Does it matter what kind of meditation I practice?

**jtn98** · 04-03-2016 10:16 PM

I know that meditation can be very helpful in increasing general awareness, but I'm wondering, does it matter what kind of meditation is practiced? Up until recently I've just been sitting on the floor and focusing on my breathing. But I've just heard of something called "transcendental meditation", which apparently can only be taught by an instructor one-on-one. I'm going to an Intro session in a few weeks, and I may start practicing it regularly. But if my floor-sitting meditation is fine for lucid dreaming, I'd just as well stick with that, instead of going to all the meetings for TM.

**jtn98** · 04-03-2016 11:12 PM

Nevermind guys, I just found out that the entire course is $1,000. I'll just stick to my floor meditation.

**Oneirin** · 04-04-2016 01:14 AM

You can always check out sivason's Dream Yoga Course. He incorporatees many meditation practices which support a wide range of lucid dreaming skills (Raising awareness/mindfulness, Entering into WILDS & transitioning, stabilizing dreams, enhancing visualization etc.)
Any type of mindfulness based meditation will help greatly as well, and I read a study at one point which supported this. In the study, there was an increased LD count per month among those engaged in mindfulness based meditation practice.
You can look into buddhist style medtiations such as samatha (concentration) as well as vipassana (insight). You can definitely find great instruction from a google search. I've read accounts of vipassana practicioners haveing good success with WILDS while keeping a very steady practice.

**sisyphus** · 04-05-2016 01:52 AM

I think it does matter somewhat, but mostly because "meditation" is an umbrella term for many many practices, so not all of them are well-suited. Don't spend a grand on anything. At most, you might splurge 10-20 bucks on a few books. Or look in a library or any of the new-fangled ways of renting or previewing books online. But even before that, continue with your current practice and see what you can find through exploration and experimentation. I happen to think vipassana (Buddhist-style insight meditation, usually translated as "mindfulness") is where it's at, but I'm just one voice. I thought we had a thread here for meditation books but I can't find it; at least not a definitive one. If I could recommend one book, it would be Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana.

I think it's also worth considering that meditation, or other practices, can help indirectly. For example, if a person's main hang-up for lucid dreaming is poor sleep caused by stress, then a different style of meditation might help that issue, and thus improve their overall well-being and lucid dreaming too. Or the remedy might be exercise or an improved diet.