[Gem]

I only know about breath/body/mind awareness, so that's what I can talk about. Of course there are many other meditation methods, but I don't know anything about them.

My breath awareness method is to feel the air going in and out of my nose. Nothing else. Just remain aware of that and try to feel the subtlest aspect of the feeling that I can. If other things occur like feelings in the body or mental things, I don't mind, I just focus on feeling the air like I said.

The reason is, first, the feeling of breathing is happening now, so paying attention to it makes one aware of the moment. Second, focusing on a singular object reduces mental noise and calms everything down. Third, trying to feel the very subtle feelings hones the mind into a sensitive perceptive tool. In addition, breathing can be volitional - you can breath faster, slower, deeper, shallower, or hold your breath intentionally - or it can be non-volitional - just happening by itself. Hence breathing bridges the surface of the conscious intentional mind with the subconscious or deeper mind.

Breathing is a universal object. Everyone is breathing and anyone can turn attention to feel the air going in and out. Lastly, the feeling of breath is subtle and nuanced, so it is perfect for developing serenity, depth and sensitivity of the mind.

I use the 'feel around the nostrils' method because the area is quite small and gives the mind a more point-like focus. Also, the feeling within that area is extremely subtle and nuanced, which enables one to really hone in on the minutiae of the feeling. That enabled me to refine it until I can feel a lot of detail within a pin-head sized spot, and hone in even further on a given detail. I just continue to feel the subtlest detail I can detect, and my sensitivity of perception progressively improves.

Where breath meditation is concerned, I have found the above described method most suitable for the purposes I described.