Meditation Cheat Sheet

The core ideas of Meditation distilled into a single, scannable reference — perfect for review or quick lookup.

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Quick Reference

Mindfulness

The practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental, moment-to-moment awareness of one's thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment. Mindfulness involves observing experience without trying to change, suppress, or evaluate it.

Focused Attention Meditation

A category of meditation techniques in which the practitioner sustains voluntary attention on a single chosen object such as the breath, a mantra, a visual point, or a bodily sensation. When the mind wanders, the practitioner gently redirects focus back to the object.

Open Monitoring Meditation

A meditation style in which the practitioner maintains broad, receptive awareness of all arising experiences without selecting any single object of focus. The goal is to observe the flow of thoughts, sensations, and emotions without attachment or reaction.

Loving-Kindness Meditation (Metta)

A practice originating in the Buddhist tradition in which the meditator systematically generates feelings of warmth, goodwill, and compassion, directing them first toward oneself, then progressively outward to loved ones, neutral people, difficult people, and finally all beings.

Body Scan Meditation

A systematic practice of directing focused attention through different regions of the body, typically from head to toe or toe to head, noticing any sensations, tension, or discomfort present in each area without attempting to change what is found.

Transcendental Meditation (TM)

A specific, trademarked form of mantra meditation developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in which the practitioner silently repeats a personally assigned mantra for 15-20 minutes twice daily, allowing the mind to settle into a state of restful alertness.

Default Mode Network (DMN)

A network of interconnected brain regions that is most active during mind-wandering, self-referential thinking, and rumination. Meditation research has shown that experienced meditators exhibit reduced DMN activity and greater ability to disengage from its automatic patterns.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

An eight-week structured program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center that combines mindfulness meditation, body awareness, yoga, and education about stress to help people manage pain, illness, and psychological distress.

Breath Awareness (Anapanasati)

One of the oldest and most foundational meditation techniques, originating from the Buddhist tradition, in which the practitioner observes the natural rhythm of breathing without attempting to control it, using the breath as an anchor for sustained attention.

Neuroplasticity and Meditation

The brain's capacity to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. Research demonstrates that sustained meditation practice induces measurable structural and functional brain changes, including increased cortical thickness, enhanced connectivity, and altered brainwave patterns.

Key Terms at a Glance

Anapanasati:A Buddhist meditation technique centered on mindful observation of the natural breath.

Beginner's Mind (Shoshin):An attitude of openness and lack of preconceptions, approaching experience with fresh curiosity.

Body Scan:A practice of systematically directing attention through regions of the body to observe sensations.

Concentration (Samatha):Meditation practices aimed at developing sustained, single-pointed focus and mental stability.

Default Mode Network:A brain network active during mind-wandering and self-referential thought, reduced by meditation.

Dharma:In Buddhist context, the teachings of the Buddha; more broadly, the natural order or truth of reality.

Equanimity:A state of psychological stability and composure undisturbed by experience of or exposure to emotions or pain.

Focused Attention:A meditation approach involving sustained concentration on a chosen object such as breath or mantra.

Guided Meditation:A meditation session led by a teacher or recording that provides verbal instructions throughout the practice.

Impermanence (Anicca):The Buddhist concept that all conditioned phenomena are transient and constantly changing.

Insight (Vipassana):A meditation practice focused on developing clear seeing into the nature of reality through self-observation.

Kinhin:Walking meditation practiced in Zen Buddhism, involving slow, deliberate steps with full attention.

Loving-Kindness (Metta):A meditation practice generating feelings of warmth and goodwill toward self and others.

Mantra:A word, phrase, or sound repeated during meditation to aid concentration and focus.

MBSR:Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, an eight-week program by Jon Kabat-Zinn for managing stress and pain.

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