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When you take out the linguistic
and cultural differences between spiritual and stress reducing techniques, you have only a small handful of techniques.
As for the meditation portion of a given practice, the main thing that differs,
other than language and cultural symbols, is the point of focus. The points of focus can be summarized as follows:
Breath Focus
Energy Focus (or inner light and sound)
Concept Focus (the concept of infinity, love, God, spaciousness, etc.)
Body Sensation Focus
Mantra Focus
Prayer Focus
Song Focus
This is the meditation technique itself. When the mind wanders, the thoughts are given room
to exist. You are the sky. They are the clouds. Then, the mind is gently brought back to the point of focus.
A lot of meditation and Yoga techniques contain other components besides the meditation. They
are the warm up strategy, the integration strategy and "projection of energy" in the form of prayer or healing work.
A solid warm up strategy consists of "tuning" the physical and mental energies, on increasingly
subtle levels, in preparation for deep meditation. The progression is from gross (physical exercises such as Hatha Yoga or
body wiping, self massage, etc.) to subtle (slow movement and energy based exercises) to even more subtle (visualization,
pranayama) with the intent of gradually moving toward Spirit (total stillness beyond energy and form, bliss and spaciousness),
which is represented by the meditation technique itself.
A solid integration
strategy involves "interweaves" throughout the day. Every little thing that you do to raise consciousness helps to create
a tremendous momentum for future moments of meditation. You may not even realize that this is happening because 90% of it
is below the surface of consciousness. Perhaps you have a favorite song that takes you to a special place within. Hit the
bathroom at work and use it. Yoga breathing exercises work well for this, as do mantras, self massage, head rolls, serene
memories, forgiveness work and anything which brings little "openings and expansions" in consciousness.
By the end of the day, you will be ready to keep your nightly meditation routine going. It
will not require as much time to enter a deep state of consciousness if you have a proper integration strategy. These tips
are great for people who have a lot of time on their hands as well as those who are super busy and think that they don't have
time to meditate.
There is a 194 page paperback meditation book
on this subject. It is also available online as a free ebook. There are over 60 exercises in the book and more details on
creating your own "deeper meditation strategy". This strategy embraces the essence of all effective Yoga and meditation strategies.
It's at http://www.deepermeditation.net/oceanicmind. Find the link for the online version near the top of the page.
Oceanic Mind - The Deeper Meditation Training Course Book Homepage
Monkey Wisdom Meditation and Yoga, Prescott, AZ Homepage
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