“Meditation” is an umbrella word, like “exercise.” Swimming and powerlifting are both exercise; breath awareness and chanting are both meditation — and they train noticeably different things. This guide describes ten common styles honestly: what each one is, what it feels like, and who tends to click with it. No style is “the best.” The best one is the one you’ll actually practice.
1. Breath meditation (mindfulness of breathing)
The most common starting point across many traditions. You rest attention on the sensations of breathing and return whenever the mind wanders. Portable and time-honored — though it’s not what we teach first: many beginners find the breath a thin, slippery anchor, and the practice can turn dry and effortful. It’s an honest option; it just isn’t ours — our honest look at breathing meditation explains why, and what we teach instead.
2. Body scan
You move attention slowly through the body — feet to head or head to feet — noticing whatever sensations are there. Grounding and physical, popular in secular mindfulness courses and often used as a relaxation exercise at bedtime. Another style we describe rather than teach — our honest look at the body scan covers what it’s good at and what we’d hand you instead.
3. Loving-kindness (metta)
This is the method we teach — on this site and in our nonprofit’s free sessions. You cultivate a feeling of warmth and goodwill, usually by bringing to mind someone easy to love and silently wishing them well, and that feeling itself becomes the meditation object. It sounds sentimental; in practice it’s a powerful concentration method with a built-in advantage: an anchor that feels good is one the mind gladly returns to. Learn the basic form in our beginner’s guide, then go deep with the complete metta guide on our teaching site.
4. Walking meditation
Meditation on the move — attention rests in the body while you walk. Some traditions walk very slowly; others use a completely normal pace. Ideal for restless bodies and as a bridge between sitting practice and ordinary life. See this practical walking meditation guide.
5. Mantra meditation
You silently repeat a word or phrase, letting it occupy the attention. The repetition gives the mind something rhythmic to hold, which many people find easier than the breath. Transcendental Meditation (TM) is the best-known branded version, taught with assigned mantras and paid instruction — but mantra practice itself is ancient, and free.
6. Zen (zazen)
The seated practice of the Zen tradition: precise posture, open awareness, and radical simplicity — often summarized as “just sitting.” Usually learned in a group with a teacher, and the community and form are a large part of its appeal. Suits people drawn to discipline and aesthetic sparseness.
7. Vipassana (insight meditation)
A family of practices aimed at seeing experience clearly — its changing, impersonal nature — often taught through body-sensation scanning (the Goenka retreats) or noting practice. Famous for silent ten-day retreats, which are a profound but demanding way to start. You don’t need a retreat to practice insight, but the immersion is why many people go.
8. Open awareness / open monitoring
Rather than one anchor, attention rests wide open, noticing whatever arises — sounds, thoughts, sensations — without grabbing any of it. Spacious and freeing for experienced meditators; genuinely difficult as a first practice, because an untrained attention tends to just daydream. Worth exploring after a few months with an anchor.
9. Guided meditation
Any of the above, with a voice walking you through it. Not a separate technique so much as training wheels — extremely useful ones. When to keep the voice and when to drop it: guided vs. unguided, compared honestly.
10. Contemplative prayer and other traditions
Meditative practice isn’t owned by Buddhism. Christian centering prayer, Jewish hitbodedut, Sufi dhikr, and secular relaxation methods all share the same core move: attention, gently returned, again and again. If you have a home tradition, it probably has a contemplative branch worth discovering.
Which style should you actually start with?
Most people don’t need a survey; they need a starting point. Honest shortcuts:
- If your mind is busy or anxious — start with a warm object rather than a neutral one. Watching the breath gives a racing mind an empty room to fill; loving-kindness gives it better company.
- If you’ve tried before and “failed” — the method was probably the problem, not you. A cold anchor defeats a lot of capable people.
- If you can’t sit still — walking practice is a complete practice, not a consolation prize.
- If you want tradition and structure — Zen and Vipassana both offer real teachers and real communities; we describe them honestly here and point you to them.
- If you want something to happen tonight — five minutes of warmth beats twenty minutes of technique research.
And one honest warning that applies to every style below: method-hopping is the most reliable way to make no progress at all. Every switch resets your familiarity. Pick one that suits your temperament, give it a season, and change only for a reason you could explain out loud.
How to choose
- Brand new? Start with loving-kindness — the basic form takes ten minutes to learn, and it’s the method our teachers use with every beginner.
- Tried meditation before and found it cold, dry, or joyless? That’s exactly the experience loving-kindness fixes. Warmth first; concentration follows.
- Can’t sit still? Walking meditation, at a normal pace — same loving-kindness, in motion.
- Mind too loud for silence? Guided sessions while you learn, and our guide on the too-busy mind.
- Drawn to another tradition on this list? Genuinely fine — a practice you love is better than a practice you were assigned. The descriptions above should help you look in the right place.
Whatever you pick, give it two honest weeks before judging — style-hopping every three days is the one reliable way to get nothing from any of them. Our suggestion is the one we teach: start with loving-kindness today. And if you’d like help deciding, a free session with a real teacher beats any quiz.
Frequently asked questions
What are the main types of meditation?
The most widely practiced are breath-focused mindfulness, body scan, loving-kindness (metta), walking meditation, mantra practices including Transcendental Meditation, Zen, Vipassana, open awareness, and guided meditation. Most differ mainly in what they ask you to rest attention on.
Which type of meditation is best for beginners?
The one you’ll keep doing. Beginners are most often handed the breath and most often quit on it, because a faint neutral sensation is genuinely hard to stay with. Many people find a warm object — the felt sense of loving-kindness — far easier to return to, which is why it’s what we teach.
What’s the difference between mindfulness and meditation?
Meditation is the formal practice — you sit down and do it. Mindfulness is the quality of attention you’re training, which can be carried into anything: washing dishes, walking, listening to someone.
Can I combine different types of meditation?
You can, but early on it usually slows you down. Familiarity is what makes a practice work, and familiarity comes from repetition. Better to go deep in one for a season, then explore.
Which meditation is best for anxiety?
Many people report that breath-focused practice makes an anxious mind louder, because attention lands on the same body signals anxiety already monitors. A warm, pleasant object tends to be gentler. Meditation is a practice, not a treatment — if anxiety is shaping your days, please talk with a professional too.