As stress affects everyone more each day, meditation has become a popular method of stress-reduction. Meditation is a stress reduction technique that has been around since words replaced grunts. It is a way of focusing on deeper thoughts and feelings by turning away from the distractions and tensions of everyday living. To meditate is to focus your mind while in a state of relaxed awareness.

Hence, you’re not asleep, and you are not in a trance.You want to be seated in a place where you won’t be disturbed. Many people begin their meditation by devoting their complete attention to a word or sound. In the 1970s, the Transcendental Meditation movement made the sound “Om” highly popular. This is pronounced “ome”–which rhymes with home, but is elongated so that it takes several seconds to complete.

Other people get into the meditative state by focusing on a candle flame, a mandala, or perhaps a simple image. Advance practitioners need merely focus on the ebb of flow of their own breath.

By whatever route that you are able to start, the goal of your meditation is to free your mind from accumulated tension, to reach a divine emptiness from which deep concentration and relaxation are possible.

If you meditate often, over time, you can get to the point where you don’t respond so intensely to potential external stressors. For example, if a project is dropped on your lap with short notice, and you only have 45 minutes to get it completed, it’s likely to be far less upsetting than otherwise.

Many people swear by meditation, citing it as the single best method for achieving an improved level of calmness and serenity. Others regard meditation as an important process for:

• better knowing one’s self,
• viewing the world without judgment,
• being more accepting of others, or
• getting closer to God.

Now, Where Was I Going?

One of the paradoxes experienced by highly accomplished people when they first begin meditating is that they expect that something is going to happen. You don’t meditate to get from point A to point B. You meditate to meditate–the act of meditation itself is the reward (of sorts).

Nothing in particular is supposed to happen. There are no thoughts that you are supposed to have, or realizations that spring forth. If you have some, fine. If you don’t, fine. Perhaps this is why meditation is not for everyone, or why others who initially enjoy it, don’t stay with it.

Meditation Variations

Have you ever gone on a strenuous hike, perhaps out for six to eight hours on a single day with a backpack on, probably in a group? By the end of the day, you’re thoroughly exhausted, but it’s the good kind of exhaustion. You jump into the shower to get physically clean, and as you dry off, you notice that you are mentally and physically clean. Other people get the same reaction from a vigorous hour of jogging, basketball, or racquetball. Your muscles may be strained, and your body aching, but your mind is at rest.

There are many ways to meditate while in motion. Some people walk in slow, methodical steps while meditating. Some swim. It all depends on how you approach the activity.

Slow, purposeful walking, for example, affords many meditation opportunities. You could put all your awareness into the swing of your arms, or your legs. You could feel your heels or your toes as they strike the ground. You could pay attention to your breathing, or the curvature of your spine.

Some health clubs are offering alternative meditation classes. At Crunch Fitness in New York City, there are classes in stationary bike meditation. Participants pedal with their arms hanging by their sides. The room is silent except for the sounds of stationary bike wheels whirring in unison.

Children who learn to get into a meditative state during sports activities report that it helps them in other aspects of life as well. They’re better able to handle spats with siblings, stay focused on homework, and even walk away from potential fights.

Pass the Dish Detergent

It is even possible to meditate while washing dishes. The idea of reducing your stress by washing the dishes may sound like the all-time incredulous statement, yet there are people who are able to achieve this everyday. You can focus on the temperature of the water, how the sponge feels in your hand, what it’s like to sponge off each plate, rinse them, and get them squeaky clean. The key is to mindfully engage in something that you otherwise do mindlessly to help quiet the mind, and put your focus on the activity at hand.