The Different Meditations Under The Magnifying Glass - In The Spotlight - Destination Santé

November 24, 2022

Let’s zoom together on the different meditation techniques, these approaches practiced to reduce stress, improve the quality of sleep, modify the perception of pain and promote the regulation of mood disorders.

Through deep breathing and visualization exercises, meditation helps to “ become aware of all the changes to which we are exposed in our daily life (…) and our responses, which are often automatic”, specifies Antoine Lutz, neuroscientist at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS)*. This approach allows to ” let gothat is to say, to become aware of the illusory dimension of certain reactions, thoughts or emotions of the mind, which are likely to amplify our discomfort.. Meditation also helps “to cultivate resilience, tolerance and benevolence towards the obstacles and challenges of life”.

A vast program, therefore, to which different meditation techniques can respond.

The meditation mindfully: this approach leads practitioners not to indulge in emotions by anchoring themselves in the present moment, to slow down a mind that often tends to cling to the past or to project itself into the moments to come. This form of meditation encourages “focus on your breathing, your emotions, your thoughts or even the perception of physical sensations in your body. This state of mindfulness then makes it possible to consider such and such a negative thought – the possibility of a catastrophe, for example – with more discernment, by trying to understand its link with other thoughts., explains Antoine Lutz. What effect in the medium term? “Gradually, we are less monopolized by this thought and, therefore, we stop dwelling or ruminating. The same goes with emotions, which can easily overwhelm us. »

Focused attention meditation uses the same basics as mindfulness meditation with a greater part attributed to vigilance.

guided meditation, whose principle is the same as that of mindfulness, refers to all sessions during which the flow of thought is allowed by the voice of a third person. It is the easiest meditation to access, knowing that the other approaches are practiced alone.

Transcendental Meditation (TM) “is very different from other meditations, in that it does not require concentrating, trying to clear your mind, or being in the moment”continues Bob Roth, author of the book “The Power of Silence – The Benefits of Transcendental Meditation”. No particular intention is laid down: the TM consists “to direct attention to inner silence, beyond thought, and involves no concentration or contemplation”summarize in turn the authors of the Canadian blog of Transcendental Meditation www.ca.tm.org.

*Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL – CNRS/Claude-Bernard Lyon 1 University/Jean-Monnet University/Inserm)

Source : lejournal.cnrs.fr, ca.tm.org, sites consulted on November 15, 2022 – La force du silence, Bob Roth, Edition Guy Trédaniel, February 2019, 198 pages, €17.00
Written by : Laura Bourgault – Edited by: Emmanuel Ducreuzet