Meditation

Our full selection of articles exploring meditation.

Woman expressing gratitude with her arms open in front of a lush green background

Guided Meditation Script for Gratitude

One way you can cultivate gratitude in your life is with gratitude meditations. Over time, this process can help you internalize a greater sense of thankfulness and an enhanced appreciation for life. With gratitude, your default perspective will start to shift towards recognizing what you have, rather than what you don’t have. A gratitude affirmations…

Self Love Meditation Featured

A 9-Minute Guided Self-Love Meditation Script (PDF + Audio)

A self love meditation is a way to internalize compassion and love for yourself. This short guided meditation for self love can help you start to rewire your brain for self love, positivity, and inherent worthiness. For some reason, we often tend to treat ourselves worse than we treat others. Forgiving ourselves is often harder…

Confidence Meditation

A 9-Minute Guided Confidence Meditation Script (+ Audio)

A confidence meditation is one way to begin to trust yourself, and your own intuition, in a stronger way. This short meditation will help you make progress towards building trust and confidence in yourself. By repeating affirmations that promote trust in yourself and increased self-worth, you can internalize an enhanced sense of confidence. Over time,…

Two people practicing movement meditation in the park

7 Movement Meditation Practices to Clear Your Mind

Movement meditation practices like yoga, walking meditation, and tai chi are a way to bring a more active energy to your meditation practice. We often think of meditation as a practice that happens in stillness – but it doesn’t have to be, as long as you’re still paying attention to the present moment, nonjudgmentally. Some…

Woman meditating on a cliff while looking out over a forest

35 Interesting Facts About Meditation

This list of 35 interesting facts about meditation shows that there are 275 million meditators around the world, the most popular city for meditation is Melbourne, Australia, and many other fun meditation facts. You’ve no doubt heard many of the most popular facts about meditation. Perhaps you’ve heard meditation can make your body healthier, your…

How to start a meditation journal

How to Start a Meditation Journal (Template + Prompts)

Meditation journal prompts make meditation journaling easy. If you’re looking to get started journaling about your meditation experience, keep it simple: grab a piece of paper or open a new note on your phone, and jot a few notes down about your experience. To make it even easier, use a meditation journal template and prompts….

A woman practicing water meditation while sitting by a lake

Water Meditation Techniques

Water meditation techniques are any meditation method that focuses on water. It includes meditating near water, listening to the sounds of water, or even immersing yourself in water while you meditate. One of the most universally relaxing sounds we can hear as humans is the sound of running water. That’s why so many spas have…

Woman meditating on the beach wondering what is the goal of meditation

What is the Goal of Meditation?

What is the goal of meditation? Most meditators agree that the goal of meditation is to build awareness, increase peace and calm, and live more fully in the present moment. But beyond that, there’s a wide variety of answers. Each person comes to their meditation practice with their own set of goals. I meditate primarily because…

Woman practicing self-love and self forgiveness

A 10-Minute Guided Self Forgiveness Meditation (Script + Audio)

Harming others, on purpose or not, comes with being human. That’s why having the capacity to forgive yourself is so important. This 10-minute meditation will help you make progress towards forgiving yourself. As we go through this world, we make all kinds of mistakes. It happens every day.  We hurt people we love, we hurt…

Woman outside meditating practicing different types of meditation practices

51 Types of Meditation Practices

Not every meditation technique works perfectly for everyone. From Vipassana to Chakra meditation to Zazen to mantra meditation, there are many types of meditation practices to experiment with as you look for the technique that best connects with you. Oftentimes, experienced meditators go through multiple forms of meditation before settling on one that connects best with…

Woman sitting on the floor learning skills through meditation

Why Is Meditation Important? (25 Ways It Can Improve Your Life)

Why is meditation important? Meditation is a powerful tool to improve well-being by cultivating a calm state of mind and reducing mental chatter and stress. From improved focus, gratitude, and self-compassion, to less anger, stress, and anxiety, practicing mindfulness meditation has an incredible number of benefits. It’s easy to lose sight of just how powerful…

Women meditating with a dog next to her

What Dogs Can Teach Us About Mindfulness

Dogs have a natural ability to live in the present. If you’re lucky enough to have a dog in your life, you may not even realize that you have a mindfulness guru living with you. Dogs also help us with mindfulness by reminding us to play and experience joy in our daily life. Dogs are…

What Does Meditation Feel Like

What Does Meditation Feel Like?

What does meditation feel like? Meditation is an intensely personal experience. But generally, there tends to be three types of meditation sessions: calm and relaxing, “just okay,” and difficult and frustrating. Each creates a distinct feeling. The experience of meditation doesn’t only differ from person to person. The same person can have a wildly different…

Woman meditating in a group setting

Meditation Doesn’t Work For Me—What Now?

Meditation isn’t for everyone. But it takes time to work. If you’ve tried it and feel like it doesn’t work for you, you may consider trying different meditation techniques, meditating for longer, or doing a meditation course or retreat. I frequently have to encourage myself to keep my meditation practice going. With anything that requires…

Woman struggling to meditate, sitting distracted

What Are the 5 Stages of Meditation?

The 5 stages of meditation are Optimism, The Slump, Unraveling, Abandoment, and Rediscovery. Building a meditation practice is hard work. Sometimes, setbacks occur. Failure is part of the process of building a sustainable meditation practice. Have you ever been trying to eat healthier, and then (inexplicably) found yourself in front of the pantry eating potato…

Woman reading the Bible and contemplating

Contemplation vs Meditation (What’s the Difference?)

The main difference between contemplation and meditation is that meditation is a practice that focuses on clearing the mind, while contemplation is a more analytical and reflective practice that involves thinking deeply about a particular topic or concept. Sometimes, all you need is to understand your own thoughts. When that happens, you sit down and…

Young man in a coffee shop studying after meditation

How to Meditate Before Studying

If you meditate before studying, it can help clear your mind and create a more receptive state for learning. Just 10 minutes may be enough to boost your focus and concentration ahead of your study session. If your mind tends to race when you’re supposed to be studying or before you take an exam, you’re…

What to Do With Your Hands During Meditation

Meditation Hand Positions (A Short Beginner’s Guide)

When meditating, you should put your hands in the position that’s most comfortable for you. Common poses include one hand clasping the other, and each hand resting on one knee. There are also a number of ‘mudras’ you can try that carry meaning in some meditation traditions. Whether you’re just starting meditation or have been…

Group of people meditating in a park on World Meditation Day - May 21

World Meditation Day Is May 21

World Meditation Day happens every year on May 21. Let’s be honest: most of the “National this-and-that” days that show up on your social media feeds these days are marketing stunts. But World Meditation Day doesn’t have an agenda. It’s just a gentle reminder that if you’re looking for less stress and more calm, meditation…

How to Meditate In A Noisy Place

Can You Meditate In A Noisy Place?

Wondering how to meditate in a noisy place? Surprisingly, it’s possible, not only with noise-canceling headphones—but also by training your mind to observe noise differently. It’s hard enough meditating with all the thoughts your mind generates. Adding environmental noise on top of your normal mental chatter can create a distracting atmosphere where it feels almost…