Meditation Styles: Mindfulness vs. Concentrative

Alright, so you've finally heeded the advice of your hippy friend, a growing number of medical professionals, or perhaps your own unyielding desire to see what meditation is all about – but where do you begin?

Luckily, finding the right answer is as simple as finding the right question, and the right question is:

What do you want to achieve through meditation?

Various meditation styles have been clinically shown to aid in the management of stress, anxiety and panic, chronic pain, depression, obsessive thinking, strong emotional reactivity, and a wide array of medical and mental-health related conditions.

Moreover, other meditation styles are liable to help with concentration and focus, as well as helping the practitioner to become more aware of the workings of their own body and mind, or to gain greater control of their own physical and mental faculties. Drawing from this wide array of potential benefits, it's time to answer the question - what do you want to achieve through meditation, yourself?

At their roots, most unique meditative styles prescribe to two originating concepts: mindfulness and concentrative practices.

Differentiating between the two, and what they can do for you, is an important step toward deciding how you will approach your own journey through meditation. The former, popularly called Mindfulness Meditation, focusses on being mindful and aware, as might be assumed. In this practice, thoughts are not forced in or fought back, and instead the practitioner adopts an attitude of acceptance, and becomes an "observer" to his or her own mind, rather than an operator. This kind of detachment and acceptance bestows a lot of relief on the mind, and serves as a moment of respite from stress, pain, depression, and a slew of emotional problems. Alternatively, there is the concentrative variant of meditative practice.

In the midst of a concentrative meditation session, the goal is to actively focus the mind upon a single designation, rather than on general expansiveness. Rather than opening the mind, the practitioner of this style is closing it, albeit selectively. Though at first this might sound detrimental, it has a multitude of benefits. A concentrative meditation session is generally comprised of focussing on breath, a mantra, a pulse, a sensation within the body, a visualization, or a single thought. To be able to select and focus exclusively on a single facet of mind or body is of great advantage to athletes who need to remain conscious of their breathing, or to performers who cannot afford distraction from anything but the object of their performance, or to a student diligently studying. In summary, concentrative meditation helps produce what is so popularly referred to as "the zone". This style of meditation offers a great control over the mind and its focus, and can help with overcoming addictions. When you can force your mind to dwell on things apart from its cravings, those cravings become less compelling on a mental level.

Now, with some basic information assembled on just what the two overarching styles of meditation can offer, answer the question!

What do you want to achieve through meditation, and now, which meditation styles will help you achieve it?

Both mindful and concentrative meditative styles have hundreds upon hundreds of separate techniques to be used and sorted through, so choose well! Though, then again, there's no reason not to practice both.

For more information and guidance on meditation styles, visit the EnvyMyHealth.com Meditation Channel!

For an excellent resource on meditation, see Learning Meditation.

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