Meditation can wipe away the day's stress, bringing with it inner peace. See how you can easily learn to practice meditation whenever you need it most. Mayo Clinic staff writer
If stress has you anxious, tense and worried, consider trying meditation. Spending even just a few minutes in meditation can restore calm and inner peace.
Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years. Meditation originally was meant to help deepen understanding of the sacred and mystical forces of life. These days, meditation is commonly used for relaxation and stress reduction. Anyone can practice meditation. It's simple and inexpensive, and it doesn't require any special equipment. And you can practice meditation wherever you are — whether you're out for a walk, riding the bus, waiting at the doctor's office or even in the middle of a difficult business meeting.
Understanding meditation
Meditation, considered a type of mind-body complementary medicine, produces a deep state of relaxation and a tranquil mind. During meditation, you focus your attention and eliminate the stream of jumbled thoughts that may be crowding your mind and causing stress. This process results in enhanced physical and emotional well-being.
Benefits of meditation
Meditation can give you a sense of calm, peace and balance that benefits both your emotional well-being and your overall health. And these benefits don't end when your meditation session ends. Meditation can help carry you more calmly through your day and improve certain medical conditions.
Meditation and emotional well-being
When you meditate, you clear away the information overload that builds up every day and contributes to your stress.
The emotional benefits of meditation include:
• Gaining a new perspective on stressful situations
• Building skills to manage your stress
• Increased self-awareness
• Focusing on the present
• Reducing negative emotions
Meditation and illness
Many healthy people use meditation as a way to relax the body and reduce stress. But meditation also might be useful if you have a medical condition, especially one that may be worsened by stress.
A growing body of scientific research is supporting the health benefits of meditation. But many of the studies aren't of high quality, and some researchers believe it's not yet possible to draw conclusions about the possible benefits of meditation.
With that in mind, some research suggests that meditation may help such conditions as:
• Allergies
• Anxiety disorders
• Asthma
• Binge eating
• Cancer
• Depression
• Fatigue
• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Pain
• Sleep problems
• Substance abuse
Be sure to talk to your health care provider about the pros and cons of using meditation if you have any of these or other medical conditions. Meditation isn't a replacement for traditional medical treatment. But it can be useful in addition to your other treatment.
Types of meditation
There are many types of meditation and relaxation techniques with meditation components. But all share the same goal of inner peace.
Ways to meditate can include:
• Guided meditation. Sometimes called guided imagery or visualization, with this method of meditation you form mental images of places or situations you find relaxing. You try to use as many senses as possible, such as smells, sights, sounds and textures. You may be led through this process by a guide or teacher.
• Mantra meditation. In this type of meditation, you silently repeat a calming word, thought or phrase to prevent distracting thoughts. Transcendental meditation is a type of mantra meditation in which you achieve a deep state of relaxation to achieve pure awareness.
• Mindfulness meditation. This type of meditation is based on being mindful, or having an increased awareness and acceptance of living in the present moment. You focus on what you experience during meditation, such as the flow of your breath. You can observe your thoughts and emotions but let them pass without judgment.
• Qi gong. This practice generally combines meditation, relaxation, physical movement and breathing exercises to restore and maintain balance. Qi gong (chee-kung) is part of traditional Chinese medicine.
• Tai chi. This is a form of gentle Chinese martial arts. In tai chi (TIE-chee), you perform a self-paced series of postures or movements in a slow, graceful manner while practicing deep breathing.
• Yoga. You perform a series of postures and controlled breathing exercises to promote a more flexible body and a calm mind. As you move through poses that require balance and concentration, you're encouraged to focus less on your busy day and more on the moment.
Elements of meditation
Different types of meditation may include different features to help you meditate. These may vary depending on whose guidance you follow or who's teaching a class. Some of the most common features in meditation include:
• Focusing your attention. Focusing your attention is generally one of the most important elements of meditation. Focusing your attention is what helps free your mind from the many distractions that cause stress and worry. You can focus your attention on such things as a specific object, an image, a mantra, or even your breathing. Don't fret when your mind wanders. Just return to your focus of attention.
• Relaxed breathing. This technique involves deep, even-paced breathing using the diaphragm muscle to expand your lungs. The purpose is to slow your breathing, take in more oxygen, and reduce the use of shoulder, neck and upper chest muscles while breathing so that you breathe more efficiently.
• A quiet location. If you're a beginner, practicing meditation may be easier if you're in a quiet spot with few distractions — no television, radios or cell phones. As you get more skilled at meditation, you may be able to do it anywhere, especially in high-stress situations where you benefit the most from meditation, such as a traffic jam, a stressful work meeting or a long line at the grocery store.
• A comfortable position. You can practice meditation whether you're sitting, lying down, walking or in other positions or activities. Just try to be comfortable so that you can get the most out of your meditation.
Everyday ways to practice meditation
Don't let the thought of meditating the "right" way add to your stress. Sure, you can attend special meditation centers or group classes led by trained instructors. But you also can practice meditation easily on your own.
And you can make meditation as formal or informal as you like — whatever suits your lifestyle and situation. Some people build meditation into their daily routine. For example, they may start and end each day with an hour of meditation. But all you really need is a few minutes of quality time for meditation.
Tips to practice meditation on your own
Here are some ways you can practice meditation on your own, whenever you choose. Take a few minutes or as much time as you like to practice one or more of these meditation methods:
• Breathe deeply. This technique is good for beginners because breathing is a natural function. Focus all attention on your breathing. Concentrate on feeling and listening as you inhale and exhale through your nostrils. Breathe deeply and slowly. When your attention wanders, gently return your focus to your breathing.
• Scan your body. When using this technique, focus attention on different parts of your body. Become aware of your body's various sensations, whether that's pain, tension, warmth or relaxation. Combine body scanning with breathing exercises and imagine breathing heat or relaxation into and out of different parts of your body.
• Repeat a mantra. You can create your own mantra, whether it's religious or secular. Examples of religious mantras include the Jesus Prayer in the Christian tradition, the holy name of God in Judaism, or the om mantra of Hinduism, Buddhism and other Eastern religions.
• Walking meditation. Combining a walk with meditation is an efficient and healthy way to relax. You can use this technique anywhere you're walking — in a tranquil forest, on a city sidewalk or at the mall. When you use this method, slow down the pace of walking so that you can focus on each movement of your legs or feet. Don't focus on a particular destination. Concentrate on your legs and feet, repeating action words in your mind such as lifting, moving and placing as you lift each foot, move your leg forward and place your foot on the ground.
• Engage in prayer. Prayer is the best known and most widely practiced example of meditation. Spoken and written prayers are found in most faith traditions. You can pray using your own words or read prayers written by others. Check the self-help or 12-step-recovery section of your local bookstore for examples. Talk with your rabbi, priest, pastor or other spiritual leader about resources.
• Read or listen and take time to reflect. Many people report that they benefit from reading poems or sacred texts silently or aloud, and taking a few moments to quietly reflect on the meaning that the words bring to mind. You can listen to sacred music, spoken words or any music you find relaxing or inspiring. You may want to write your reflections in a journal or discuss them with a friend or spiritual leader.
• Focus your love and gratitude. In this type of meditation, you focus your attention on a sacred object or being, weaving feelings of love and gratitude into your thoughts. You can also close your eyes and use your imagination or gaze at representations of the object.
Building your meditation skills
Don't judge your meditation skills, which may only increase your stress. Meditation takes practice. Keep in mind, for instance, that it's common for your mind to wander during meditation, no matter how long you've been practicing meditation. If you're meditating to calm your mind and your attention wanders, slowly return to the object, sensation or movement you're focusing on.
Experiment, and you'll likely find out what types of meditation work best for you and what you enjoy doing. Adapt meditation to your needs at the moment. Remember, there's no right way or wrong way to meditate. What matters is that meditation helps you with stress reduction and feeling better overall.

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Meditation alters brain patterns in ways that are likely permanent, scientists have known. But a new study shows key parts of the brain actually get thicker through the practice. Brain imaging of regular working folks who meditate regularly revealed increased thickness in cortical regions related to sensory, auditory and visual perception, as well as internal perception -- the automatic monitoring of heart rate or breathing, for example.

The study also indicates that regular meditation may slow age-related thinning of the frontal cortex.

"What is most fascinating to me is the suggestion that meditation practice can change anyone's gray matter," said study team member Jeremy Gray, an assistant professor of psychology at Yale. "The study participants were people with jobs and families. They just meditated on average 40 minutes each day, you don't have to be a monk."

The research was led by Sara Lazar, assistant in psychology at Massachusetts General Hospital. It is detailed in the November issue of the journal NeuroReport.

The study involved a small number of people, just 20. All had extensive training in Buddhist Insight meditation. But the researchers say the results are significant.

Most of the brain regions identified to be changed through meditation were found in the right hemisphere, which is essential for sustaining attention. And attention is the focus of the meditation.

Other forms of yoga and meditation likely have a similar impact on brain structure, the researchers speculate, but each tradition probably has a slightly different pattern of cortical thickening based on the specific mental exercises involved.

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Life is full of rituals. We create them constantly, although we often like to rename them routines. True some routines are nothing but habits. Nothing other than conditioned responses developed over time. Other associate ritual to religion and minimize them as if they are meaningless. Certainly, having been raised in what many would call a form of Protestantism, I dismissed religious ritual until I realized that in my upbringing there were also traditions and routines that had taken on their own life.
It was then that I realized that rituals can be empowering. If they empower will of course depend on whether we consciously chose rituals that serve us. There are of course many cultural rituals that we inherit however I suggest that these too can empower us. Perhaps it depends on whether we reach a point in life where we examine the purpose of the ritual itself.
If I substitute ritual for the word routine, then I can see that routines can help in time management. Do I switch on the coffee machine, quickly check my email or polish my shoes. The actions in themselves can become automatic.
Yet what about rituals that empower. What of bringing a spiritual dimension to the day? A Muslim, considers salat, or ritual prayer as the second pillar of Islam binding him to the Islamic community. A practicing Jew, commences his day with the Modeh Ani, his first words in gratitude, while still in bed, for the return of his soul in the morning.
In a western, materialistic society, these attitudes are often dismissed as archaic. I would have to admit, that previously, I saw them in a negative light. However, a positive and grateful spirit benefits not only ourselves physiologically and psychologically; it can also benefit those around us.
Now I understand that for the Jew, for example, every prayer, uttered when washing the hands, blessing a food, or praising the Divine, is full of a symbolism that transcends habit but is imbued with meaning.
It is the understanding of the meaning that when repeated throughout life becomes part of the psyche. The question is whether our use of ritual; builds up or negates our life.
Business trainer Brian Tracy, explained that ever action, or failure to act, adds or negates our success. It is the constant daily routines that empower or dis-empower us. Do we habitually act, or habitually, procrastinate? Do we take a few seconds to smile at our kids, or do we tell them we will speak to them when we are not busy.
A ritual of prayer, meditation, or yoga, can help train the mind, a ritual of a few minutes exercise can add strength and endurance to our body. Perhaps th ritual of listening to upbuilding music at the commencement of our day will motivate us. Or do we just hope that the radio has a few good tunes as we allow other to impose their mood on our day?
Perhaps chanting, or repeating affirmations or intentions may help. I already mentioned prayer which can help us look beyond ourselves and direct our introductory thoughts toward serving a purpose beyond ourselves. Perhaps that sounds a little too ‘out there’ for you. In life we are measured often by what we do, not airy fairy nice intentions. As the Chassidic writers said:“Our potential is measured not by good intentions, but by what our feet and hands do.”
However, in all our conscious actions, thoughts no matter how brief preceded them. Therefore, there is merit in developing the habit of developing thought processes that motivate us to act positively. One could do so meditatively, reducing distractions within our thoughts so that we can slip the positively framed affirmations into our lives, or enhance the affirmations emotionally, stirring up our physiology and anchoring our desires to a repeatable action. Personally, I believe both tools should be used. The ritual begins to draw upon the energy and inspiration within us, be it our collective community identity, a collective consciousness, or the enthusiasm within our soul.
Rituals can also help release negative patterns. A useful ritual is to write or verbalise the negative pattern and then symbolically destroy it. This ritual often involves writing or verbally addressing what it is you need to get rid of in your life, A useful ritual is to write, with all the negative emotion, the issue you want resolved and then to burn the paper it is written on. Sometimes motivation specialists will use board breaking or fear conquering activities as a means to overcome a negative belief. For example, a person who breaks aboard may have written on it a belief that they wish to destroy thus symbolically linking their emotion to the successful victory over the board. In both examples, the action links a negative belief to an object that is overcome.
Of course, many negative responses are so conditioned within us that our responses are automatic. Actions and responses that are, triggered by reflex are a little harder to deal with, often because they are not fully understood., however meditators have shown that increases meditative awareness can aid in gaining greater understanding and control of our impulses. Also, breaking wood is not something you can readily do daily, or when a negative thought enters your mind, but simple anchors can be quickly rand discretely repeated as the need arises. It is the neurological linking of a conquest over a negative belief gives us a device to trigger success again and again.
One last point – and yes I know I am repeating this. Find a reason for gratitude. There has been a lot written about gratitude since the release of the movie The Secret Its nothing new of course. Anthony Robbins has been speaking of the attitude of Gratitude for 20 years and it can be traced back centuries. However, many find the repetition of reasons for gratitude soulless. Of course, if emotively psyching yourself up with joyful thoughts works for you go for it! Yet many of us don’t jump out of our skin with over the top exuberance. Perhaps you’re the quiet sensitive type. This is where reflective rituals are magnificent. Earlier I spoke of the culture of prayer in Islamic and Judaic culture. Of course, there are so many other wonderful examples. Prayer has the power to bring forth our emotional being. It can also have a negative effect if not used well. How is that? How can reaching out to the divine be negative? Reaching our inner divinity is in no way harmful. However, repeated emotional states, when repeated in the same way, become anchored physiologically. So? You already said that Brian. Consider if every time you pray all you do is pour out your woes. ‘”I don’t have enough money …. Aunt Mary picks on me … I am so unworthy a sinner …” Now all these topics are important facets of prayer. However, ask yourself, ig the only time you spoke to a friend was when you winged or complained do you think they will want you around after a while? If you only speak to the kids when you discipline them then chances are they will stop listening/ Well, if your prays are interpreted bu your body as another time for stress, drama and anxiety perhaps your inner voice may start to shut off and not hea r the positive parts of your prayer.
So spend time praying in gratitude. Give thanks. Praise God, for all the altruism received from the divine grace.
I’m not religious? Meditation as a means to still the mind works just as well. I am not here promoting religion per se, rather the deep emotional experience that religion can offer. There are many other ways to touch the inner voice within. Perhaps set up a peaceful corner in the home, be it a place of solitude, or if you are inclined a sacred corner. Walk amongst nature daily. If you live near a beach, as I do, then spend the evening dangling your toes in the water edge.
So, I encourage you to find your ritual. Develop patterns that reinforce your life, enhance your view of the world and expand your spiritual awareness.

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