Types of Meditation – Why You Can Confidently Make Seated Meditation Your Last Resort

Now, any commonplace piece might begin by defining meditation or analyzing the practice before delving into details.

But this isn’t a commonplace piece. And you’re certainly not visiting a commonplace site. So, let’s cut to the chase.

This piece is for those looking to understand more about their lives. Perhaps you want to begin meditation, maybe you’re looking for a change of pace or career, maybe you simply want to bring some calm into your life, and peace. But to do that, sitting in one place for any amount of time, eyes closed, sounds not just downright torturous but also alarming.

I hear you. I feel you. I was in that exact space.

Why does sitting quietly with the eyes closed sound so restricting, even confining?

My answer may not surprise you even though I was certainly taken aback when insight dawned – restless energy.

You see, I was geared up to move and my body couldn’t sit still. Every time I sat down, within a couple of minutes, I’d feel unbearably restless like I wanted to jump out of my skin. My eyelids would flutter like crazy, giving me a mild headache. Odd parts of my body would begin itching, the noises around me would seem too loud and I just couldn’t sit still. You can read about my first experience of meditation here. The effects of meditation this way were such that I gave up on it entirely.

I just wasn’t ready, I thought. Or maybe it isn’t for me.

But I’m here to let you in on a little secret – seated meditation is for absolutely every single being on this planet.

We just have to prepare ourselves for it. This preparation can happen in many ways.

For me, it was to work off my restless energy. A few months after my disastrous first meditation session, I joined a school as an Expressive Arts Facilitator – this meant I’d be working with primary school, facilitating dance, drama, music and art. Plenty of movement. The year after that, I joined a dance troupe, overcoming my immense fear of dance. The abundance of movement. The year after that, I began travelling. Movement and only movement. The year after that, I finally ended up at the place that I now call home.

It took more than four years to that morning of my first session to get to this space that I’m in now – able to sit still, calmly and more importantly, restfully. Of course, my body still gets the odd itch, I feel restless every now and then, and my legs start feeling numb after a certain point. But I’ve reached a stage where by observing these sensations, I’ve stopped reacting to them.

My restless energy had to be worked off. Even today, once I meditate in the mornings, I have a full day of work that involves being on my feet the entire time, walking from one place to another, cleaning out rooms, public spaces etc. There’s still then a ton of energy that needs to be moved and removed. Because any kind of meditation, concentrative or contemplative – it needs focus. And focus can’t happen when the energy in our body isn’t flowing smoothly.

If there’s anything I have learnt though, it is this. When our intention is pure, the Universe arranges for everything that we need for our evolution.

For me, it was movement. For you, it could be writing or a sport, singing or craft, coding or drawing, law or banking. It could be anything – all it needs to be is something that resonates with you, something that pushes you out of your comfort zone, which scares the hell out of you, which doesn’t allow you to take the easy way out, which pushes you to become a better version of yourself every day.

Even if you don’t know what it is yet, don’t worry. The Universe is arranging for it as you read this. If your heart is good and you are kind everywhere you can be, that’s all the qualifications Nature is looking for from you.

If you’ve already found it, you’re well on your way. Keep working on it, keep doing it and there will come a day when you can finally sit down to close your eyes and you’ll feel… peace. And stillness.

If you’re still not convinced, forget about meditation itself. The side effects of meditation just may push you to do it because these effects – they are life-changing.

There are many different types of meditation out there. Ultimately, they all lead to the same destination. Your path is waiting for you.

All you need to do is take the first step.

What are you waiting for?