The 6 differences between formal meditation and informal meditation

Within the repertoire of meditation practice there are various techniques, among which the categories of formal and informal meditation stand out.

The essential objective of both types of meditation is to live the present moment with full consciousness, without judging it; however, there are several characteristics that allow them to be distinguished.

Therefore, this article will briefly explain the differences between formal and informal meditation, giving examples of each one.

• Related article: "The 8 types of Meditation (and their characteristics)"

Main differences between formal and informal meditation

These are the key aspects that distinguish between the two types of meditation.

1. Context in which they are carried out

One of the main differences between formal and informal meditation is that the latter is a meditation modality that can be done in any context. from day to day, such as while the person is eating, so that they focus fully on savoring each bite.

Formal meditation, on the other hand, requires a quiet place where it can be carried out, without distractions that can interrupt your practice.

2. Time needed for your practice

Another aspect of the differences between formal and informal meditation is that informal tends to require less time to be practiced.

For example, it can be done through an exercise as simple as putting all the senses focused on the act of eating an orange; focusing on each bite, its color, the smell it gives off, its touch, etc.

Unlike it, formal meditation requires minimal time to effectively carry out the sequence of exercises of which this modality of meditation is composed (p. e.g. 10, 15, 30 minutes, etc.).

• You may be interested in: "The 10 benefits of going to psychological therapy"

3. Routine and constancy required by each of them

To carry out formal meditation it is necessary to carry out a more structured routine plan and with greater consistency than for informal meditation.

This is because it is a meditation modality composed of a greater number of exercises that it is recommended that they be carried out in sequence. On the other hand, as the duration of the formal practice is longer, it requires more time to be carried out autonomously.

4. Structure for its realization

Here we find another of the differences between formal and informal meditation, since formal meditation requires the completion of some previous exercises, As the body scan or visualization in imagination, before putting this type of meditation into practice; While informal meditation is usually done on the spot, through mindfulness in an activity of daily life, without the need for any prior exercise.

• Related article: "Relaxation techniques and addictions"

5. Posture required to be put into practice

Another difference between formal and informal meditation is the posture that people who practice formal meditation should adopt, as they require a comfortable posture, being preferably done while sitting or, sometimes, lying down.

On the other hand, informal meditation does not require any type of posture or concrete position on the part of those who They carry out this meditation, since it is done while they are carrying out some activity of life everyday (p. g., eating, walking, showering, etc.).

6. Degree of help

One difference between formal and informal meditation is the degree of help required to put them into practice. And it is that formal meditation, as already mentioned, requires more help and is done in a more structured way with a series of previous exercises, where a professional is needed at the beginning to guide the process, either in person or through an audio recorded from time to time.

It should be noted that specialized pages or applications can also be used where there are recorded audios and videos that serve as a guide.

The help when it comes to helping in formal meditation, is that a professional will indicate what to do during the process, for example, indicating the part in which they have to focus in the body scanner, going on to indicate when they should change the part of the body in which they should focus, etc.

However, informal meditation, while also requiring practice and professional teaching, is a less expensive process to learn and master.

To better understand the differences between formal and informal meditation, what each of them consists of will be briefly explained, as well as some exercises that compose them.

• Related article: "6 easy relaxation techniques to combat stress"

Examples of formal meditation

Formal meditation is a very useful tool to learn more about your own thoughts, as well as the sensations and emotions that they arouse in us.

Next, we will see some exercises that are carried out when practicing formal meditation.

1. Body scan

This exercise consists of going through each part of the body, focusing on the sensations perceived in it; all this being guided by the voice of a professional until it is mastered and can be done autonomously.

For example, start with one foot, go up through the sensations perceived by each of the parts of the leg, moving on to the other leg until it is finished, so that it continues through the abdomen, the chest, with the extremities and, finally, the head; continuing to become aware of the whole body. All this should be done with the eyes closed preferably; However, if you are uncomfortable, you can do it with your eyes open.

2. Relaxing positive visualization or imagination

This is another exercise that, like the body scan, aims to get the person to enter a state of relaxation in order to carry out formal meditation.

Fundamentally, this exercise It consists of the person who carries out this practice imagining himself in a quiet place that transmits calm, like a deserted beach so that you can listen to the waves of the sea calmly and focus on those sounds, the sights, the sensations they arouse in the person, etc.

• You may be interested in: "Visualization: the power of imagination to overcome difficulties"

3. Keep the focus in focus

Once you have managed to enter a state of relaxation through exercises such as those mentioned above, you must choose a focus on which to pay full attention that must be maintained for a certain time (from seconds to a few minutes).

The most common focus on which mindfulness is usually maintained is breathing. This consists of having a full awareness of the way the air enters and leaves your body, breathing in and out slowly and deeply.

Other very common focuses on which you can pay full attention when performing this exercise, can be the external image of an object that is in front of the person or even an image recreated in the mind itself.

4. I work with thoughts

This exercise it can be helpful in those moments when a person is immersed in negative ruminative thoughts, in order to make you aware of the way your mind wanders and, in this way, understand that he or she is not the content of those thoughts and that those thoughts are the product of his or her imagination.

5. Mindfulness focused on emotions

This exercise is another clear example of the differences between formal and informal meditation, being a practice gathers resources from some of the aforementioned meditation exercises formal; thus, to master it, you must first learn to do the others.

It is an exercise useful in those moments in which a person is experiencing negative emotions and tries to avoid them without success. In this situation, the exercise consists of letting these emotions be present in your own consciousness from an acceptance point of view.

To do this, after having done some exercise that induces a state of relaxation and mindfulness in the present moment, you must allow a thought that causes you concern be in your awareness so that you can locate the sensations you experience as a result of that worry and then give that worrying state a name (p. eg, despair). From that moment on, you should let the emotion you experience be present, while the person concentrates on their breathing.

• Related article: "What is Mindfulness? The 7 answers to your questions "

Examples of informal meditation

To carry out this type of meditation, the idea is to look for certain moments, in which the person consider that your practice will be more productive for you, and try to live them with a degree of consciousness full.

1. Exercises of "savoring"

Another clear example of the differences between formal and informal meditation is this exercise, whose task is based on carrying out routine activities with careful attention to detail (p. eg, smells that are experienced, visual details of what is around, sensations experienced at that precise moment, among others).

This exercise can be carried out when you are eating, so that each bite is savored to the fullest, as well as in any other routine activity (p. g., showering, cooking, etc.).

2. Focus on the present moment

Put informal meditation into practice It can be done in different ways, such as fixing and / or describing something specific that is found in the environment that surrounds us when putting it into practice (For example, while you are in the waiting room for a consultation, you should notice five objects that are find there and describe them mentally based on their physical characteristics and with respect to the use that have).

• You may be interested in: "The 15 types of care and what are their characteristics"

3. Walking conscious

An example of mindful walking practice would be by doing the following: mindful walking on the way to work, so that he is not focused on issues that he must solve in his workday, but that you are focusing your attention on each step you take, on the sensations and noticing what is happening around you as you walk.

The main goal of informal practice is to remove the autopilot, while performing a series of routine activities, to be fully aware in the present moment.

In this way, the person can learn to discover which are the key situations for ruminative thoughts to appear. that generate discomfort and thus be able to learn to tolerate the experience of that precise moment and focus on what happens to their around her; so that over time these ruminative thoughts will stop causing you that discomfort.