Meditation is recommended by most religious and philosophical disciplines, but it causes more confusion than practically any other topic in the New Age arena. Because of the widespread publicity given to Transcendental Meditation in the 60’s and 70’s, many people associate Meditation with sitting cross-legged, humming “aum” and trying to levitate. This is certainly one form of meditation. But it is by no means the only one. Meditation is also most closely associated with the East, but in fact it has long been practiced within the framework of Christianity as well.

 

So what exactly is meditation? It is perhaps best described as a process of stilling the mind, in order to achieve a state of relaxation. The reasons for meditation are as many and varied as its practitioners. Some people wish to achieve a state in which the subconscious areas of the mind are more easily accessed; others wish to achieve one ness with the Universe; some simply wish to become more relaxed and calm.

 

There are many activities that are meditative in themselves. Repetitive actions such as walking, knitting, swimming and even driving the car on a long journey may fall into the category of “active meditation.” The mind is stilled, allowing the subconscious to be more easily accessed. This is why many people feel more relaxed after carrying out such activities, and may even experience startling revelations either during or shortly after being involved in them.

 

A similar thing may happen when the reverse process is applied – when the mind is completely focussed on a particular activity and the whole attention concentrated on it. The effect of such mindfulness is to shut out the usual distractions of a multitude of thoughts charging through the brain one after the other, which again frees the subconscious to operate more freely.

 

Another activity that can be very meditative is lying or floating in a hot bath or pool. The body relaxes, supported by the water, so the mind is freed from its usual distractions from bodily discomfort. Yoga has also long been used as part of meditation, either in itself or as an accompaniment to it, depending upon the branch of yoga involved.

 

With all these potential choices, it is a matter of experimenting and testing to find out what works best for you. There is no one “right” choice. If you are wanting to do some reading on the subject, a good starting point is  Learn to Meditate by David Fontana. The general idea is to use meditation to achieve a state of relaxation, rather than finding the whole process so frustrating that it becomes a stress in itself!