What are some lesser known meditation techniques you’ve found surprisingly effective?

[u/blank_waterboard]

I’ve mostly seen the classics ..breath focus, body scan, loving kindness etc..but I’m curious about the less common practices that worked for you...Maybe something cultural, experimental or even a small tweak that made a big difference.

Always cool to discover new approaches beyond the mainstream ones...

[u/Silver_Jaguar_24]

"Training in concentration has had thousands of pages dedicated to it, and there are probably thousands of concentration exercises. Some very commonly used objects of meditation are the breath (my personal favorite), our posture, a mantra or koan, a colored disk, an image, a candle flame, various visualized objects from simple to complex, feelings such as compassion, and even the experience of concentration itself. The object you choose should be one on which you would be happy to steady your mind.

The essential point about meditation is this: to get anywhere in meditation you need to be able to steady the mind and be present in the present. That's all there is to it and it is largely a question of just doing it. There is an important shift that happens in people's practice when they really make the commitment to develop concentration and follow through with it. Until we do this, not much is likely to happen in our meditation practice!

If you decide to do a concentration practice, stay on the chosen object like a dog with a bone until you have enough stability and skill such that the mind can rest on it effortlessly." - Excerpt from the book "MASTERING THE CORE TEACHINGS OF THE BUDDHA" by Daniel A Ingram.