Meditation, in general, means focusing your mind on something. Many people today perform meditation to keep themselves stress-free and improve their well-being. This is referred to as ‘mindfulness meditation’. ‘Christian mediation’ is quite different. Here we are going to discuss the differences between these two types of meditation.
1. Purpose of meditation
The purpose of mindfulness meditation is ‘self-improvement’. Meditation helps you to de-stress which eventually improves your concentration, releases anxiety, and makes you happier. By meditating, you exercise your mind to be more mindful. The reason for performing Christian meditation is to form a much deeper relationship with God. This type of meditation will help you to understand God’s teachings.
2. Method of meditation
Mindfulness meditation is all about focusing on your breathing techniques, body, and mind. This helps a person to achieve high levels of self-enhancements. Though Christian meditation starts in a similar fashion, focusing on your mind and body, but slowly it moves outward, and the focus shifts to God. The feeling that you are sitting in God’s presence will help you to be closer to God.
3. Control
In mindful meditation, you are in control of yourself. You believe that whatever trouble you face, you can come out of it using your inner strength. But in Christian meditation, you simply open the door to God and devote yourself to Him. You are not in control of yourself in this case. It is God who will bring you out of trouble.
4. Meditation poses
In mindfulness meditation classes you will be taught to sit in a lotus or kneeling position. Though you can sit on a chair also, your spine must be upright. In the case of Christian meditation, there is no specific position of doing meditation. You can sit the way you feel comfortable. This type of meditation is more concerned about your heart than your body.
5. Result
The ultimate result of mindful meditation is that your mind will be empty and you won’t have any worries. You will feel relaxed and relieved from all kinds of pain and stress. The outcome of the other meditation is that your faith will increase and you will love God more. You will stay away from any sin. You will have a better understanding of the passages of the Bible which you will be able to reflect on your life. In addition to all this, you will also feel stress-free.
Both types of meditation are good for your well-being. You will feel less stress and anxiety. If you have a sleep problem, then it will go away if you meditate in either way. Knowing these differences between the two types of meditations, you will be able to decide which one you want to go for.
