Meditation is a technique to consciously relax the body in order to reduce the body’s production of stress hormones. In using meditation, you have to consciously focus your thoughts on one thing or object for continuous periods of time. This occupies your mind and redirects it away from the stressors thereby giving your body enough time to calm down, recover and clear away stress hormones that may have built up. For meditation to be effective, it must be performed in a quiet and clean environment while seating with the eyes closed.

Regular meditation practice enables you to automatically bring the meditative state into your daily life through active or passive participation; channeling concentration to a chosen focal point (active) or becoming a witness to all that happens (passive) to induce calming and relaxing of the mind and body to reduce stress, achieve slower heartbeat, slower breathing and lower oxygen consumption.

You can easily perform meditation for 10 or 20 minutes by following these steps:

þ Focusing on an Object or Sound: Completely focus your attention on a detailed examination of an object during your meditation period. Examine the object’s shape, color hues and texture. Commonly used objects are flowers but you can use other objects in front of you effectively like clocks, desk lamps, coffee mugs, posters or pictures. The most common practice of meditation is to concentrate on sounds you make. People who are adept at meditation use the sound of the Sanskrit word ‘om’ (perfection) to reach a meditative state.

þ Imagery. Another method is to create a mental image of a pleasant and relaxing place in your mind and keeping your concentration focused on this utopian place for a few minutes. Some people find this a very revitalizing and enjoyable way of meditating.

However you perform meditation, what is important is to maintain your attention on the object or sound of focus. Should outside distractions stray into your mind, let them drift out slowly.

You can choose any object, imagery, word or phrase you like to focus your thoughts on. Make sure not to allow worries or thoughts to intrude on your meditation by focusing your mind on the object or scenery or by repetition. When you have finished, maintain your seating position with your eyes closed and gradually allow your thoughts to return to everyday reality before opening our eyes. Meditation does require constant practice to achieve the desired state of relaxation.

Meditation helps to lower your heart rate and breathing, regulates blood pressure, induces the production of positive hormones and improves the body’s immune system. A clearer mind also produces increase creativity and productivity.

The only drawback of meditation is that it takes some time to learn and master but it can be learned even without the assistance of an experienced teacher. However, its advantages far outweigh this limitation. Meditation does not cost you anything, it is always available 24/7 and it is very effective in immediate stress reduction and beneficial to your health. As a matter of fact, you can immediately reap the benefits of meditation in just one session. More importantly, since it is does not require taking any vitamin or food supplements, it does not have nay side effects!