If you want to start meditating or if you are looking for some inspiration and new (types of) meditations to try, look no further. This guide to meditation will answer your questions, give you an understanding of what meditation and its benefits are, and will suggest many meditations for you to try.

Below you will find a list of recommended meditations. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced meditator, I hope this guide will inspire you to try a new type of meditation that you are not yet familiar with.

Since I have begun my meditation journey, I am amazed of the effect that meditation has on everything in my life. I have tried many different types of meditation, and have done some research to the benefits and effects of meditation. I’m happy to share all my findings with you here!

Meditation 101

What Is Meditation?

Meditation is a form of turning inward and bringing the mind into a state of awareness in the current moment. When practicing meditation, you learn to observe your thoughts and see them for what they are: just thoughts.

This may sound logical, but there is a difference between rationally understanding that you are not your thoughts, and really feeling it. Meditation is a skill, which you can only learn to master by regular practice.

After you practice meditation for a while, you will start to notice that you have the ability to fully clear (and therefore control) your mind, and you will be able to go deeper into a meditation.

Once you start to experience this, you will start to notice the effects in your daily life. You will feel more calm and less judgemental toward the world around you.

Through meditation you will also strenghten your connection with your intuition.

Is Meditation For Everyone?

Meditation is safe and beneficial to practice for most people. It is a skill that needs to be practiced regularly before you will see profound results, but it is worth pursuing because it has the power to change your life.

An important note to make is that meditation can also dish up unprocessed trauma and can have an overwhelming effect on people with a depression, mental illness and/or other health issues. If you have any (mental) health issues, consider consulting a professional and read this article.

How To Start Meditating? Meditation Tips For Beginners

Here are some tips if you are a beginner and want to start meditating:

1. Get comfortable. Sit or lay down in a way that you feel comfortable. You can sit on a meditation pillow or on the couch or a chair. Or lay down on a mat. Just try to keep your spine straight and don’t slouch. If you like, burn some incense or essential oil.
2. Pick a guided meditation that appeals to you. Just go with what feels good and try different meditations to see what resonates with you.
3. Thank yourself for taking the time to do this for yourself. Very important!
4. Don’t have any expectations. Just do your meditation and accept if your mind keeps racing, that is totally normal. It will improve after time.
5. Don’t judge yourself. If you find your mind drifting off and you feel that you cannot stay in the moment, realize that that is exactly why you are meditating in the first place: to learn the skill of staying present.
6. Be patient. All good things come with time. When you stick it out, you will be greatly rewarded.
7. Enjoy this moment. You don’t have to do anything, think of anything, go anywhere, worry about anything. This time is really for you to relax and enjoy.
8. Accept how you feel. If you feel pain or sadness, that’s ok. Just acknowledge it. Acknowledging and working through emotions is the only way to truly heal from them.

What If Meditation Does Not Work For You?

If you have tried meditation and feel that it just does not work for you, try these 10 alternatives for meditation.

Although I really believe that everyone can benefit from meditation, sometimes there can be reasons why it does not seem to work for you.

Find out of any of these 10 reasons why meditation does not work for you applies to you and what you can do to fix them.

Tools To Enhance Your Practice

👉 To deepen your experience, you might also like to check out these 10 Helpful Meditation Tools To Enhance Your Practice 🤩🙌🤍

The Benefits Of Meditation

There are many benefits to meditation and everyone can experience them. Just doing a 5-10 minute mediation every day can already improve how you feel.

10 Benefits Of Meditation

Although the list can be much longer, these are 10 benefits you will experience if you meditate regularly:

1. You will be happier
2. You will experience less stress and anxiety in your life
3. You will feel more calm and grounded
4. You will not continuously worry about the past or the future
5. You will increase your focus
6. You will feel more loving toward yourself and the world around you
7. You will feel more energetic
8. You will suddenly get great ideas and insights
9. You will feel more connected to your intuition
10. You will feel more satisfied with your life

How Long Should You Meditate To See Results?

There is no specified time during which you need to meditate before you see results. You can already experience the benefits after the first or the first several meditation sessions.

However, it takes it takes around 8 weeks of meditating regularly before changes can be seen in the brain (source).

It also depends on how long you meditate per session. If you find it hard to sit still for longer than 10 minutes, then start with 10 minutes a day (or a few times per week).

It is better to stick with it, than try to meditate for half an hour and then give up after a few tries.

How Meditation Helps Your Brain

Meditation helps your brain by training it to stay at a lower brain wave frequency in its natural state. This reduces stress and helps with focus and productivity.

Also, when going into altered states of mind you can reprogram your brain and your belief system. If you want to change your life and outlook you need to reprogram your beliefs. A great tool for this is creative visualization.

Because meditation also helps the brain to reach lower brain waves during meditation, it will become easier for you to connect to your intuition and receive messages from your subconscious.

How Long Does Meditation Take To Change The Brain?

The results of this study show that it takes about 8 weeks before difference in brain volume can be found in different areas in the brain. The study has researched changes in the brain for a group of people that started a daily meditation practice.

The people that participated in the study meditated on average a little less than 30 minutes per day, and some only meditated a few times per week.

8 Types Of Meditation

Below are some types of meditation that you might like to give a try.

I hope this list will inspire you to experiment with different types of meditation, and find a type of meditation that resonates with you.

If you like to just get started and try a meditation, then look in the list below this section for 10 recommended meditations that you will love.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness may be the most well-known type of meditation. Mindfulness brings your awareness to the current moment. It shifts your focus to your body, how you are feeling, the space around you and your thoughts.

During a mindfulness meditation you practice being in the moment. You observe any thoughts that come to mind, any discomfort you feel and any sounds or smells in your surroundings.

Mindfulness can be done seated, standing or while you are walking.

If you regularly practice mindfulness you will feel more relaxed as it helps to reduce stress. It can also help to improve your connection with your body.

Focused Attention Meditation

In a focused attention meditation (the name already says it) you focus your attention on one single thing or object. This can be the breath, but also a candle flame, a pen or an orange (or anything you decide you want to use).

Focused attention meditation helps to train focus and helps to train the mind to center and stay in the moment.

To practice this: pick what you want to focus on (your breath or a candle flame for example), set the timer to 10 minutes, sit comfortably and focus. Everytime your mind wanders, you acknowledge it and refocus.

Body Scan Meditation

A body scan meditation of a form of mindfulness. You scan the body bit by bit from top to bottom and back up. You observe and acknowledge how every part of your body feels.

This is a great way to learn to be present in the moment and to connect with your body.

A body scan is also helpful to do at the start of any meditation to go deeper into your relaxation. While you actively relax each body part, after you focused your attention on it, you will feel your body sink into a very deep relaxation.

Visualization Meditation

In a visualization meditation you use the power of your mind to imagine any positive images while your body is a state of full relaxation.

This way you use visualization to change the way you feel and to reprogram your brain with positive feelings and beliefs.

Visualization is also a great tool for manifestation and seeing your goals as if you already achieved them.

Many of the below recommended meditations use visualization.

Breathwork (Pranayama)

During a breathwork (Pranayama) practice the aim is to focus on different breathing pattern to reduce stress from the body.

You disconnect from your mind’s chatter by focusing on your breath and your body.

Try it yourself with this guided breathwork session:

Chakra Meditation

In a chakra meditation you focus on one, several or all of the 7 chakras.

The goal is to detect any blockages of the chakras, to remove those blockages so the energy can flow freely again.

If you like to try this out, try the 30 minutes chakra singing bowl meditation below. You can feel the different frequencies resonate with its corresponding chakra.

You can also decide to focus on one of the chakras for a longer period of time and work on them more profoundly. If you want to try that, start with your root chakra and work your way up.

You need your root and lower chakras to be steady before focusing a lot of energy on your upper chakras. This is to assure that you stay grounded and well-balanced.

If addition, you can use affirmations, yoga poses, essential oils or crystals that resonate with the chakra you are working on.

Loving Kindness Meditation

During a loving kindness meditation you focus on love and kindness for yourself, for others and the world around you.

You can visualize this by imagining a light in your heart space that radiates out and spreads its light everywhere. A good example of this is the Open Your Heart meditation in the list of recommended meditations below.

Transcendental Meditation

Transcendental meditation is a form of meditation that makes use of repeating a mantra for a certain amount of time. Repeating the mantra will help you reach a state of full relaxation and to get access to higher states of consciousness.

An example of this type of meditation is the below Ho’oponopono meditation that makes use of an ancient Hawaian mantra that helps with self-love, forgivess and healing.

10 Recommended Meditations You Will Love

Try any of these 10 meditations, they are all great! Pick one depending on how long you want to meditate and what you would like to focus on during your meditation.

Guided Morning Meditation (10 Minutes)

This meditation is a great start of your day. It sets you up for a positive and productive day ahead, in only 10 minutes!

Positive Energy Meditation (10 Minutes)

Feel like a positive boost of energy? Instead of going for another coffee, do this 10 minute positive energy meditation at any time during the day. You will feel recharged!

Open Your Heart Meditation (15 Minutes)

This is a beautiful meditation that uses visualization to open your heart and make you feel love for everything. Try it for yourself, and go on a journey through the jungle.

Walking Meditation (15 Minutes)

Walking meditations are such a great thing to do. You can do this at any location, as long as you can go for a walk there.

If possible, go out into nature to do this. There is nothing more relaxing than walking mindfully in nature! It will give your meditation an extra dimension.

Happiness Meditation (20 Minutes)

Aaah if you want to feel happy, try this meditation. It will give you a smile on your face and just makes you feel great!

6 Phase Guided Meditation With Binaural Beats (20 Minutes)

This meditation incorporates 6 areas you can include in a meditation all into one! You will practise a.o. loving kindness, gratitude and visualizing your perfect day.

This is especially great if you are time conscious and still want to try all these different aspects in your meditation.

Chakra Soundbowl Meditation (30 Minutes)

In this chakra meditation (not guided) the singing bowls will resonate and pass all the 7 chakras.

It starts with the root chakra on the lowest frequency and then moves up through the chakras up to the highest frequency of the crown chakra.

Do this meditationg laying down, and feel the effects of the sound resonating around each of the chakras.

Ho’oponopono Meditation – Heal Your Inner Child (30 Minutes)

Ho’oponopono is a great meditation that is based on an ancient Hawaian mantra. It helps with self-love and forgiveness. Great for healing your inner child.

The ho’oponopono mantra is: “I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you.”

Guided Sleep Meditation (1 Hour)

This is such a nice and soothing guided sleep meditation.

You will feel so calm and relaxed while you are guided through the forest.

Guided Healing Meditation (1 Hour)

This guided healing meditation takes you on an adventure to the healing temple.

Try it out, and be amazed about what you will experience!

Meditation FAQ

What Is The Most Effective Type Of Meditation?

The most effective type of meditation is the type that you can keep practicing regularly.

It is more important that you pick a type of meditation that resonates with you and that you won’t give up on, rather than trying to find the ultimate type of meditation before ever starting at all.

Now, if you are already doing this and are looking for the most effective type of meditation for you, it depends on what you are looking to get out of meditating.

If you are looking to reduce stress, practically any type of meditation will help you with that. Any type of grounding exercise will also help and gives you more options to try.

If you are looking to change your life and manifest your goals and dreams, try visualization.

For healing, try a loving kindness, ho’oponopono or heart chakra meditation.

If you are not sure what you want to achieve, then try the above mentioned 6 phase meditation as this has a little bit of everything in it.

Another great one, is the centering exercise meditation shared here. Practicing this exercise will help you to get into full relaxation more quickly and easily.

What Is The Most Effective Way To Meditate?

The most effective way to meditate is by doing the following:

• Just do it (don’t overthink it, just begin)
• Repeat your practice regularly and at a fixed time (for example, 10 minutes each morning)
• Sit or lay down in a tidy and clean space (clutter makes it harder for the mind to relax)
• Pick a meditation that resonates with you (what someone else likes does not have to be what you like. Go with what feels good to you)
• Get good at centering yourself (this way you can go deeper into a meditation very quickly which improves the benefits you will experience)

Can Too Much Meditation Be Harmful?

There are cases in which too much meditation can be harmful. You will always need to keep a good eye on yourself and how you feel. If you have any doubts, consult a professional.

It is vital to add a grounding practice to your schedule if you meditate a lot. Grounding yourself helps you to stay well-balanced, which is necessary for your wellbeing.

If your upper chakras are overly active and you are experiencing headaches or other discomforts, re-evaluate your meditation and grounding practice to see if they need more balancing.

In this article, you can find some other cases in which too much meditation can be harmful. One of them is the release of trauma or negative emotions that can come out through meditation.

Is It Ok To Meditate Multiple Times A Day?

Generally, it is ok to meditate multiple times a day, but it completely depends on what you find enjoyable. Just keep a good eye on how you are feeling. If you starting to feel disbalanced, re-evaluate your practice, or add more grounding exercises to your schedule.

What Are The Signs Of The Third Eye Opening?

If your third eye is opening, these are some of the symptoms you can start to notice:

• You are getting headaches or migraines or just feel pressure on your forehead around the area of the third eye.
• You are more sensitive to light and sounds. You can sometimes see light flashes too when your eyes are closed.
• You can start to see images in your mind’s eye that you would not see before.
• You can dream more and/or see images in your dream that you vividly remember.
• You suddenly just ‘know’ things.

For everything you need to know about the Third Eye opening, check out my post What happens when the third eye is opening? Here I share my own experience with opening the third eye, why you would want to, what the symptoms are, and what to look out for 🙌

You might also like to check out my post How is the Pineal Gland Related to the Third Eye?

Last But Not Least..

👉 To enhance your meditation practice, you might also like to check out these 10 Helpful Meditation Tools To Enhance Your Practice 🤩🙌🤍

Have fun on this amazing journey!

Best Meditation For Beginners, Stress, Anxiety, Sleep, Pain Relief, Chakras, Anger, Memory, Mind Control, Fear, Depression, Overwhelm, Energy, Sleep

You can find the best meditation for beginners here.

You can find the best meditation for stress here.

You can find the best meditation for anxiety here.

You can find the best meditation for sleep here.

You can find the best meditation for pain relief here.

You can find the best meditation for chakras here.

You can find the best meditation for dealing with anger here.

You can find the best meditation for memory here.

You can find the best meditation for mind control here.

You can find the best meditation for fear reduction here.

You can find the best meditation for depression here.

You can find the best meditation for overwhelm here.

You can find the best meditation for energy here.

This post was all about A Guide To Meditation: How To Get Started, Types Of Meditation And 7 Best Meditations For Everyone