There are many kinds of meditation. Three that I know of: (i) focusing on the sensations of your breath, either in your nostrils or your abdomen, while maintain

There are many kinds of meditation. Three that I know of: (i) focusing on the sensations of your breath, either in your nostrils or your abdomen, while maintaining peripheral awareness; (ii) practicing feeling "loving kindness" towards people; (iii) visualizing complex shapes. I'm not sure what you mean by "trace-like", but I suspect that it would describe some forms of meditation but not others. I believe that "mindfulness" is also used in more than one way, and as a result may or may not refer to a kind of meditation. I have a book "The Mind Illuminated", which discusses meditation (i) in great detail, and suggests a self-check as you begin meditating, though with different steps than HALT. Disclaimer: I know very little about meditation, and some of this might be wrong. But it's certainly complicated, and words refer to many different things.