I love meditation. There are two types of meditation, active and passive meditation. Active mediation is when you focus on one thing and one thing only. An example of an active meditation is the countdown method where you count down from fifty to one as you relax. A passive meditation is one where the goal is to achieve a level of no thought. So it requires you to sit down and not think of anything. Almost like the lights went down at the movie theater and the show is about to begin. You just sit there waiting for the show to begin and not think, just observe. So passive meditation basically is just observing what happens in your mind and not influencing the content. Below, I will describe these two techniques as I use them.

Active Meditation:

Sit or lay down and get comfortable. Take a few deep breathes and then begin counting backwords from fifty to one with each exhale as a count. Each exhale should also be accompanied with letting go of tension. I like to use a mental sigh (like a yawn) with each exhale I count as my preferred method of letting go. Once I reach one, I may restart the countdown depending on if I want to continue meditating. Once I get into a good meditational groove I usually do a few countdowns.

Passive Meditation:

Sit or lay down and get comfortable. Take a few deep breathes and then don’t pay attention to your breathing. Allow it to take on a natural rhythm. Now, just observe any activity that is happening in your mind. Don’t try to actively create what you see, just observe. You may need to set an alarm because you won’t even want to think about how long your meditation is. After a few minutes, you will begin to have lots of theta imagery. Same imagery as dreaming. I usually do this for about 30 minutes.

There are many benefits to meditation and it should be performed as many times as possible. I will be posting a new article on the benefits of meditation soon. stay tuned and have fun!