Although meditation originated in the Eastern cultures, it is fast becoming popular in the west as well, due to it's many health benefits. A lot of think of meditation as some guy sitting on a pillow, legs crossed, eyes closed, humming. However, meditation can be done while sitting on a chair, lying down, sitting at your desk, or just about anywhere. There are even forms of meditation where you perform your daily activities, but you do so "mindfully." While the many different forms of meditation are as diverse as their styles, there is one thing that they all have in common: they focus on calming and quietening a chaotic, busy mind.



What is the goal of meditation? The goal of meditation is not to end or remove the stimulation. It is more a training of the mind to direct focus and concentration to one element. This single element may be a single sound, a single word or thought, a single image or even the person's own breathing. Calmness and peace are brought into the mind's focus, and thereby replace feelings ofstress, worry and depression. Negative thoughts can be replaced with positive ones in this manner.

There are basically two types or styles of meditation. All of the techniques, both Eastern and Western, can be grouped into one or the other. The first of these styles of meditation is concentrative. This means that the attention is focused on the breath, an image or a sound such as a mantra to still the mind and heighten awareness and clarity.

Concentrative meditation is probably the type of meditation that is familiar to most people. The person sits quietly and focuses their attention on the breath, known as "conscious breathing." This type of meditation is very good for relieving anxiety, stress and distraction because it causes the person to focus and relax.

To perform conscious breathing, sit in a chair or on a pillow on the floor. Close your eyes and breath in deeply through your mouth while saying to yourself, "I am breathing in." When you exhale through your nose (or mouth), say to yourself, "I am breathing out." Picture positivity being breathed in with each breath you take and negativity being expelled each time you exhale. Absorb yourself in the act of breathing in and out, think of nothing else.

The second type of meditation is mindfulness meditation. This type of meditation involves raising your awareness of all the sensations, feelings, images, thoughts, sounds and smells that you encounter each day. However, you do not dwell on them or become involved in thinking about them. The person simply sits quietly and observes the activity of the mind without being drawn into reacting to it or becoming involved in negative reactions to it such as depression or worry. Through this exploration, the person gains a clearer, calmer state of mind that is non-reactive as opposed to bogged down in worry and depression.

Benefits of Meditation:

There are numerous physical and psychological benefits to meditation. As the body rests, the heart rate lowers, as does the metabolic rate and stress is dramatically decreased. Many negative physical and physiological reactions related to stress are decreased or eradicated altogether. Concentration is increased and memory is improved. Additionally, anxiety, depression, moodiness and irritability are decreased while feelings of vitality, happiness, rejuvenation and emotional stability are improved.