Different Types of Meditation

 Meditation

Meditation is an ancient practice used by us to cultivate our health and energy. This practice can provide a lot of health and mental benefits to anyone. There are many ways of practicing meditation. 


Zhan Zhuang

If you are one of the people who can’t meditate while sitting, then you should try standing meditation. This meditation is known as Zhan Zhuang. The catch is that you will have to stand in a proper form. The correct form will make sure that your “energy” is flowing correctly.  To get into the Zhan Zhuang form, you will have to follow many steps. Make sure that your feet are pointing forward and parallel to each other. The feet should be shoulder-width apart and grounded. Allow your hip to sink slightly. Bend your knees slightly. The knees must be loose. Then, relax your shoulders. Leave your arm to the side. Tuck your chin inward. Keep your eyes closed slightly. Place your tongue on the roof of the mouth. This type of meditation increases vitality, internal strength, and fitness. This is a form of medical meditation. This ancient practice came around the 3rd century BC.



Sitting meditation 

Sitting meditations are widely known around the world. This meditation is the oldest in human history. It began in 5000 BCE. To get in the sitting meditation position, you sit down with your legs crossed. Keep your back straight and relaxed. Your neck and head have to align with your bony spine. Be aware of your breathing, but don’t try to control it. Relax in this position. The benefits of sitting meditation are a decrease in anxiety and impulsivity and an increase in vitality, memory, mental strength, and improved blood pressure. 













Zen Meditation

Zen meditation is an empty meditation. That means that you think of nothing. You are aware of your awareness. You stop any unnecessary thoughts and emotions. Zen meditation provides the same benefits as any other meditation. Zen meditation is good at helping you break away from any addiction. That is the reason Zen meditation is used to help people facing drug abuse. It also allows you to access your unconscious mind. To do this meditation, get in the same position as the sitting meditation. Open your eyes halfway. Then, become aware of your breathing. Don’t control it. Every time you have a thought, you need to bring your awareness back to your breath. Make dhanaya mudra with your hands.This meditation was created by a Japanese monk in the seventh century. He learned meditation from China and brought it to Japan, which became known as zazen or zen meditation.

Kundalini Meditation

Kundalini meditation is known for its spiritual practices. This meditation opens all of the chakras in the body. The existence of chakras has been debated. Some would say it is the nerve in your spine. Despite the confusion, kundalini meditation provides health and mental benefits.  To do this meditation, you get in a proper sitting meditation posture. You pay attention to the breath and the body. Then, you chant your mantra. You will have to do this regularly to open your “chakra” or the energy body. 

Result and Research

Over the years, people who have done mediation have increased by 10.1 percent. It has become popular in the Western Society. American have been doing meditation to decrease stress and improve sleep. According to research done by NCCIH, researchers were able to find out that mindfulness meditations are a good treatment for anxiety and depression. Although there has been a dispute on the risk of bias on the research, Meditation has been shown to work well with other therapy.  There has been so much research done, most of the research done was of a poor quality.

In 2020, researchers were able to do fourteen research studies on meditation's effect on blood pressure. The conclusion of the research was that meditation was able to significantly reduce blood pressure. That is the reason meditation is effective for people with hypertension, diabetes, or cancer. It also reduces the pain, but this needs to be further researched. 

If you want to improve sleep quality, then you should meditate. Meditation is successful to improve sleep quality as cognitive therapy and exercise. Substance abuse and addiction can also be improved by meditation, because meditation reduces craving and withdrawal symptoms.  This research is being further searched by NIH.

    Even though, Meditation need further research on a controlled environment. I hope that you find the meditation that suits you. All of this meditation has been proven to provide health and mental benefits. 

Source:

https://www.waterdragonarts.com/en/blog/zhanzhuang#:~:text=The%20origin%20of%20the%20Zhan,Zhuang%20was%20originally%20developed%20for

https://www.headspace.com/meditation/positions 

https://studycorgi.com/sitting-meditation-mental-and-physical-benefits/#:~:text=Sitting%20meditation%20is%20beneficial%20to,and%20reduction%20of%20blood%20pressure.

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-zen-meditation-4586721 

https://mindworks.org/blog/history-origins-of-meditation/ 

https://psychcentral.com/health/kundalini-meditation#recap 

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/what-are-chakras-concept-origins-and-effect-on-health#research 

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-kundalini-meditation-4688618 


Picture source:

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https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/meditation-and-mindfulness-what-you-need-to-know




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