Page 44 - Demo

42So are you saying there are really big differences between different kinds of meditation?Yes%u2014there are many different meditation practices, and they are very different from one another. If I say I %u201cexercised%u201d today, and so did you, we don%u2019t assume that you and I did the same thing. I could have worked in my garden, you could have run a marathon. If I ate some food and you ate some food, we don%u2019t assume that both meals were equivalent. I had a chocolate sundae, you had salad, our friend had vegetables and rice. All these meals had different effects on our mind and body, today and for our whole life.Interesting. I never thought about that. Tell me more.There are many different kinds of eyes-closed practices which have different goals, work differently, and do different things to the mind and body.Now that scientists can see what our brains are doing, we can see that there are three broad categories of eyes-closed practice. These are: Focused Attention (concentration), Open Monitoring (mindfulness), and Spontaneous Self-Transcending (the Transcendental Meditation technique).