If you’re training for a marathon, you run progressively longer distances. If you’re looking to lose body fat, you may sign up for a high-intensity interval training class. And, if you’re aiming to protect your bones and joints from age-related declines, you may work more weight-bearing exercises into your routine.
[See: 7 Exercises You Can Do Now to Save Your Knees Later.]
So why is it that whether you want better sleep or better relationships, your meditation practice looks the same?
“Most people, if they know anything [about meditation], they only know one technique,” said Dina Kaplan, founder of The Path, an organization that hosts a variety of meditation events and trainings in New York City.
But in reality, there are hundreds of thousands of meditation varieties, each with its own benefits, Kaplan said. “You can choose to follow the path that’s right for you, or you can think of it as a tool box,” she said. Indeed, meditation is exercise of the mind — training in a specific way gives you specific results, said Daniel Goleman, a psychologist in the Berkshires of Massachusetts and co-author of “Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body.” There’s a dose-response relationship — the more you do it, the better you get,” he said. “The brain works the same way as a muscle.”
Here’s how to train it the best way for you:
The Goal: Relaxation
Most kinds of meditation will help you chill out, but those that involve a mental body scan are probably the most efficient and powerful way to do that, Goleman said. “You sweep up and down your body, simply noting what you’re feeling in your feet and calves and thighs and up through the body,” he said. “I have a strong suspicion that that may be the most targeted way to get physiologically relaxed.”
[See: 8 Ways to Relax — Now.]
The Goal: Better Concentration
We’ve all been there: You’re locked into a work project when an email pops up, which lures you to click on a news story, which prompts you to click on another story that you just have to post on Facebook. Down the rabbit hole of wedding photos and vacation selfies you go.
But if you regularly practice mindfulness meditation, or the type that emphasizes being more aware of the present moment, you can train your mind to rebound back to your work project more quickly. Some research even found that office managers who underwent an eight-week meditation training program were less stressed at work, more satisfied with their jobs and performed better (according to their supervisors) than controls.
To practice mindfulness meditation, pick something to focus on — say, the feeling of your breath going in and out of your nostrils or of your belly rising and falling. Then, notice when it wanders and bring it back to that target, Goleman suggested. “That’s a mental rep,” he said. “Every time you do that, you strengthen the neuro-circuitry” important for focus, he said. Even 10 minutes a day can help.
The Goal: Stress Relief
Unemployment is famously stressful; that’s why one study investigating meditation’s effect on stress relief used job-seeking adults as participants. In it, researchers randomly assigned half the folks to a three-day mindfulness meditation retreat and the others to a more generic relaxation retreat. Brain scans showed that the mindfulness participants increased brain connections important in stress resilience and reduced inflammation in the body.
In other words, mindfulness meditation works for this goal, too. “Mindfulness is good for stress relief and helping to train your mind to be more focused,” said Kaplan, who recommends practicing all types of meditation sitting with a straight back and on a relatively empty stomach.
The Goal: Presence
If you’ve been accused of not being “all there” when conversing with a friend or partner, mindfulness meditation is also a great mental exercise for you. “That meditation turns out to allow you to be more present and miss fewer moments with the people you’re with,” said Goleman, who co-directs the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations at Rutgers University. Mindfulness meditation has also been shown to be helpful in everything from making healthier choices and reducing alcohol consumption to improving athletic performance and boosting mood.
The Goal: Creativity
Whether you’re eager to come up with your next entrepreneurial idea or to find a creative way to turn down a date, a mantra-oriented meditation might be right for you. While you can pay for a class in which a teacher will give you a personal mantra, picking any Sanskrit phrase can work, said Kaplan, who uses “so hum,” which means “I am that,” although it’s not necessary or even always recommended to know your mantra’s meaning.
“Repeat the mantra to yourself in your mind’s eye at whatever pace feels natural to you,” Kaplan said. The idea is to tie up the more analytical part of your brain so that the more creative part has a chance to thrive. While other types of meditation can bring about benefits even if you only have one minute a day, this type specifies practicing for 20 minutes twice a day. “The insights don’t come to you during the meditation,” Kaplan points out. “They’ll come to you when you’re walking down the street, six or eight hours after.”
The Goal: Energy
Yes, sitting perfectly still with your eyes closed can make you feel more awake. Energizing styles of meditation, Kaplan said, are “designed to bring natural energy into the body so you don’t need to reach for that fourth Red Bull or Frappuccino.” Try putting your thumb on one nostril and then the other, breathing in and out quickly for 30 seconds. “By the end of it,” Kaplan said, “you’ll feel wild amounts of energy.”
The Goal: Compassion
Do you snap too quickly at loved ones or constantly criticize yourself? Compassionate or gratitude-related forms of meditation like loving kindness meditation can help change those tendencies. Kaplan likes author and Buddhist meditation teacher Sharon Salzburg’s suggestion to choose three wishes like, “May I be happy, may I be peaceful, may I live with ease,” and then repeat them to yourself very slowly two times through. “You’re really internalizing the message of the words,” she said. Then, do the same thing, but direct the wishes toward someone else.
[See: 8 Ways Meditation Can Improve Your Life.]
“This is a really powerful meditation,” Kaplan said. “If you do it for just six minutes a day for eight weeks, your brain will actually change — you will have more gray matter in the part of your brain that regulates compassion and you’ll start reacting to people and events with more compassion.”
More from U.S. News
5 Reasons Your Doc Might Prescribe Meditation–and One Reason She Won’t
8 Ways to Stick to Your Meditation Routine
The Best Kind of Meditation for Your Goals originally appeared on usnews.com
