What Is Meditation? 5 Common Types and a 15-Minute Practice for Busy People
What Is Meditation?
Five common types of meditation
to help you find calm in a busy life
| About Meditation
What Is Meditation, and Who Is It For?
The basic idea
The basic idea
Meditation is the practice of training your attention. You choose a point of focus, such as the breath, a sound or the body, notice when your mind wanders, and gently bring it back. Practised regularly, this simple loop helps you feel steadier and more aware. It is open to anyone, and it is especially helpful for people whose minds rarely get a break.
Three common myths about meditation
Myth 1: Meditation means “emptying your mind” and not thinking at all
Meditation is not about clearing your head of every thought. The real point is that when a thought or feeling arises, you don’t switch on the brain’s usual habit of asking “What does this mean? Is this good or bad? What happens next?” You simply let it arise and pass, without avoiding or pushing it away. In meditation we rest our focus on the breath, the heartbeat or the senses, and whenever we notice we have slipped into analysing or judging a thought, we gently bring our attention back to that focus, again and again.
Myth 2: You have to sit cross-legged with your eyes closed
Most people picture meditation as sitting cross-legged, eyes closed, perfectly still. In fact, meditation takes many forms, including moving practices such as walking meditation and OSHO Dynamic Meditation. Whatever the form, the heart of it is bringing your attention back to your own senses and movements.
Myth 3: The longer you meditate, the better it works
This myth puts many busy professionals off before they even start: if they can’t find the time, why bother? But research doesn’t really support the idea that “longer is better”. What matters most is practising consistently.
In an 8-week study by a Harvard team, participants practised for an average of only about 27 minutes a day, and researchers still observed structural changes in brain areas such as the hippocampus. Neuroscientist Sara Lazar has also said in interviews that while there is not yet rigorous data on the minimum amount of practice needed, students’ own feedback suggests that even 10 minutes a day may bring benefits they can feel.
Why Meditate?
Give your brain a good clean-out
Imagine your brain as a smartphone that runs all day, juggling countless apps and an endless stream of emails and messages. Over time, just like a phone, it heats up, slows down and crashes. That is when we need a button that closes everything running in the background, so the brain can cool down and run smoothly again.
Meditation is a practice that can help ease stress and anxiety and improve focus and emotional balance.
Transcendental Meditation (TM):
This form of meditation comes from India’s Vedic tradition. You sit comfortably with your eyes closed and, rather than straining to concentrate, silently repeat a specific Sanskrit mantra to settle the mind and relax the body.
Five Common Types of Meditation
Meditation comes in many forms, and you can choose the one that suits how your body and mind feel at the moment.
Mindfulness meditation:
One of the most popular forms of meditation today. You focus on the present moment and observe every thought, sensation and emotion without judging or criticising it.
Loving-kindness meditation (Metta):
This practice comes from the Buddhist tradition. You offer four phrases of goodwill, in turn, to four different kinds of people.
The four phrases:
- May you be safe
May you be healthy
May you be happy
May you live with ease
Who you offer them to:
The science behind meditation
Research by Harvard neuroscientist Sara Lazar found that people who had meditated regularly for a long time had a noticeably thicker prefrontal cortex, the area involved in decision-making and focus, and that 50-year-old meditators had about as much grey matter there as 25-year-olds. In a follow-up study, she found that people with no meditation experience who completed an 8-week training programme showed measurable structural changes in brain regions such as the hippocampus, which is involved in memory and emotional regulation.
Zen meditation (Zazen):
The core practice of Zen Buddhism. There is no guiding voice; you quiet the mind and let distractions fall away only through posture, breath and focused attention.
Body scan meditation:
A body scan is about systematically feeling and noticing your own body. You usually lie down or sit with your eyes closed and bring your awareness to one part of the body at a time, starting from below: the soles of your feet, your calves, your knees… then slowly moving up through the upper body, and finally sensing the whole body from head to toe and back again. It’s quite possible to fall asleep along the way!
A Beginner Meditation Practice for Busy People
Step 1: Choose your time
Pick the 15 minutes of your day when you will meditate
Step 2: Body scan meditation
A body scan is about systematically feeling and noticing your own body. You usually lie down or sit with your eyes closed and bring your awareness to one part of the body at a time, starting from below: the soles of your feet, your calves, your knees… then slowly moving up through the upper body, and finally sensing the whole body from head to toe and back again. It’s quite possible to fall asleep along the way!
Step 3: Meditate with your breath :
Sit in a comfortable position, gently close your eyes and bring your attention to your breath: feel the air coming in through your nose, your belly rising slightly, then breathe out slowly. When your mind wanders, there’s no need to blame yourself; just gently bring your attention back to the breath. Start with 5 minutes and slowly build up to 15.
If You Want a More Structured Practice
Many people run into the same problems when they practise on their own: they download several apps and save a pile of meditation videos, then either get distracted halfway and reach for their phone, or simply fall asleep, and the next day their mind is just as tense and restless 😣 The problem may not be that you can’t focus. Most meditation videos are just music and narration, without real guidance on breathing rhythm or a step-by-step system of practice.
In our 6-day Professional Meditation Training in Bali, Raj Guru, a meditation teacher from Nepal, guides you through breathwork, focus, sound and a range of meditation traditions, with time to practise every day and receive feedback.
You learn simple ways to release stress, sharpen focus and rest more deeply, and you build a set of self-regulation tools you can use any time, so body and mind can return to steadiness and balance.
🌿 Curious how sound can anchor your meditation? Our Singing Bowl Sound Healer Training is also taught by Raj Guru: 6 days and 5 nights of immersive learning in Bali, with a 20-hour Yoga Alliance YACEP certificate for each level.
Further reading: Stuck in Meditation? 5 Ways to Settle Into Practice Faster, What Is a Singing Bowl? From Himalayan Tradition to Modern Sound Healing, How to Become a Meditation Teacher: Training, Certification and Choosing a Course
