A beginner’s guide to meditation: 23 practices to try

11 september 2025

(Global Heart) Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years, with countless techniques and styles developing across various cultures. Consequently, the sheer number of methods can seem overwhelming. However, they generally fall into a few key categories, making it easier to find a practice that suits your needs.

What is meditation?

Meditation is a practice where an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness, ultimately achieving a mentally clear, emotionally calm, and stable state. In other words, it’s not about stopping thoughts entirely, but rather about changing your relationship with them—learning to observe them without judgment.

Although meditation has a rich history in religious and spiritual traditions, it has also become a widely-practiced technique for its secular benefits on well-being. For example, people meditate to:

Reduce stress and anxiety: Meditation can lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol and help calm the “fight or flight” response.
Improve focus and concentration: By training your attention, meditation can enhance your ability to stay on task and avoid distractions.
Increase self-awareness: It helps you gain a deeper understanding of your own thought patterns and emotional responses.
Promote emotional health: Regular practice can improve mood and lead to a greater sense of peace and balance.

There are many different types of meditation. Therefore, understanding the categories is a good first step.

Categories of different types of meditation

Most meditation practices can be sorted into a few core categories, each with a distinct approach:

Focused attention: These techniques involve concentrating on a single object, like your breath, a sound, or a candle flame, to train your ability to focus and minimize mind-wandering.
Open awareness: This style involves observing thoughts, feelings, and sensations as they arise, without judgment or attachment. It’s about being present and non-reactive to your internal experience.
Emotional cultivation: These practices are designed to foster specific emotional states, such as kindness, compassion, or gratitude, by consciously directing your thoughts and intentions.
Movement: This category combines physical movement with mindfulness. The goal is to bring awareness to the sensations of your body in motion.
Guided vs. Unguided: What is the difference? Guided meditation uses a teacher’s voice (in person or recorded) to lead you through the practice. Unguided meditation is a solo practice where you direct your own attention.

Your guide to inner peace: Exploring 23 meditation practices

Here is an expanded list of 23 meditation types, organized by their core approach to help you find the right one for your practice.

Focused attention meditations

These practices train your ability to focus by anchoring your mind to a single point.

Breath awareness: One of the most common starting points for meditation, this practice involves focusing your entire attention on the physical sensation of your breath—the rise and fall of your chest, the air moving through your nostrils, or the feeling in your abdomen. It’s a simple, immediate way to center your mind and promote relaxation.
Mantra meditation: This technique involves silently or audibly repeating a word, sound, or phrase. The repetition of the mantra serves as a mental anchor, helping to quiet the mind and prevent distractions. Mantras can be simple sounds like “Om” or a meaningful phrase like “I am peaceful.”
Candlelight meditation: A form of focused attention where you stare at a lit candle flame. The mesmerizing, flickering light becomes a natural anchor for your mind, making it easier to notice when your attention wanders. It’s a great choice for those who find a visual focus more engaging than an internal one.
Zazen (Zen meditation): A core practice of Zen Buddhism that emphasizes a specific seated posture and a focus on breath or “just sitting” without an object of concentration. The goal is to simply be present, aware of the moment as it is, allowing thoughts to pass without engaging with them.
Hypnosis: This is a state of extreme, single-pointed focus that is very similar to deep meditation. It can be used as a therapeutic tool to access the subconscious mind and address habits, fears, or beliefs by creating a highly receptive mental state.
Progressive relaxation: A technique that involves systematically tensing and then relaxing different muscle groups throughout the body. It’s effective for releasing both physical tension and mental stress, making it an excellent practice for calming down before bed.
Body scan meditation: You systematically bring your attention to different parts of your body, from your toes to the top of your head, noticing any sensations without judgment. This practice helps cultivate a deeper connection to your body and is often used to relieve physical tension and chronic pain.
Sound bath meditation: An immersive experience where you are bathed in the sounds and vibrations from instruments like gongs and singing bowls. You simply lie or sit comfortably and let the sounds wash over you, using them as a focus point to enter a deep state of relaxation.
4-7-8 Breath: A simple, yet powerful, breathing technique where you inhale for a count of 4, hold for 7, and exhale for 8. The longer exhale and pause signal to your nervous system that it’s safe to relax, making it an effective tool for quickly calming the mind and body.
Chakra meditation: This practice focuses on the body’s seven energy centers, or chakras, with the goal of keeping them aligned and open. It often involves visualization and specific chants or sounds associated with each chakra to promote a healthy flow of energy.
Visualization meditation: You create mental images of a place, symbol, or scene to promote relaxation or personal growth. For example, you might visualize a peaceful beach to calm anxiety or a powerful symbol to cultivate confidence.

Open monitoring meditations

These practices involve a broad, non-judgmental awareness of your experience.

Mindfulness meditation: The most common form of open monitoring in the West. You simply observe thoughts, emotions, and sensations as they arise, cultivating an enhanced state of present-moment awareness without getting caught up in them.
Insight meditation (Vipassana): An ancient Indian practice meaning “to see things as they really are.” It involves observing the changing nature of bodily sensations and mental phenomena with non-judgmental awareness to gain a deeper understanding of reality.
Noting meditation: A mindfulness technique where you mentally “note” or label thoughts or sensations as they arise (e.g., “thinking,” “hearing,” “planning”). This practice helps you recognize distractions and gently return to a state of awareness without getting lost in your thoughts.
Transcendental meditation: A widely-practiced technique that uses a personal mantra to help the mind effortlessly settle into a state of deep rest and relaxation. It’s known for its simplicity and requires little to no concentration.

Emotional cultivation meditations

These meditations are designed to cultivate specific emotional states and qualities.

Loving-kindness meditation: This practice focuses on vibrating feelings of love, compassion, and kindness. It typically involves silently repeating phrases of goodwill toward yourself, loved ones, just people, difficult people, and finally, all beings.
Affirmations: A cultivation practice where you repeat positive, present-tense statements to yourself to re-wire your thought patterns and beliefs. For example, repeating “I am strong and capable” can help build confidence over time.
Contemplation meditation: Involves reflecting on a specific question, idea, or spiritual passage. It’s a way to use the mind to gain new insights, find clarity on a problem, or connect with a deeper sense of self.

Movement meditations

These practices combine mindfulness with physical activity.

Yoga: While a physical exercise, the true origins of yoga are deeply rooted in meditation. Many poses (asanas) and breath exercises (pranayama) are designed to unify the mind and body, making it a form of moving meditation.
Walking meditation: A simple and practical technique where you walk slowly and mindfully, paying attention to the sensations of each step. It’s a great way to bring mindfulness into your daily routine.
Tai Chi: A graceful, flowing form of movement meditation and martial art. The slow, deliberate movements are performed with deep breathing and focused awareness, helping to cultivate balance, coordination, and a state of calm.
Qigong meditation: An ancient Chinese practice that combines gentle movements, breathing techniques, and mental focus to cultivate a healthy flow of “qi” or life energy.
Kundalini meditation: This practice, often paired with specific movements, breathwork, and chanting, aims to awaken and move energy through the body. It’s known for its powerful, transformative effects and is often practiced as a way to access higher states of consciousness.

How to choose the right type of meditation

The best meditation is the one you will actually do consistently. Here’s how to find the right fit:

Define your goal: What do you hope to achieve?
- For stress and anxiety: Mindfulness, breath awareness, or progressive relaxation can be helpful.
- For focus and concentration: Focused attention, mantra, or Zazen might be a good choice.
- For emotional well-being: Loving-kindness or forgiveness meditation can be transformative.
- For restless people: Movement meditations like walking, Tai Chi, or yoga may be more suitable.
- For spiritual growth: Spiritual, contemplative, or certain mantra-based practices could be a good fit.
Experiment: Don’t be afraid to try different styles. Many meditation apps and online resources offer free guided sessions in various techniques. You might find that a practice you didn’t expect to like is the one that resonates most.
Pay attention to your feelings: Notice how you feel during and after a session. A good practice should leave you feeling more balanced, calm, or invigorated, not frustrated or strained.
Start small: Begin with just a few minutes a day. Consistency is more important than duration, and starting small makes it easier to build a sustainable habit.
Seek guidance: If you feel lost, consider taking a class or working with a meditation teacher. They can provide personalized advice and support.

The best way to start is to simply begin. Don’t worry about picking the “perfect” type—just choose one that sounds interesting and commit to practicing for a few minutes each day. Your journey to a calmer, more focused mind starts now.

Source: Global Heart

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