🧠 Mindfulness vs Concentration Meditation
Your brain is bombarded with about 6,000 thoughts a day. That’s about one every 10 seconds. Meditation helps — but only if you know what kind you're doing. Here’s how I think about it: there are only 2 core types of meditation. And each works in a completely different way.
Let’s break it down:
🎯 Type 1 – Concentration Meditation
Also called: Focused Attention Meditation
This is the “do one thing and block out the rest” style. Your entire brain locks onto one object — and ignores all distractions.
🧘♂️ How it works:
✔️ Choose an object (breath, sound, movement, candle, mantra — anything)
✔️ Focus only on that object
✔️ When your mind drifts (and it will), gently bring it back
💡 It’s also called the "form" meditation — there’s always something specific to focus on.
📌 Great for beginners
📌 Builds attention, focus, mental clarity
📌 Helps with sports and jobs that require precision: darts, surgery, gymnastics
🌌 Type 2 – Mindfulness Meditation
Also called: Open Monitoring Meditation
This one’s harder. There’s no anchor. No object. You just observe. Thoughts come in — you let them pass through without reacting.
🧘♀️ How it works:
✔️ Sit quietly
✔️ Notice whatever arises: thoughts, feelings, memories
✔️ Do nothing about them — no judgment, no reaction, no clinging
💡 It’s also called the "formless" meditation — there’s nothing to hold onto.
📌 Tougher to learn
📌 Builds awareness, emotional regulation, and creative flexibility
📌 Great for creators, artists, soccer players, designers
🧪 How I Screwed Up Both Types
✅ First time I tried concentration meditation? In college. Had to focus on a pen for 3 minutes. Failed in 10 seconds.
✅ First time I tried mindfulness? In grad school. Zen room. Total silence. Thoughts flying. Zero detachment. Screwed that one too.
But every fail helped me understand these practices more deeply. Especially when a Zen teacher told me: “Imagine you’re floating in space, and everything passes through you with no reaction. That’s mindfulness.” That metaphor stuck. And now it makes perfect sense.
✅ How to Choose What’s Right for You
🟢 New to meditation?
→ Start with concentration meditation — it gives your brain something to do.
🔵 Want to level up?
→ Shift into mindfulness — a deeper, more advanced practice.
Some people warm up with concentration before moving into mindfulness. That works too.
🎯 Concentration Meditation Benefits
✔️ Builds laser-sharp focus
✔️ Improves converging thinking
✔️ Boosts sustained attention
Great for: athletes, pilots, surgeons, anyone needing deep focus
🌌 Mindfulness Meditation
✔️ Improves flexible thinking
✔️ Enhances creativity
✔️ Strengthens emotional regulation
Great for: artists, musicians, soccer players, designers
🧘♂️ My Meditation Takeaways
👉 All meditation styles fall into just two categories
👉 Pick one based on your goals
👉 Practice consistently — even if you “screw it up” like I did
👉 Mental clarity and calm are totally trainable
📺 Prefer video format? Watch the full explanation here: Watch on YouTube
