While the benefits of meditation are well researched and documented, I have never seen information on matching your personal style to your meditation technique.
(Note: meditation is the process of reaching the alpha / theta brain state with a specific procedure, like visualizing a flame, repeating a mantra, or walking mindfully.)
(Note: meditation research shows
(1) the method isn’t the key: consistent practice is
(2) 20 minutes two times a day provides the intended results
(3) any positive word can serve as a focus / mantra- it doesn’t have to be reflective of a religion / belief / system
I have two theories about meditation and personal style:
(1) meditation is easy when matched with your personal style, but arduous to impossible when conflicting with your personal style
(2) meditation teachers match their technique to their personal style and teach that style to others, regardless of their students’ personal style
And I am forever grateful to a persistent woman in one of my workshops for leading me to refine these theories!
While presenting a workshop on consciousness, I was discussing meditation. A woman interrupted to say she just couldn’t do it. She couldn’t meditate. I went down a rabbit hole explaining brain states, specifically the alpha state, the meditation state. The woman insisted that wasn’t it.She could relax:she couldn’t meditate.
When I asked her what technique she was using, she responded her teacher told her to visualize a flame in her third eye. And she just couldn’t see it.
As she explained her frustration at not being able to see the flame, I realized she had fo-cused on me throughout the workshop. She had not looked at her supporting hand-outs. AH-HAH. I got it. She was an avid listener, an audio learner. She was NOT a visual learner. Seeing things was NOT her preferred style. And that would affect her ability to meditate.
I asked the other attendees if they would mind spending a few minutes off-topic while I tested my theory. They agreed, eager to observe. I had her choose a peaceful word, drop into a relaxed state, and mentally repeat the word to herself slowly and rhythmically. It worked for her immediately. When she replaced a visual meditation with an audio medi-tation, it was easy!
Personal style, called learning style and cognitive style, is your preferred way of working with information. It makes sense that your style influences how you prefer to meditate (as well as how you access intuitive information. See the blog on Intuition by Personal Style).
The primary learning / cognitive styles are:
* visual (seeing)
* audio / auditory (hearing)
* kinesthetic (feeling)
APPLY:
Take a learning style quiz (There are numerous ones online for free)
Then read the Meditation blog for your preferred learning style.
For contrast and comparison, try a meditation that
(1) fits your preferred learning style
(2) doesn’t fit your preferred learning style
Choose / design a meditation that is easy for you.
