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 fully consciously in the present moment, without judging it; However, there are several characteristics that allow them to be distinguished.
Therefore, in this article we will briefly explain the differences between formal and informal meditation giving examples of each one.
Main differences between formal and informal meditation
These are the key aspects that allow us to distinguish between both 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 type of meditation that can be done in any context day to day, such as while the person is eating, so that they fully focus on savoring each bite.
Formal meditation, on the other hand, requires a quiet place where it can be carried out, without distractions that could interrupt your practice.
2. Time needed for practice
Another aspect of the differences between formal and informal meditation is that The informal usually requires less time to be practiced
For example, it can be done through an exercise as simple as focusing all your senses on the act of eating an orange; focusing on each bite, its color, the smell it gives off, its touch, etc.
Unlike that, formal meditation requires minimal time to be able to effectively carry out the sequence of exercises of which this meditation modality is composed (e.g., 10, 15, 30 minutes, etc.).
3. Routine and consistency required by each of them
To carry out formal meditation it is necessary to carry out a more structured routine plan and with greater constancy than to perform informal meditation.
This is because it is a meditation modality composed of a greater number of exercises that are recommended to be performed in sequence. On the other hand, since 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 difference between formal and informal meditation, since Formal meditation requires performing some prior exercises, such as the body scan or imagination visualization, before putting this type of meditation into practice; while informal meditation is usually done on the spot, through full attention in an activity of daily life, without the need to do any prior exercise.
Another difference between formal and informal meditation is the posture that people who practice formal meditation must adopt, requiring a comfortable posture, preferably being done while sitting or, sometimes, lying down
On the other hand, informal meditation does not require any type of specific posture or position on the part of those who carry out this meditation, since it is done while they are carrying out some activity of daily life (e.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 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 recorded audio.
It should be noted that you can also use specialized pages or applications 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 should be done during the process such as, for example, indicating the part on which they have to focus in the body scanner, indicating when they should change the part of the body on which they should focus, etc.
However, informal meditation, while also requiring practice and teaching from a professional, 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 comprise them.
Examples of formal meditation
Formal meditation is a very useful tool to gain a deeper understanding of one’s own thoughts, as well as the sensations and emotions they arouse in us.
Next, we will see some exercises that are carried out when practicing formal meditation.
1. Body scan or body scanner
This exercise It consists of going through each part of your own body, focusing on the sensations perceived in it; all of 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 to the other leg until finishing, so that you continue through the abdomen, the chest, with the extremities and, finally, last, the head; continuing to become aware of the entire body. All of this should be done with your eyes closed preferably; Although, if it causes concern to the person, they can do it with their eyes open.
This is another exercise that, like the body scan, aims to help the person enter a state of relaxation to be able 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 views, the sensations they arouse in the person, etc.
3. Keep your attention focused
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 full awareness of the way air enters and leaves your body, inhaling and exhaling slowly and deeply.
Other very common focuses on which one 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 one’s own mind.
4. Work with thoughts
This exercise It can be helpful in those moments when a person is immersed in negative ruminative thoughts with the aim of making you aware of the way your mind wanders and, in this way, understanding that he or she is not the content of those thoughts and that those thoughts are a product of your imagination.
5. Mindfulness focused on emotions
This exercise is another clear example of the differences between formal and informal meditation, being a practice that brings together resources from some of the previously mentioned exercises of formal meditation; thus, To master it, you must first learn to do the others
It is an exercise that is useful in those moments when a person is experiencing negative emotions and tries to avoid them without success. In this situation, the exercise consists of let these emotions be present in one’s own consciousness from a point of view of acceptance
To do this, after having done some exercise that induces a state of relaxation and full awareness in the present moment, you must allow a thought that causes you concern to be in your consciousness, so that you can locate the sensations you experience as a consequence of said concern. and then gives a name to that state of worry (e.g., despair). From that moment on, you should let the emotion experienced be present, while the person focuses on their breathing.
Related article: “What is Mindfulness? The 7 answers to your questions”
To carry out this type of meditation, the idea is to look for certain moments in which the person considers that their practice will be more productive, and try to live them with a full degree of consciousness.
1. “Savoring” exercises
Another clear example of the differences between formal and informal meditation is this exercise, whose task It is based on carrying out routine activities with careful attention to details (e.g., smells 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 fully savored, as well as during any other routine activity (e.g., showering, cooking, etc.).
2. Focus on the present moment
Put informal meditation into practice It can be done in different ways, such as noticing and/or describing something specific that is in the environment that surrounds us when putting it into practice (for example, while you are in the waiting room for a consultation, you have to look at five objects that are there and mentally describe them based on their physical characteristics and with respect to their use).
You may be interested: “The 15 types of attention and what their characteristics are”
3. Conscious walking
An example of the practice of mindful walking would be doing the following: walking mindfully on the way to work, so that you are not focused on issues that you must resolve during your work day, but rather you are focusing your attention on each step you take, on the sensations and paying attention to what is happening around you while you walk
The main goal of informal practice is to take off 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 the ruminative thoughts that generate discomfort to appear and thus be able to learn to tolerate the experience of that precise moment and focus on what is happening around them; so that over time those ruminative thoughts will stop causing you discomfort.
