There are entire religions that have meditation as a core practice, notably Buddhism. The Bahai faith, Hinduism, Taoism, the Sikh faith and Islam all combine meditation with prayer as a means of self transformation. The best we can do here is discuss briefly the methods practiced by those who engage in the practice, both as a gesture of faith and as a secular practice.
Meditation is a soothing practice that accomplishes more by doing less. In learning to meditate, one learns to empty the mind of as much of its conscious activity as possible and concentrate, or focus on one thing. The goal is to calm oneself physically, mentally and emotionally in order to find a degree of spiritual peace – serenity that transcends, however briefly, the day’s activities and travails.
That’s the goal. Getting there can be a challenge, since the practice of working at remaining alert while doing nothing with mind or body seems counterintuitive to many of us, especially in Western cultures. Nevertheless it is a practice that has taken hold in among thousands of people who have adopted the practice of yoga and of others who have found the stress relief provided by meditation through some form of treatment.
Some western psychologists and psychiatrists who engage in cognitive behavioral therapy have developed relaxation techniques that incorporate elements of meditation. Meditation is used as a method to obtain mental and muscle relaxation to reduce daily stress. Many people find the practice of yoga exercises to reduce stress because of the singular focus that is devoted to careful physical endeavor.
The goal for Buddhist and Hindu practitioners of meditation is to obtain spiritual enlightenment. Keeping mind and body still and relaxed allows for focus that we cannot otherwise obtain. How we reach enlightenment through the process is a program of study that seems to require years of work and devotion. For those who use meditation as a stress management tool it is a matter of making time in the day for it and finding a place