Styles of Stillness
"And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”– Haruki Murakami
Meditation and mindfulness are buzzwords these days for good reason. All meditation aims to consciously cultivate the mind, but choosing a meditation style right for you can be a bit overwhelming. Here are some common meditation styles:
✨ mindfulness - refers to any practice in which you concentrate and try to remain aware of your experience moment to moment. That experience is anchored by an object (like the breath), a sensation (like walking), a sound, a visual, or more, and ultimately aims to cultivate mental stability.
✨ vipassana - meaning insight/enlightenment, refers to a variety of meditation techniques that help the practitioner access a deeper level of consciousness, see “reality,” and experience impermanence.
✨ dzogchen - meaning discovery, a form of Tantric meditation that asks you to be aware of everything, meaning it is “object-less” or “nondual.” You practice with the eyes open and avoid labeling thoughts, feelings, or sensations.
✨ lovingkindness - a more western style aimed to develop compassion and forgiveness. By repeating a mantra related to freedom from fear and suffering, shifting your intention to different people in your life and yourself.
✨ zazen - a zen bases practice with prescriptions for how to maintain the eyes, hands, and posture. A nondual practice that means simply to sit, as the Buddha did thousands of years ago. You sit, without a focus on an object, until your innate ability to see reality emerges.
🙏🏼 Namaste, K.
