Meditation Techniques

Every semester I run a meditation class for UVA’s recreation department. In the first class I review some of the techniques available for them to use.
Here is a list that I give them to assist them in their process. It by no means is complete, but it is a start!

  1. Counting the breath – breathe in for a count of 3 to 6, exhale for same count. For a deeper level – breathe for a count of 4-6, hold for ½ the time, exhale for same count as inhalation, hold exhalation for ½ the count.
  2. Ohm chant – repeat ohm over and over either silently or out loud.
  3. Mantra meditation – repeat the mantra over and over, stilling the mind and focusing on the sound.
  4. Theraveda style – listen to an internal rhythm, either a pulse, vibration, breath or a sway and become the rhythm.
  5. Meditation of the Bubble – sitting at the bottom of clear water, each bubble is a thought and you watch it rise. Do not explore, follow or judge it. Just observe.
  6. Candle light – stare into a flame and become the flame. Allow the mind to be blank and just observe the flame.
  7. Lotus meditation – in the 1,000 petalled lotus, everything is connected. The center of the lotus becomes an object or event and each petal represents the connection. Look at the association/connection and follow the free flow association.
  8. Who am I? – repeat “Who Am I?” and watch you answers and say, “no that is a feeling, not me”, “no, that is an image, not me”, “no, that is an illusion, not me”, etc.
  9. Melt down meditation – lie on your back and imagine each individual part of your body can relax and let go – melt into the earth – until you are complete relaxed.
  10. Safe harbor – allow you consciousness to drift until you find a safe place, where you are “at home”, “secure”, or “whole”. It can be a beach, temple, anywhere you resonate as a place you can be happy.
  11. Tighten and release – direct your attention to each specific body part, tense it and then allow it to relax.
  12. Guided meditation – allow a leader or teacher to guide you through a meditation.
  13. Movement and dance – allow the movement of the body to begin to trance you out and follow the movement.
  14. Walking meditation – when you are out walking, practice having the mind blank, either repeating a mantra, or just being where ever you are.
  15. Tripping the 5th dimension – becoming the environment around you – and observing the crystalline clarity of the earth plane.
  16. Energy breathing – Imagining white light (or any color light) running up and down the spine with each breath, flossing the energy.
  17. Sa Ta Na Ma – tapping your thumb to each finger in sequence using one syllable for each finger, always having Sa as the index Ta the middle finger etc.
  18. Concentrating energy to a specific body part – imagining white light and bringing it to a part of the body that needs the healing light.