The practice of meditation is widely recognised and valued as an integral part of life for many people across the world. There are many different meditation practices to choose from and, as the practice has increased so much in popularity in recent years, knowing where to start can be overwhelming. It’s well worth persevering, though, as meditation offers many benefits. When practised regularly, meditation can benefit your well-being and mental health, alleviate stress and anxiety, help with sleep and concentration issues, build resilience and help with interpersonal communication, conflict resolution and personal confidence. 

As a charity inspired by Buddhist values, Karuna incorporates the practice of meditation into daily team-building exercises. This offers many benefits, enabling better connection, communication and understanding between team members as they practise together. Many Karuna team members also meditate daily on their own as part of their personal practice. 

In this blog post, we’ll discuss different types of Buddhist-inspired meditation techniques, provide guidance on how to begin, build and deepen your personal meditation practice and give personal tips and insights from some of our Karuna team members to help you with your meditation journey. 

What religions practise meditation?

Meditation is an ancient practice that has been exercised for thousands of years by various different religions and cultures, including: 

• Buddhism
• Hinduism 
• Islam
• Baha’i faith 
• Taoism
• Jainism 
• Judaism 
• Christianity 
• Sikhism 
• And various other faiths and religions.

It’s important to remember that many non-religious people practise meditation, too. While the practice of meditation can be a powerful tool for connecting to one’s faith or spirituality, many people use different meditation practices to connect to themselves, improve their mental health and concentration, calm their body and mind and relax. 

Different Types of Meditation Practices and Techniques

There are countless types of meditation practices to choose between, each with differing approaches, goals and effects. As we’re a charity inspired by Buddhist values, we’re going to focus on some of the more popular and widely known Buddhist meditation practices that are accessible for beginners but can be practised long-term to help you deepen your practice as you go. 

Samatha (Mindfulness) Meditation

Samatha meditation centres around the skill of mindfulness. This means sustaining your attention on the present moment by concentrating on your current state of being as you sit and meditate—focusing on your breath, bodily sensations, the temperature of the air around you and so on. 

Samatha meditation is about holding a gentle concentration, calming the mind and letting go of desires and cravings as they arise. This mindfulness practice encourages you to become aware of your current state as you meditate, gain clarity around it, acknowledge it, accept it and, ultimately, by accepting it, achieve a state of non-judgement or equanimity (a state of balance and even-mindedness). 

Anyone can practise mindfulness meditation and it’s a worthwhile skill to cultivate and work at. This style of meditation aims to rest your mind, reduce the chatter of thoughts that will inevitably arise and strengthen your concentration skills. It allows you to be present in the here and now, rather than pulled back into the past or forward into the present thinking mind. 

Vipassana (Awareness) Meditation

Vipassana meditation focuses on awareness and insight. It requires the meditator to pay attention to the sensations in their body as they arise and pass away, including thoughts and distractions as they come and go. When these thoughts or sensations arise, one simply notices without attempting to engage, judge or modify them. With practice, this will allow the meditator to distinguish between the continuity of awareness and the transient quality of thoughts and sensations, eventually gaining insight into the nature of both.

In many cases, meditation teachers advise that Vipassana meditation follows a short period of Samatha meditation to clear the mind and settle the body. After this, Vipassana meditation asks that you aim to see things as they really are, without judging what arises—this allows you, in time, to become more aware of your true nature. 

This practice of meditation is an exercise in self-observation without attachment. With consistent practice, you can explore different aspects of yourself, including the impermanence of your internal state and how everything is always moving and changing. This will help you gain deeper insight and understanding of yourself over time. 

Mindfulness of Breathing Meditation

Many people ask the question,’What type of meditation did Buddha practise?’ While the Buddha practised many different kinds of meditation, mindfulness of breathing meditation, sometimes called anapanasati, was the form of meditation he most encouraged. A version of Shamatha meditation as discussed above, it’s one of the oldest forms of Buddhist meditation. In its simplest form, it means to sit and focus solely on the breath mindfully, focusing completely on the entire length of the inhale, the pause before the exhale, the entirety of the exhale, the pause, the inhale again and so on. This also means holding an awareness of the sensations of the breath, including how it feels around your nostrils and mouth, the movements of your chest and stomach and any sounds you may produce as you breathe. 

Practising this style of meditation consistently, focusing on the simplicity of the continuous in-and-out cycle of your breath, allows you to cultivate calmness and, eventually, insight into the true nature of your mind. The breath acts as an anchor for your awareness, something singular for you to direct your attention to—this may prove challenging at first due to its simplicity but, with practice and consistency, it becomes easier. 

Over time, many different styles of mindfulness of breathing meditation have emerged, with some practitioners mainly focusing on the exhale, some on just the nostril sensation and others counting the breaths instead. You’re allowed to be fluid and creative with your meditation practice, so try out different versions of breath meditation as you go and see what resonates with you over time.

Metta (Loving Kindness) Meditation 

Metta meditation, also called Metta Bhavana or loving kindness meditation, is a practice centred around compassion and goodwill. It involves focusing on feelings of Metta (the Buddhist term for love and kindness), working through a process of initially sending these feelings into yourself, then eventually out to all beings in several different stages. 

Start with sending loving thoughts such as ‘May I be well’, ‘May I be happy’, ‘May I be safe’ or ‘May I be free from suffering’ to yourself. Then send these thoughts out to someone you care about and know well (‘May they be well’ etc.), being aware of how this practice makes you feel in your body and mind as you do it. Then try bringing someone to mind you know less well, like a neighbour you see infrequently, then move on to someone you might find challenging or slightly difficult, all the time paying attention to the feelings and sensations that arise. Eventually, you can move the practice of Metta meditation out to sending thoughts of loving kindness out to all beings in the world, from your heart space to theirs. 

This style of meditation can be very powerful, providing a stronger awareness of your own feelings and developing a growing sense of connection and compassion to oneself and others.. A personal Metta meditation practice can build profound empathy which can ripple out into your daily interactions to make a difference to others in a positive way. 

Tonglen Meditation 

Tonglen meditation is an ancient form of Buddhist meditation practice that aims to bring the practitioner’s awareness to the suffering of themselves and others, with an emphasis on transformation. Tonglen means ‘sending and taking’ or ‘giving and receiving’.As part of the traditional practice, on the inhale, you visualise taking in the suffering of the world, breathing in the sadness, pain and hurt you are aware of all around you and acknowledging it in your mind and body. Then, on the exhale, you breathe out positive and loving thoughts of lightness, compassion and wellbeing, conceptually transforming the original suffering into something positive and healing. 

It may be helpful to visualise the suffering as a cloud of smoke or as darkness entering your body, then, before you release the breath in the exhale, to visualise it dissolving in your heart space or transforming into light inside your chest before you breathe out. Tonglen meditation is supportive in understanding that one can cultivate compassion and kindness for oneself and others, even in the midst of personal and external suffering.

Many people find the Tonglen meditation challenging. Strong feelings and emotions can arise as you are confronted with the wider suffering in the world around you, so it can be beneficial to practise formally with a teacher or to adapt the practice to something easier for you to work with. This could mean narrowing the field of the suffering you’re breathing into a smaller, more manageable pool, such as just your own suffering, and incorporating Metta meditation practices to strengthen the sense of well-being and loving kindness that you send out to balance out the practice. You can also reverse the Tonglen practice if it feels supportive by breathing in feelings of love, happiness and wellbeing and releasing feelings of pain and suffering on the exhale.

How to Build a Meditation Practice 

Now that we’ve explored various different types of meditation practices and some of their potential effects, we’ll now discuss some of the ways you can approach beginning a meditation practice as part of your daily life and deepen it over time. 

How to Begin a Meditation Practice

If you’re new to meditation, it’s best to start small and remember that consistency is key. Follow these helpful tips to help you build a daily meditation practice into your life and reap the benefits. 

• How long to meditate and when

Start with a daily meditation practice for just a few minutes a day. Even just five minutes is absolutely fine, you can build up to longer sessions over time. Try to allocate a regular time of day for your meditation that fits in with your daily schedule—many people like to meditate in the morning before their mind fills up with the busy-ness of day-to-day tasks, thoughts and conversations, but you could meditate on your lunch break, on an afternoon walk or even before you go to bed. Try to find a regular time that suits you that you can commit to regularly.

• Where to meditate

You can meditate anywhere, even in noisy places like the bus or on a bench in the middle of a busy town square. However, when you’re starting out, it’s probably easier to find a quiet spot in your home where you aren’t likely to be disturbed so you can commit to the practice without interruption or a lot of extra distractions. Your bedroom, living room or even kitchen table will do. 

• How to sit

Your posture is important in meditation but you don’t necessarily have to sit cross-legged, Buddha-style. If it’s uncomfortable to sit this way, maybe sit or kneel on the floor with a cushion to support you or on a sofa or chair with your feet resting on the floor. You can even lie down to meditate if this is more comfortable. The most important thing is that your spine is straight and that you feel equally alert and relaxed.

• How to begin

You might want to try going into a meditation on your own, picking one of the practices we’ve listed above and having a go, setting a timer, following your breath, paying attention to the sensations in your body and trying to cultivate a sense of mindfulness. However, if you’re completely new to the practice of meditation, this will likely prove quite difficult and you’ll wonder if you’re doing it right, with thoughts racing and no sense of calmness or clarity coming through. As you’re starting out, it can be helpful to follow guided meditations led by experienced practitioners and teachers who can help lead you through the practice so you know what to expect and how to follow along throughout the meditation. While this is best done in person, there are also guided meditations available on websites like YouTube or apps like Insight Timer. We also offer guided meditations from time to time on our Instagram so give us a follow and look out for our guided meditation reels there!

• Be patient with yourself 

Meditation is called a practice for a reason.It will never be perfect. Every practice will be different and many times it will be challenging. You likely will find early on that your mind is busy with thoughts and you can’t concentrate or relax easily. Over time, with consistency, patience and self-compassion, your meditation practice will become easier—remember that it is a skill. The more you practise, the easier and clearer it will become. 

How to Deepen a Meditation Practice

Once you’re confident with your daily meditation practice and feel it’s well incorporated into your lifestyle, it’s worth considering integrating different ways to build on your skills and deepen your meditation practice. There are various things to consider trying that can be beneficial ways to deepen your experience with meditation:

• Group meditation practices

Meditating with other people can be incredibly powerful and feel quite different to practising on your own. If you have any friends who also meditate, ask if they would like to try meditating with you from time to time and see how that feels. It can really help to build connection, as well as present new challenges and benefits to your own practice as you meditate alongside another person, having awareness of another person in the space. Meditating in larger groups is also beneficial, so do some research and see if there are any meditation centres or groups held in your local area that you can attend. Meditating alongside other people can really help to strengthen the skill and deepen your practice, whether you’re being guided or not.

• Try moving meditation

Once you feel comfortable with a stationary, seated meditation practice, try incorporating movement into it, either with hand or arm movements while you sit or by committing to a full walking meditation out in the street or somewhere in nature. Meditation in motion requires you to retain your mindful awareness and nonjudgement while retaining a sense of concentration on movement and the things around you. The aim is to remain present in the meditation while being aware of what is going on around you and within your body in terms of sensations. By expanding your awareness in this way, your meditation practice will naturally broaden and deepen. 

• Increasing the length and frequency of meditation practices

While you may have committed to a daily meditation practice of ten minutes per day at a regular time, a powerful way to build on and deepen your practice is to extend the length of time that you meditate, committing to extended sessions of meditation, even if this feels uncomfortable and challenging. By sitting with the discomfort of a difficult practice for longer and longer, you are building resilience and improving your meditation skills. Another way to deepen your practice is to build in more sessions in a day, so if you meditate every morning, try introducing an evening session or a lunchtime meditation too, encouraging your mind and body to become more used to the practice. The longer and more often you meditate, the deeper your practice will become.

• Explore different meditation styles

You will likely be comfortable with a few simple types of meditation practices while you’re starting out, including mindfulness of breathing, Samatha and Vipassana. If you want to deepen your meditation practice, try building in a variety of other styles like Metta or Tonglen meditation and do some research into other meditation techniques if you’d like more diversity in your practice. This will keep your mind and body interested, reduce stagnation and ensure you don’t get too comfortable or lazy—you’ll discover new areas and remain curious as you practise. Remember, you can always use this article as a resource for some of the most popular and widely respected meditation styles. 

• Working with meditation teachers

There is so much to learn with meditation. While there are so many written resources available, working with an experienced meditation teacher can be hugely beneficial if you are looking to deepen your practice. You don’t necessarily need to seek out a teacher to work with one-on-one. You can take online courses, find a teacher you like on a meditation app and follow their work, attend workshops or even book to go on meditation retreats. By committing your time and energy to work under the guidance of an experienced teacher who can direct you through specific practices and techniques, you are opening up to a wealth of learning that will hone your skills and help deepen your personal practice. 

Meditation Tips and Insights from the Karuna Team

Many of our team members at Karuna have been meditating for many years and have learned valuable things as part of their daily meditation practice. Some of them have shared their personal thoughts, advice and quotes that have helped them with their meditation practice over time and we thought we would share their insights with you here.

One team member discusses the importance of having an open conversation as part of their practice:

Bring everything in. Whatever the sensation, thought, emotion, let it come, and be curious: ‘Oh, hello. What’s up with you today? Tell me all about it.’ And it does.

The more years I meditate, the more I realise how the body mirrors the mind and vice versa. Meditation seems to be more about allowing a relaxed conversation between the two. 

A favourite quote from the poet David Whyte is 

‘Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into the conversation.’

Another Karuna team member references this quote and what it means for them:

‘During the period of meditation, there is not anything; it is simply open. But when you waver towards appearances, delusions will arise. After careful examination, understand not to discriminate, to neither accept nor reject. As anything can happen, peace will arise from within.’ 

From Padmasambhava’s Advice to the Three Fortunate Women, Canto 103.

I turn to this because my meditations sometimes feel far from open – they can be full of thinking, planning, speculating or remembering. This quote reminds me that these are all just objects in the mind – not inherently good or bad – and if I can allow them to be – not accepting or rejecting – through examination, I see they self-liberate. That ‘anything can happen’ is important to remember. It can be easy to think ‘same old cushion, same old mind, same old meditation’, when actually every moment is new… can I really practice like anything can happen?!

One team member comments on their sense of awareness:

A meditation teacher recently told me to ‘stop being aware’. If you’ve ever tried to stop being aware, I imagine you found it to be quite hard! As soon as I tried to stop being aware, I realised that awareness is there in every moment. I found it really helpful, and since then, I have been more appreciative of awareness and how it’s always there. It might even be awareness of being unfocused or of not being very aware. 

Another team member highlights how easy it is to want to be a perfectionist in meditation and offers some helpful advice:

Having perfectionist tendencies, I have found this advice very helpful:

‘If you get one percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done. This is why small choices don’t make much of a difference at the time, but add up over the long-term.’ – James Clear

And finally, a Karuna team member offers a quote that helps them with loving-kindness Metta meditation:

‘Body like a mountain, heart like the ocean, mind like the sky’

– Dogen

I often use this as a basis when first sitting, to become present to being on the cushion and to ground myself in what it is to be alive in this world. I find the imagery has a positive effect when practising the Metta Bhavana, as I often relate to Metta like an ocean. Plus, in its simplicity, this quote is easy to remember at any moment!

We hope you’ve found this guide helpful as you embark on your meditation journey. As a charitable organisation inspired by Buddhist values, we’re proud of how the practice of meditation has influenced the way our team members work and engage with each other in their roles.

Many of our team members would agree that their meditation practice supports them in their work at Karuna, including how they collaborate with our partners across South Asia. Please consider supporting our vital work to serve marginalised communities in South Asia today. Our website offers more information about the projects we support in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. 

If you can make a donation today, please donate now or consider joining our fundraising team.