Do you, for a significant part of your time, feel like your mind is clogged up and on autopilot? Are the modern-day challenges of anxiety, problems, and doubts push you to a corner?

That feeling has always been constant as long as humanity existed. Man has still used means like talking to friends and family as a way to deal with the problems. Of late, he has resorted to journaling and also reading books, among many options.

Over and beyond, man devised ways to stay above the chaos and rise to high mental altitudes to access peace of mind. This is through the magic of meditation.

Meditation is the practice of engaging the mind on a particular thing to reach a high level of spiritual awareness.

Ancient meditation techniques have survived the test of time from different cultures and backgrounds of the diverse communities around the oriental world to date. It has always proven to be timelessly effective in freeing the mind.

This post is going to take you through 4 primary ancient meditation techniques that will help free your mind. It is further going to give you a step by step process of how to practice the meditation techniques.

In the end, you will be in an excellent position to choose the one that tickles your fancy, whatever your personality.

Mantra Meditation

A mantra is a word that is said repeatedly to help with concentration and meditation. In meditation, it helps your mind to reach a heightened state of consciousness.

Mantras can be pre-existing and passed on by teachers and gurus or can be personal. They just have to be pleasing to you.

How to do the Mantra Meditation

Step 1

Select a Mantra, a phrase, a fragment of a poem that you are going to use for your meditation. You should choose what is comfortable to repeat over and over with ease. Avoid what is complicated or what has many syllables. And on this matter, go for what is inspiring and uplifting.

Step 2

Sit comfortably in a chair, bench, or on the floor. If you are to sit on the floor, you may support your posture with a blanket or cushion.

Ensure that your posture is naturally well-aligned naturally such that you can maintain it for a long time.

Close your eyes.

Take deep, slow breaths.

Then gradually transition to a point where your breathing is more relaxed and effortlessly rhythmical.

Step 3

Say your mantra slowly and repeatedly.

The mantra should be within the natural rhythm of your breathing. An excellent idea for this is to split the recitations into two such that the first part goes with inhalation and the remaining part with the exhalation.

Step 4

After approximately 20 vocal recitations, do the recitals silently by moving your lips only.

This acts to maintain the rhythm of the breathing.

After another 20 lipsyncing recitations, you now do it internally (without moving your lips)

Step 5

Maintain the state of things as you gently shoo away the intruding and distracting thoughts.

Try and maintain the internal recitation of the sound as much as possible.

Step 6

As the last step, continue on the meditation for the remainder of the set time.

Transition out of the meditation by taking a few deep breaths

Sit quietly and thoroughly experience what you feel.

You may feel restored and calm, or you may uncomfortable. The discomfort may be as a result of old thoughts emanating from your subconscious. This perfectly normal.

You should keep doing the meditation, and with the time you will get used to being in control of your mind rather than being reactive to what comes your way. 

Transcendental Meditation

The transcendental meditation is generally abbreviated as TM. It is a simple kind of meditation where you are to sit and breathe slowly. You should then focus on elevating your state to that of being above your current state of being. It is this part of the practice that the name comes from (transcend).

 The employment of mantras aides in attaining the transcendence to the required level.

How to do the Transcendental Meditation

Step 1

Sit on a chair.

Have your feet flat on the ground and your hands on your lap. Don’t cross your legs or hands.

Step 2

Close your eyes, and take deep breathes slowly to relax the body.

Step 3

Open your eyes briefly and close them again.

Step 4

Recite a mantra inside your mind for the length of your meditation session. The ideal mantra ideally is a Sanskrit sound.

Step 5

When you get a distracting thought, gently return to the mantra.

Step 6

Finally, when you are done, gently move your fingers and toes as you open your eyes.

Step 7

Sit and relax for a few minutes until you are ready to go face the day.

Chakra Meditation

The word chakra means disc or wheel in an ancient Hindu language. There are seven chakras in the human body. The chakras are the energy nodes of the body. These chakras are located at the top of your head, the temple (third eye), the throat, your chest, above your navel, below the navel, and at the end of your spine.

The chakral meditation teaches that the above parts emanate from specialized nerve centers of the spine and go one to represent specific significant organs of the body.

The chakra meditation technique teaches you how to unblock a chakra that is holding your conscious captive of its potential.

How to do the Chakra Meditation

Step 1

Sit comfortably in your preferred place, cushion, bench, or chair, and ensure that your spine is straight.

Focus on each part of the body from the toes upwards and picture them relaxing and the stress evaporating away.

Step 2 

Focus on your breath. Pay attention to your natural breathing. Don’t try to control it. Strain your focus on each of the inhalations and exhalations that you take. You can visualize the gaseous exchange process of the oxygen getting through your lungs and into your bloodstream. Then imagine the oxygen nourishing your cells, tissues, muscles, and organs. Visualize the toxins and wastes, leaving your system through your exhalations.

Step 3

Picture the beating of your heart. Further, visualize the perfect system of your body that is sustained by your breathing. Appreciate the life-giving and maintaining the quality of your breath.

Step 4

At this stage, picture the air that you breathe to be infused with life-giving energy. Give this energy some color – Orange. Picture the orange-colored energy permeating through all your insides and charging all of your inner beings. And as it does this, gradually, the intensity increases as the color gets brighter and brighter. Keep this energy flowing with every breath that you take.

Step 5 

It is time to energize each of the individual chakras from the bottom of the spine upwards. Starting with the root chakra, imagine the clockwise swirl of the disk stimulated by your breathing as it gets brighter and stronger.

Step 6

Proceed to the next chakra (sacral) just below the navel and do the same as stage five above.

Proceed with other chakras (solar plex chakra, heart chakra, throat chakra, head chakra, and finally the crown chakra) in that order. Infuse all of them with life-giving energy. Don’t be keen on spending the same amount of time on each chakra.

Step 7

Visualize all the chakras being fed by this energy powered by your breath all at once, and it should manifest itself appearing to be brighter and stronger and supercharged.

Step 8

Open your eyes and relax. Notice the relaxed and energized feeling that you are feeling. Notice you free your mind feels. 

Yoga Meditation

When practicing this kind of meditation, you are referred to as the yogi. So, yoga meditation is the kind that endeavors for pure consciousness. The goal of yoga meditation is to rise beyond the pleasures of the flesh and the trappings of the material world.

How to do the Yoga Meditation

Step 1 

Sit on a comfortable ground surface and cross your legs in front of you and hold your thumb together with the middle fingers for both hands on top of your knees.

Lengthen and straighten your spine by raising your crown.

Relax your shoulders to open your chest.

Breathe in deeply and slowly into your belly through your nose, 20 to 30 times.

Step 2

Extend the right leg forward and bend your let such that it touches your thigh.

Take a deep breath as you raise and interlock your fingers.

Bend your right leg at the knee to allow your interlocked hands to go around the toes.

Press your head towards your knees as far as is comfortable and hold your breath 6 times.

Step 3

Lift your arms to come straight in front of you.

The palms should be facing each other.

Follow through by lifting your right leg up to the level that you are comfortable.

Remember to have your chest out.

Breathe and hold your breath 5 times.

Step 4 

Exhale and bend your knees outwards such that soles touch.

Interlace your fingers behind your toes as you maintain a straight posture on your spine.

Close your eyes and look at the point where your third eye is.

Breathe and hold, 5 times

Step 5

Repeat steps number 2 and 3 above with the left leg forward

Step 6 

Extend both legs forward.

Have your hands touching the earth beside you and your spine straight and your chest forward.

Maintaining the legs straight, gently have the toes pointing back at you.

Close your eyes and breath and hold 6 times.

Step 7

Breathe in as you raise your hands up and then out as you bend forward.

Bend forward to aim at touching your ankles.

Your head should be facing the ground.

Close your eyes as you maintain this pose with your head, shoulders, and back.

Breathe and hold 6 times.

Step 8

Gently roll onto your back and bring your knees to your chest and loosely lock them there by wrapping your hands around them.

Have your head, neck, shoulders, back, and tailbone all on the floor to ensure that you feel a stretch in your lower back.

Then breathe and hold 6 times.

Step 9

Lower your legs to have the flat of your feet on the ground and your knees bent.

Have your feet shoulder wide.

Breathe in as you raise your trunk with the support of your shoulders and feet to form a bridge and interlock your fingers.

Breathe and hold 6 times.

Step 10

Lay on your back with your hands outstretched to form a T.

Have your left leg bent and over the right leg.

Have your right hand over the left knee to press it in place.

Inhale and turn your head to look at the left hand.

Breath and hold 5 times.

Step 11

As you are still on your back, have your left knee bent and brought to your chest.

Gently wrap your arms around the bent knee to keep it in place.

Ensure that your right heel, your bum, back, shoulders, and head are firm on the ground.

Inhale and relax your legs and elbows.

Breath and hold 5 times.

Step 12

Repeats steps number 11 and 12 above with the right leg extended.

Step 13

As you lay on your back, have your legs spread out, and the soles are touching.

Have your hands beside you.

Have your head, shoulders, and hips firm on the ground.

Breathe and hold 6 times.

Step 14

Release your legs straight forward.

Maintain the hands beside you.

Close your eyes and deliberately relax your whole body from your toes all the way to your crown.

Breath and hold 15 times.

Step 15

As the last step

Sit up and cross your legs in front of you and hold your thumb together with the middle fingers for both hands on top of your knees.

Lengthen and straighten your spine by raising your crown.

Relax your shoulders to open your chest.

Breathe in deeply and slowly into your belly through your nose, 20 to 30 times.

 

You are now well versed in the four ancient meditation types that will help free your mind.  They are the mantra, transcendental, chakra, and yoga meditations.

We hope that this blog has been of help to free your mind. We would gladly share with you more about meditation and all that frees the mind when you share your email address with us.