Types of Meditation: 12 Traditions Explained

🕑 18 min read

The Three Categories

Despite the enormous variety of meditation practices across cultures and centuries, virtually all of them fall into three broad categories based on what the mind is asked to do.

Focused attention practices direct the mind to a single object: the breath, a mantra, a visual point, a candle flame, a deity, or a concept. The practitioner holds attention on the chosen object and returns to it when the mind wanders. This category includes mantra meditation, breath awareness, kundalini breathing, visualization, and most forms of contemplative prayer.

Open monitoring practices observe whatever arises in awareness, thoughts, sensations, emotions, sounds, without attaching to any of them or pushing any of them away. The practitioner develops the capacity to witness experience without being captured by it. This category includes Vipassana (insight) meditation, Zen's shikantaza ("just sitting"), and the "choiceless awareness" described by Krishnamurti.

Self-transcending practices use an effortless mental technique that allows the mind to settle into progressively subtler states of awareness without concentrating or monitoring. Transcendental Meditation is the most well-known example. The practitioner does not try to focus or observe. The technique is designed to produce a natural inward movement that requires no effort.

These categories are not rigid. Many practices combine elements of more than one. But understanding the basic distinction helps you recognize what any given meditation is asking of you, and whether that matches what you need.

Mindfulness Meditation (Vipassana)

Mindfulness meditation derives from the Vipassana (insight) tradition of Theravada Buddhism, one of the oldest continuously practiced meditation lineages in the world. The Pali word vipassana means "seeing things as they really are." The practice involves sustained, non-judgmental attention to present-moment experience: sensations, thoughts, and emotions as they arise and pass away.

In the West, mindfulness was secularized and systematized by Jon Kabat-Zinn, who developed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in the late 1970s. MBSR is an eight-week structured program combining mindfulness meditation, body awareness, and gentle yoga. Kabat-Zinn defined mindfulness as "moment-to-moment, non-judgmental awareness."

Zen Meditation (Zazen)

Zazen ("sitting meditation") is the central practice of Zen Buddhism, a Japanese tradition that developed from Chinese Chan Buddhism. Zazen is practiced seated in a specific posture (typically cross-legged on a cushion, spine erect, hands in a mudra, eyes partially open and cast downward), and the practice differs depending on the school.

Soto Zen (Shikantaza): "Just sitting." The practitioner sits with no specific object of focus, no goal, and no technique beyond maintaining posture and awareness. Thoughts, sensations, and experiences arise and pass without engagement. Founded by Dogen (1200-1253), Soto Zen teaches that the practice itself is enlightenment, not a means to enlightenment.

Rinzai Zen (Koan practice): The practitioner combines zazen with koans: paradoxical questions or statements (e.g., "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" or "What was your original face before your parents were born?") that cannot be resolved by rational thinking. The koan is held in awareness during sitting, and the resolution, when it comes, is an experiential breakthrough rather than an intellectual answer.

Mantra Meditation

Mantra meditation uses the silent or audible repetition of a sacred syllable, word, or phrase as the object of focused attention. The word "mantra" comes from the Sanskrit man (mind) and tra (instrument or tool): literally, "an instrument of mind."

The most widely known mantras include:

OM (Aum): Considered in Hindu tradition to be the primal sound of the universe, encompassing all other sounds. Its three syllables (A-U-M) represent creation, preservation, and dissolution, or waking, dreaming, and deep sleep. OM was later adopted by Mahayana Buddhism as a prefix for Buddhist mantras.

So Hum: Sanskrit for "That I am" or "I am That." Used in Vedantic meditation to recognize the identity of the individual self (Atman) with the universal self (Brahman). The syllables naturally mirror the sound of breathing: "So" on the inhale, "Hum" on the exhale.

Om Mani Padme Hum: The most widely recited Buddhist mantra, associated with Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. Each syllable is understood to purify a specific aspect of consciousness.

The bija (seed) mantras associated with the chakra system (LAM, VAM, RAM, YAM, HAM, OM) are also used in mantra meditation, each one corresponding to a specific energy center.

Loving-Kindness Meditation (Metta)

Metta meditation is a Theravada Buddhist practice in which the practitioner silently directs phrases of goodwill toward progressively wider circles of beings: first oneself, then a loved one, then a neutral person, then a difficult person, then all beings everywhere.

The traditional Pali phrases, adapted into English, are typically: "May I be safe. May I be healthy. May I be happy. May I live with ease." These are repeated for each recipient. The practice's source text is the Karaniya Metta Sutta (Discourse on Loving-Kindness) in the Sutta Nipata.

Research has found that Metta practice reduces self-criticism, builds empathy, and improves relationship satisfaction. It is particularly useful for people who find that focused-attention practices increase rather than decrease their inner critic, because it gives the mind something positive to do rather than asking it to be still.

Breath Awareness (Anapanasati)

Anapanasati (Pali: "mindfulness of breathing") is the Buddhist meditation practice most closely associated with the historical Buddha. It is described in detail in the Anapanasati Sutta (MN 118), one of the most important meditation discourses in the Pali canon.

The practice is deceptively simple: sit, close your eyes, and bring your attention to the natural breath. Notice the sensation of air at the nostrils, or the rise and fall of the abdomen. Do not try to control the breath. Simply observe it. When attention wanders, gently return it.

Body Scan Meditation

Body scan meditation involves systematically moving awareness through the body, typically from the feet to the head, noticing sensations in each area without trying to change them. It is a core component of Jon Kabat-Zinn's MBSR program and is one of the most accessible meditation practices for beginners.

The body scan activates the parasympathetic nervous system (shifting from "fight-or-flight" to "rest-and-digest"), reduces cortisol levels, and develops somatic awareness: the capacity to sense and interpret signals from the body. Research has shown benefits for anxiety, stress, sleep quality, and blood pressure in university populations.

Transcendental Meditation

Transcendental Meditation (TM) was introduced by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who began teaching in India in the mid-1950s and brought the practice to the West in the 1960s. TM involves the silent repetition of a personally assigned mantra for 15-20 minutes twice daily, sitting comfortably with eyes closed.

TM is classified as a "self-transcending" technique: the practitioner does not concentrate on the mantra or monitor their experience but allows the mind to settle inward naturally. The technique is taught only by certified TM instructors through a standardized course.

TM has been extensively researched since the 1970s, with publications in Scientific American, Hypertension, and The Lancet. A 2017 meta-analysis found that TM may lower blood pressure comparably to other health interventions. Studies have also shown reduction in carotid artery thickness and reduced all-cause mortality in older adults. However, study quality has been questioned due to potential bias, and a 2014 meta-analysis found insufficient evidence for TM's effects on psychological stress outcomes specifically.

Yoga Meditation (Dhyana)

Dhyana is the seventh of the eight limbs of yoga described in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. The word means "contemplation" or "profound abstract meditation." It is the sustained, uninterrupted flow of awareness toward a chosen object, developed through the progressive stages of yama (ethics), niyama (observances), asana (posture), pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (sense withdrawal), and dharana (concentration).

Dhyana is not the same as "yoga" as practiced in most Western studios, which focuses primarily on asana (the third limb). In Patanjali's framework, the physical postures are preparation for meditation, not the practice itself. Dhyana represents the point at which concentration (dharana) becomes effortless and continuous, leading naturally to samadhi (absorption). For more on the yogic framework, see our guide to pranayama and kundalini breathing.

Contemplative Prayer

The Christian contemplative tradition has its own forms of meditation, distinct from Eastern practices but sharing structural similarities.

Centering Prayer: Developed in the 20th century by Trappist monks William Meninger, M. Basil Pennington, and Thomas Keating at St. Joseph's Abbey in Massachusetts. The practitioner sits silently, chooses a "sacred word" (a word or short phrase representing their intention to consent to God's presence), and when thoughts arise, gently returns to the sacred word. The purpose is not to empty the mind but to open it to the divine presence within.

Lectio Divina: "Divine reading." A traditional monastic practice of reading scripture slowly and contemplatively, in four stages: lectio (read), meditatio (reflect), oratio (respond/pray), contemplatio (rest in God's presence). Unlike centering prayer, Lectio Divina engages the intellect: the practitioner thinks about the text.

Hesychasm: An Eastern Orthodox contemplative tradition seeking hesychia (inner stillness) through the continuous repetition of the Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Developed at Mount Athos and refined in the 14th century, the practice synchronizes the prayer with the breath and seeks to perceive the "uncreated light" of God. Hesychasm is structurally the closest Christian practice to Eastern mantra meditation.

Active Imagination (Jung)

Carl Jung developed active imagination during his personal crisis of 1913-1917. It is not a meditation technique in the traditional sense but a method for engaging directly with unconscious content through sustained inner attention.

The practice begins with a dream image, a mood, or a spontaneous visual impression. The practitioner holds this image in awareness with eyes closed and watches it develop on its own, without forcing it in any direction. If a figure appears, the practitioner may enter into dialogue with it. The key discipline is remaining conscious and observant (not falling into passive fantasy) while allowing the unconscious to express itself freely.

Active imagination is distinct from guided visualization (which follows an external script) and from mindfulness (which observes without engaging). In active imagination, the practitioner observes and responds, but without directing. Jung described it as the ego entering into relationship with the unconscious on equal terms.

Thinking Meditation (Steiner)

Rudolf Steiner's approach to meditation, developed within Anthroposophy, is unique among contemplative traditions because it is based on thinking rather than on breath, sensation, or mantra. Steiner argued that thought itself, when practiced with sufficient concentration and precision, becomes an organ of spiritual perception.

The practice involves taking a simple, clearly understood concept (not an emotional or sensory impression but a thought) and holding it in consciousness with full concentration, excluding all other thoughts, sensations, and distractions. The purpose is not to analyze the thought but to experience the act of thinking itself as an inner activity, the way one might experience muscular exertion in the body.

Steiner distinguished three stages of development through this practice: imaginative cognition (the ability to perceive spiritual realities in image form), inspiration (the ability to perceive the inner life of those realities), and intuition (the ability to unite with them directly). The full path is described in How to Know Higher Worlds.

This approach is deliberately different from Eastern meditation, which Steiner acknowledged as valid for earlier historical periods but argued was not suited to the modern Western consciousness. In Steiner's view, modern spiritual development must work through the thinking faculty, not bypass it. This makes Anthroposophical meditation particularly suited to people who find that emptying the mind feels wrong or impossible but who can sustain focused, disciplined thought.