you stay present, manage emotions more effectively, and see your thoughts and feelings for what they are—temporary illusions that appear and disappear like clouds in the sky. They’re not permanent, and they’re not the absolute truth. Practices like mindfulness or Vipassana are great examples of this type.

Both Types Work Best Together

Both approaches have proven incredibly helpful over the years, and they often overlap. You can mix and match depending on your needs—whether you want to calm your mind or gain a clearer understanding of what’s going on inside you.

How to Use Them

It’s important to maintain a balance between these two types of meditation—between peacefulness and awareness. Staying calm can help keep harmful emotions under control, but it won’t disarm them completely. To truly uproot them, you need sharp insight to address troubling feelings and the chaos they bring.

When both types of meditation—calm and insight—work together in balance and harmony, they can transform negative emotions in real-time as they arise and open the door to a deeper, limitless awareness. It’s like a dream team for your mind!