What are the Different Types Meditation?
Meditation is an ancient practice that has been around for thousands of years. Meditation trains your mind and body to remain present, in the moment, so it can let go of distracting thoughts. This is beneficial because it breaks the constant loop of thinking in our heads and allows us to focus on the now – whether it is working on a task or enjoying the present moment. We spend so much of our time ruminating on the past we cannot change and worrying about a future possibility that may never ever occur.
Meditation is not about clearing your head. It is about clearing your mind of distractions that could hinder you from living well. Meditation helps you to be fully engaged in the present moment, to experience joy and happiness, and to find peace with yourself.
The main goal of meditation is to simply become more aware of your surroundings and how they affect you. There are many different types of meditation practices, so it’s best to research the one you want to start practicing before jumping in head first
There are many different ways to meditate, but some good ones include:
- Mindfulness Meditation
- Mantra Meditation
- Prayer Meditation
- Zen Meditation
- Transcendental Meditation
- Vipassana Meditation
- Brainwave Meditation
It’s important to find what type works best for you! If you are interested in the meditations that I use, check out my meditation reviews here.
How does Meditation Help in the Pursuit of Self-Actualization?
The word self-actualization was first coined by Abraham Maslow who used it to describe the need for people to pursue their highest potential.
Throughout the course of our life, we go through different stages. In one stage, after achieving a certain goal, we feel fulfilled and content. But as time changes and we move on to a new stage in life, we start feeling incomplete and unfulfilled again. This is what has been called the “Fulfillment Gap.”
This gap can be filled by meditation because it helps us detach from the inner chatter that constantly plays in our head and instead focus on our breath or mantra or any other object that will help us become present and in the moment.
There are many benefits of meditation such as improved emotional balance, stress reduction, increased creativity, higher intuition etc.
5 Meditation Books to Read on How and Why to Meditate
While there are well-known classics written by meditation teachers such as Thich Nhat Hanh, Jon Kabat Zinn, and Shunryu Suzuki, this article is focused on meditation books and techniques that have impacted me deeply. As someone who lived in a constant state of panic and anxiety, I could never go into traditional meditations. This is when I started looking into other meditations
The books below are all about how to meditate, setting up an effective meditation space, and other mindfulness practices for beginners.
Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing the Uncommon
This is one of my favorite meditation books for beginners. Joe Dispenza outlines all the benefits of meditations through case studies. If you are on the fence about meditation, this book will show you exactly what you are missing in life, and (spoiler alert!) some of these benefits could go into the realms of “miracles” as the title suggests.
Joe Dispenza not only teaches you how to become more mindful and aware of your thoughts and feelings through meditation but also provides different methods to enhance the natural healing abilities of the body.
This book shows how we can use our thoughts to heal our bodies with the miracle of mindfulness and meditation. He also talks about how we can use this for our mind’s well-being as well as becoming more creative, smarter, and less stressed out.
The Silva Mind Control Method by Jose Silva
The Silva Mind Control Method by Jose Silva is a book about how to meditate using a unique protocol that is very effective. It was published in 1975 and has since become one of the best books on meditation throughout the world.
The Silva Method goes beyond plain mindfulness and is based on the idea that we have two parts of our brain: the conscious and the subconscious. Our life progresses through three levels which are defined by our level of consciousness: Beta, Alpha, Theta.
We wake up in Beta mode, but when we choose to be mindful during an activity we enter into the Alpha mode, which is a state where we can feel more relaxed and respond better to our environment. With enough practice, you can enter Theta mode – a place that bridges the gap between the conscious and the subconscious through which you can start tapping into your intuitive abilities.
If you are on a budget and do not want to invest in a course, this book will give you a step-by-step guide for the Silva Meditation Method.
The High-Performance Mind: Mastering Brainwaves for Insight, Healing, and Creativity by Anna Wise
In order to understand why our brains change with meditation, it is key to understand how brainwaves work with and without meditation. Understanding brainwaves will also help you determine which meditation is the best fit for you. I am a big believer in brainwave entrainment meditations and was able to take my meditations to deeper levels after I gained this understanding and started using powerful brainwave entrainment meditations.
Anna Wise is a meditation and brain wave development teacher. Anna Wise’s The High-Performance Mind takes us on an exploratory journey across the spectrum of human brainwaves. She provides insights into how we can harness those brainwaves for healing, insight, and creativity.
The book is structured in three sections:
- Techniques for mastering brain waves to increase insight, energy, healing, creativity, and success.
- The power of our thoughts and feelings to shape our brains and bodies.
- The relationship between health, happiness, creativity, empathy, self-awareness, and consciousness.
Add More Ing to Your Life: A Hip Guide to Happiness by Gabrielle Bernstein
Gabrielle Bernstein is a New York Times bestselling author and a teacher of meditation, Yoga, and self-love. She is the creator of the 21-Day Meditation Challenge which has been adopted by corporations such as Google, Apple, American Express, and Goldman Sachs. Her guided meditations are some of the best I have used.
Gabby goes suggests incorporating meditation and mindfulness through the following exercises:
– Meditation: by practicing it for 15 minutes daily, you can train your mind and body to be less reactive and more present in the moment.
– Visualization: by imagining a better version of yourself or your life, you will be able to commit more fully to your goals and dreams.
– Journaling: by writing down what’s on your mind, you will be able to better understand who you are and what’s important in your life.
– Gratitude: by expressing appreciation for all there is in our lives – both big and small – we can
She had a meditation album on her website to go with this book, but you do not need it. She has all the written meditations in her book. Her meditation albums are a beautiful treat, however.
Stress Less, Accomplish More: Meditation for Extraordinary Performance by Emily Fletcher
If you want to know how to meditate and need a book to guide you, this book is for you. Emily Fletcher, the founder of Ziva Meditation. will help you use meditation as a tool to live your best life. The author, Emily Fletcher, is a world-renowned meditation expert and the creator of the popular online meditation course that has been used by over 2.4 million people.
In Stress Less, Accomplish more Emily offers readers a practical guide to living a less stressful life based on her personal experiences as well as those of her clients. She talks about how stress can lead to obesity, heart disease, or even dementia as well as how it can negatively affect our relationships with those around us. She then introduces simple tools for managing stress such as mindful meditation and making gradual positive changes in our
This book has many different techniques of mindful meditation, which are all worth trying out if you want to be more present in life or just get rid of stress that way.
Wrap up
In conclusion, these are some of the best books to get started with meditation. If you struggle with meditation, be sure to check out the Effortless Meditator’s Cheatsheet that gives you some hacks for effortless meditation.
