#### 🕯️ Meditation 🧘
Meditation is difficult to define because there are so many widely different practices – some dating back thousands of years. Here in the west we tend to define it as a method by which we train our attention, but that’s only true for particular practices. Broadly speaking, meditation is the practice of being aware. It can also show us ways to have more fun with our mind.
- [[🔑 Meditation can be either Presence-led or Parts-led]]
- Smiling during meditation, even slightly, even an inner smile in the heart-space, helps us bring [[☀️ Compassion]] to the [[💡 Parts|Parts]] who arise.
- Elongating the inhale can energize us; [[💨 Elongated Exhalation]] can calm us. [[💨 Re-Centering]] can do both at once.
- Upright [[💡 Meditation Posture]] helps maintain focus.
- [[Transition out of meditation]]
- [[🔑 At any given moment, there are other people meditating]]
- [[🔑 We are always meditating on something]]
- [[🔑 We are what we practice]]
- [[🔑 Parts can use our minds and bodies to get or distract our attention]]
- The best practice is the one you want to do.
- Thoughts are not a problem.
##### Branches of Meditation
Meditation is a tree with many branches. While there is some overlap, different practices have different uses and benefits, and work best for different people.
As we repeatedly experiment, iterate, and [[🔑 Trust your experience and intuition|🔑 trust our intuition]], we’ll get a sense of what practices work for us at what time and how, which helps us optimize our practice.
Traditionally meditation was learned through a teacher who could tailor the practice to us so that we are best equipped to explore and bring balance to our interiority. While technology has made learning much more accessible, it can't replace a teacher who can give us bespoke pointers and guidance. On the other hand, exploration can be fun.
There's no need to rush into advanced practices. The best way to grow our practice is to stay within our [[💡 Growth Zone|Challenge Zone]].
###### Meditation Practices
- [[🧘 Mindfulness Meditation]]
- [[🧘 Loving-Kindness (Metta) Meditation]]
- [[🧘 Yoga Nidra]]
- [[🧘 IFS Meditations]]
- [[🧘 RAIN Meditation]]
- [[🧘 Do Nothing]]
- [[🧘 Neti-Neti]]
- [[🧘 Tonglen]]
- [[🧘 Sa Ta Na Ma Meditation]]
- [[🧘 Microcosmic Orbit Meditation]]
<br/>
- [[Social Meditation 🧘🧘]]
##### Meditation Communities
- [[🧑🏼🤝🧑🏾 The Consciousness Explorer's Club]]
- [[🧑🏼🤝🧑🏾 HealthyGamerGG]]'s Discord Server
> [!info] Meditation Resources
> ###### Apps
> - [[📱 Waking Up]]
> - [[📱 Brightmind]]
> - [[📱 Calm]]
> - [[📱 Mindful Glimpses]]
> - [[📱 Insight Timer]]
> ###### Sites
> - [Medito Foundation](https://meditofoundation.org/)
> - [Cheetah House](https://www.cheetahhouse.org/), for meditators in distress
> ###### YouTube Channels
> - [Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv-oUk8x6SGHMOLrCMDNrsw)
> - [Insight Meditation Community of Washington](https://www.youtube.com/c/InsightMeditationCommunityofWashington)
> - [Being Integrated](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxo_bHWY3UgI2vAO_7f9VuQ)
##### See Also
- [[🛡️ Spiritual Bypassing]]
- [[🛠 Microdosing]] [[🌿 Magic Mushrooms]] seems to amplify the benefits of Meditation.
- [[🕯️ Breathwork 💨]]
- [[🛠 Heart Rate Variability Training]]
- Loop of Awareness