Familiarise yourself with the key difference and misconceptions
Active Meditation involves movement and deliberate engagement with the body and breath to achieve a meditative state. Practices such as dynamic breathwork, yoga, walking meditation, and sound healing fall under this category. These techniques actively engage the body, making it easier to channel restless energy and focus the mind. Active meditation is particularly useful for those who struggle with stillness or need to release pent-up emotions or stress before achieving deeper relaxation.
Examples: YogBreathology, yoga asanas, dynamic breathwork, walking meditation, dance meditation.
Purpose: To release energy, cultivate awareness through movement, and gradually transition into a more mindful and meditative state.
Passive Meditation, on the other hand, focuses on stillness and quieting the mind. It typically involves seated or lying down practices like anapana meditation, or body scans, where the goal is to observe thoughts, sensations, or breath without active engagement. Passive meditation fosters deep inner awareness and relaxation by cultivating a state of presence and non-attachment to thoughts.
Examples: Seated anapana meditation, body scans, loving-kindness meditation, mantra meditation.
Purpose: To observe the mind, cultivate stillness, and develop inner calm and self-awareness without physical movement.
Summary:
Active Meditation: Engages the body to guide the mind into a meditative state.
Passive Meditation: Focuses on mental stillness and observation without physical movement.
Both approaches are valuable and can be used depending on individual needs, preferences, or the state of mind one seeks to achieve.