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The benefits of meditating are much touted by those already undertaking daily or regular meditation. People have different reasons for wanting to meditate: quelling the internal chatter, getting to know oneself better, finding calm and a sense of grounding, enforced restful contemplation, or tying it to one's faith. Whatever your reason for wanting to meditate, it can be daunting to know how to begin and how to stay motivated.

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Think about what you want to achieve with your meditation. People come to meditation for a wide range of reasons whether to improve their creativity, help visualize a goal, quiet their inner chatter, or make a spiritual connection. If your only goal is to spend a few minutes every day being present in your body without worrying about everything you have to do, thats reason enough to meditate. Try not to over-complicate your reasons for meditating. At its core, meditation is just about relaxing and refusing to be caught up in everyday anxieties.

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Wear comfortable clothes. You dont want anything to pull you out of your meditative thinking, so avoid restrictive clothing that might pull on you, like jeans or tight pants. Think about what you might wear to exercise or to sleep in those types of loose, breathable clothes are your best bet.

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Dont fret about what to do with your hands. In the media, we often see people holding their hands at their knees when meditating, but if thats uncomfortable for you, dont worry about it. You can fold them in your lap, let them hang at your sides whatever allows you to clear your mind and concentrate on your breathing.

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Tilt your chin as though youre looking downward. It doesnt matter if your eyes are opened or closed when you meditate, though many people find it easier to block out visual distractions with closed eyes. Either way, tilting your head as though youre looking down helps open up the chest and ease your breathing.

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Dont be too hard on yourself. Accept that focus will be hard for you when youre just starting out. Don't berate yourselfall beginners experience the inner chatter. In fact, some would say that this continual return to the present moment is the "practice" of meditation. Furthermore, dont expect your meditation practice to change your life overnight. Mindfulness takes time to exert its influence. Keep coming back to meditation every day for at least a few minutes, lengthening your sessions when possible.

Is it okay to meditate after eating?

wikiHow Contributor

Meditation is not an active activity, so it is okay to meditate after eating; you may want to also go to the bathroom beforehand if you're worried about interrupting yourself. Since the brain is actually more likely to wander if you're hungry, meditating after eating may be better than meditating beforehand.

Can meditation heal a broken heart?

wikiHow Contributor

It can help. If you meditate on overcoming your sadness, it can relieve the stress and anxiety of being heartbroken.

Can you listen to music while meditating?

wikiHow Contributor

It really depends on the person. For some people, listening to peaceful and spiritually inclined music calms their mind. For others, it tends to be a distraction. Try both ways, then do what feels most natural.

What is the difference between sleep and meditation?

wikiHow Contributor

Sleep is what you do at night. It's a biological condition of body in which the nervous system is inactive, the postural muscles relaxed, and consciousness is practically suspended, and includes dreaming, etc. Meditation, however, is done while you are when you are awake. There are many different ways to meditate. Meditation can sometimes lead to sleep, as for many people, when they are in a calm and relaxed state, their body will shut down into rest-mode. It's a focus and blankness of your mind for a period of time, for spiritual purposes or even as a method of relaxation (to purposefully lead to sleep).

Can I do meditation in the night and in the afternoon?

wikiHow Contributor

You can meditate at any point in the day. There is no appointed time for meditation.

I have heard that I can lower my heart rate through meditation, is this true?

wikiHow Contributor

Your heart rate lowers when you relax and meditation is essentially focused relaxation. So yes you can lower your heart rate through meditation

What are some methods for helping my mind to stop racing with chatter?

wikiHow Contributor

Imagine yourself in in a white room, with no door or windows, "floating" as you will. Once you imagine yourself in this place, you should find soon that the chatter has gone.

Do I have to sit down to meditate, or can I lay down instead?

wikiHow Contributor

Most people find it more comfortable to sit with a straight back and neck while meditating. You should try both ways to find out what is more comfortable for you, and what helps you concentrate best.

What is the minimum amount of time I should set aside to meditate?

wikiHow Contributor

There is no prescribed minimum time in meditation. It's perfectly okay to start small and ease yourself in with 2-minute or 5-minute meditations as you get used to meditating. Go at your own pace and try not to force yourself to do more than you're comfortable with.

Is this a form of hypnosis? Or is there a similarity?

wikiHow Contributor

It's not a form of hypnosis. They are similar in that they are both very relaxed mental states. Hypnosis is focused more on the subconscious and trying to understand and reprogram deeply embedded, undesirable behaviors. Meditation is more about focusing on the present moment and cultivating a positive state of mind.

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http://tm.org "You know how your charger for your phone? [TM] is like if you had a charger for your whole body and mind."

For more information on the Transcendental Meditation technique, please visit: http://www.TM.org or call 1-888-532-7686 - 1-888-LEARN-TM

Jerry Seinfeld, who has been practicing the TM technique for 40 years, and Bob Roth, a certified TM teacher, discuss the value of the Transcendental Meditation technique for people like you and me, as well as veterans suffering from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and underserved, inner-city students struggling with the stress of their school environments.

George Stephanopoulos: "Jerry Seinfeld also another special guest your Bob Roth Executive Director of the David Lynch Foundation we're all here because we all have something in common we all practiced Transcendental Meditation, which I didn't know about until I learned it from you and you taught me how to do it after Jerry introduced it and I think people don't really understand exactly what it is and what a difference it's made in people's lives. Now you've been doing it 40 years."

Jerry Seinfeld: "It's difficult to explain. You know how I was describing Transcendental Meditation to somebody. You know how your charger for your phone? It's like if you had a charger for your whole body and mind"

Bob Roth: "Well the whole idea is that we have very active noisy levels of the mind that we sort of gotta go here gotta do this gotta do that. But every human being has deep within a settled calm silent level of their mind. And this Transcendental Meditation is just and effortless way to have the active excited mind settle down. Experience that inner calm and at the same time the body gains a very deep state of rest. That rest eliminates stress, you have more energy, wakes up the brain, and you guys can do your jobs."

George Stephanopoulos: The American Heart Association actually says it works."

Bob Roth: "No the American Heart Association just came out with a study a month ago that showed Transcendental Meditation is highly effective for reducing high blood pressure, reducing risk of stroke and actually mortality rate by almost 50 percent from people who have been meditating for 5 years."

George Stephanopoulos: It's very exciting work you guys are doing cuz it can help anybody but you guys are going into schools right now helping at risk kids, helping soldiers coming back from Iraq, Afghanistan who are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, also women who have been victims of violence.

Bob Roth: "For example the Department of Defense just provided a 2 million dollar grant to study the effects of Transcendental Meditation on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The fact is, as Forbes Magazine said, Stress is the black plague of the 21st century. It's an ugly thing. It cant be prevented, it can't be cured by conventional means, and now this particular meditation technique has been showing to be highly effective in eliminating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and so its being used in schools where kids have the same symptoms of PTSD as soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. It's interesting that something so ancient and traditional and not a religion and not a philosophy and not a change in lifestyle, anybody can do it. Something that simple can have such a profound impact on very modern ailments."

(Not a paid endorsement.) Show less

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Transcendental Meditation - YouTube

Deepak Chopra, M.D., FACP, founder of The Chopra Foundation and co-founder of The Chopra Center for Wellbeing is a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation, and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Metabolism. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, and a professor at UCSD. Deepak Chopra is the author of more than 80 books translated into over 43 languages, including numerous New York Times bestsellers. For the last three years, Greatist.com... Born in Liverpool, England, Roger spent his formative years in the United Kingdom. He first learned meditation there in the early 70s, which instantly became his passion and he soon trained to be a meditation teacher under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. After moving to the US, Roger began studying Ayurveda the ancient Indian system of healthcare. In 1985, while helping to establish centers for Ayurveda and meditation, he met and became friends with Deepak Chopra. Since then, Roger has assisted Deepak with numerous training programs, seminars and workshops, taught thousands of people on all... Melissa Carver specializes in Metaphysics, guiding her clients through the art of manifestation with one-on-one webinars and in-person sessions. Melissa is also a graduate of the Chopra Center University, completing her certification in the Perfect Health: Ayurvedic Lifestyle program. She and her husband, Leo Carver , are the core of Holistic Life Sciences , providing the Chopra... Tamara Lechner is a happiness expert and Chopra-Certified Primordial Sound Meditation Instructor. Her mission is to be so happy that those around her cannot help but step into her light. She lives in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada where she just launched a webinar series called "Happiness Handbook." For more information, check out her website http://www.ahamoments4u.com . Melissa is the Senior Content Strategist at the Chopra Center. Also a yoga instructor, she is passionate about motivating people to live a healthy, balanced, and purposeful life. Melissa is the author of The Type A's Guide to Mindfulness: Meditation for Busy Minds and Busy People , a practical guide for new meditators in the modern world, and the creator of mindfulminutes.com , a personal blog about mindfulness and life balance in the digital age. Melissa teaches Vinyasa...

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Meditation | The Chopra Center

Alexander C.N., et al. Treating and preventing alcohol, nicotine, and drug abuse through Transcendental Meditation: A review and statistical meta-analysis. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly 11: 13-87, 1994.

Aron E.N. and Aron A. The patterns of reduction of drug and alcohol use among Transcendental Meditation participants. Bulletin of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors 2: 28-33, 1983.

Clements G., et al. The use of the Transcendental Meditation programme in the prevention of drug abuse and in the treatment of drug-addicted persons. Bulletin on Narcotics 40(1): 5156, 1988.

Gelderloos P., et al. Effectiveness of the Transcendental Meditation program in preventing and treating substance misuse: A review. International Journal of the Addictions 26: 293325, 1991.

Orme-Johnson D. W. Transcendental Meditation as an epidemiological approach to drug and alcohol abuse: Theory, research, and financial impact evaluation. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 11, 119-165, 1994.

Royer A. The role of the Transcendental Meditation technique in promoting smoking cessation: A longitudinal study. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly 11: 219-236, 1994.

Shafii M. et al. Meditation and marijuana. American Journal of Psychiatry 131: 60-63, 1974.

Shafii M. et al. Meditation and the prevention of alcohol abuse. American Journal of Psychiatry 132: 942-945, 1975.

Wallace R.K. et al. Decreased drug abuse with Transcendental Meditation: A study of 1,862 subjects. In Drug Abuse: Proceedings of the International Conference, ed. Chris J.D. Zarafonetis (Philadelphia: Lea and Febiger): 369-376, 1972.

Walton K. G., and Levitsky, D.A. A neuroendocrine mechanism for the reduction of drug use and addictions by Transcendental Meditation. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly 11: 89-117, 1994.

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Comparing meditation techniques - Transcendental Meditation

Christian meditation is a form of prayer in which a structured attempt is made to become aware of and reflect upon the revelations of God.[1] The word meditation comes from the Latin word meditr, which has a range of meanings including to reflect on, to study and to practice. Christian meditation is the process of deliberately focusing on specific thoughts (such as a bible passage) and reflecting on their meaning in the context of the love of God.[2]

Christian meditation aims to heighten the personal relationship based on the love of God that marks Christian communion.[3][4] Both in Eastern and Western Christianity meditation is the middle level in a broad three-stage characterization of prayer: it involves more reflection than first level vocal prayer, but is more structured than the multiple layers of contemplative prayer.[5][6][7][8] Teachings in both the Eastern and Western Christian churches have emphasized the use of Christian meditation as an element in increasing one's knowledge of Christ.[9][10][11][12]

In Aspects of Christian meditation, the Holy See warned of potential incompatibilities in mixing Christian and non-Christian styles of meditation.[13] In 2003, in A Christian reflection on the New Age the Vatican announced that "the Church avoids any concept that is close to those of the New Age".[14][15][16]

Christian meditation involves looking back on Jesus' life, thanksgiving and adoration of God for his action in sending Jesus for human salvation.[17] In her book The Interior Castle (Mansions 6, Chapter 7) Saint Teresa of Avila defined Christian meditation as follows:

"By meditation I mean prolonged reasoning with the understanding, in this way. We begin by thinking of the favor which God bestowed upon us by giving us His only Son; and we do not stop there but proceed to consider the mysteries of His whole glorious life."[18]

Quoting the Gospel of Matthew[11:27]: "No one knows the Father but only the Son and anyone whom the Son wants to reveal him" and I Corinthians[2:12]: "But we have received the Spirit who is from God so that we may realize what God has freely given us", theologian Hans von Balthasar explained the context of Christian meditation as follows:

"The dimensions of Christian meditation develop from God's having completed his self-revelation in two directions: Speaking out of his own, and speaking as a man, through his Son, disclosing the depths of man.... And this meditation can take place only where the revealing man, God's Son, Jesus Christ, reveals God as his Father: in the Holy Spirit of God, so we may join in probing God's depths, which only God's Spirit probes."[19]

Building on that theme, E. P. Clowney explained that three dimensions of Christian meditation are crucial, not merely for showing its distinctiveness, but for guiding its practice. The first is that Christian meditation is grounded in the Bible. Because the God of the Bible is a personal God who speaks in words of revelation, Christian meditation responds to this revelation and focuses on that aspect, in contrast to mystic meditations which use mantras. The second distinctive mark of Christian meditation is that it responds to the love of God, as in I John [4:19]: "We love, for he first loved us". The personal relationship based on the love of God that marks Christian communion is thus heightened in Christian meditation. The third dimension is that the revelations of the Bible and the love of God lead to the worship of God: making Christian meditation an exercise in praise.[3]

Thomas Merton characterized the goal of Christian meditation as follows: "The true end of Christian meditation is practically the same as the end of liturgical prayer and the reception of the sacraments: a deeper union by grace and charity with the Incarnate Word, who is the only Mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ."[20] While Protestants view salvation in terms of faith and grace alone (i.e. sola fide and sola gratia) both Western and Eastern Christians see a role for meditation on the path to salvation and redemption.[21]Apostle Paul stated in Epistle to the Romans 9:16 that salvation only comes from "God that hath mercy".[22] The path to salvation in Christian meditation is not one of give and take, and the aim of meditation is to bring joy to the heart of God. The Word of God directs meditations to show the two aspects of love that please God: obedience and adoration. The initiative in Christian salvation is with God, and one does not meditate or love God to gain his favor.[23]

In Western Christian teachings, meditation is usually believed to involve the inherent action of the Holy Spirit to help the meditating Christian understand the deeper meanings of the Word of God.[24][25] In the 12th century, decades before Guigo II's the Ladder of the Monk, one of his predecessors, Guigo I, emphasized this belief by stating that when earnest meditation begins, the Holy Spirit enters the soul of the meditator, "turns water into wine" and shows the path towards contemplation and a better understanding of God.[26]

In the 19th century, Charles Spurgeon affirmed this belief within the Protestant tradition and wrote: "The Spirit has taught us in meditation to ponder its message, to put aside, if we will, the responsibility of preparing the message we've got to give. Just trust God for that."[27] In the 20th century, Hans Urs von Balthasar paraphrased this teaching as follows:[25]

The vistas of God's Word unfold to the meditating Christian solely through the gift of the Divine Spirit. How could we understand what is within God and is disclosed to us except through the Spirit of God who is communicated to us?

As a biblical basis for this teaching, von Balthasar referred to 1 Corinthians 2:9-10: "these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God".:[25]

Christian meditation is different from the style of meditations performed in Eastern religions (such as Buddhism) or in the context of the New Age.[3][4][28][29][30] While other types of meditation may suggest approaches to disengage the mind, Christian meditation aims to fill the mind with thoughts related to Biblical passages or Christian devotions.[31] Although some mystics in both the Western and Eastern churches have associated feelings of ecstasy with meditation, (e.g. St. Teresa of Avila's legendary meditative ecstasy),[32][33] St. Gregory of Sinai, one of the originators of Hesychasm, stated that the goal of Christian meditation is "seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit, beyond the minor phenomenon of ecstasy".[34]

Modern Christian teachings on meditation at times include specific criticism of the transcendental styles of meditation, e.g. John Bertram Phillips stated that Christian meditation involves the action of the Holy Spirit on Biblical passages and warned of approaches that "disengage the mind" from scripture.[35] According to Edmund P. Clowney, Christian meditation contrasts with cosmic styles of oriental meditation as radically as the portrayal of God the Father in the Bible contrasts with discussions of Krishna or Brahman in Indian teachings.[28] Unlike eastern meditations, most styles of Christian meditations are intended to stimulate thought and deepen meaning. Christian meditation aims to heighten the personal relationship based on the love of God that marks Christian communion.[3][4] According to E. P. Clowney it is the search for wisdom, not ecstasy, that marks the path of Christian meditation, a wisdom sought in the "Christ of Scripture and the Scripture of Christ".[36]

A 1989 document generally known as Aspects of Christian meditation set forth the position of the Holy See with respect to the differences between Christian and eastern styles of meditation. The document, issued as a letter to all Catholic bishops, stresses the differences between Christian and eastern meditative approaches. It warns of the dangers of attempting to mix Christian meditation with eastern approaches since that could be both confusing and misleading, and may result in the loss of the essential Christocentric nature of Christian meditation.[37][38][39] The letter warned that euphoric states obtained through Eastern meditation should not be confused with prayer or assumed to be signs of the presence of God, a state that should always result in loving service to others. Without these truths, the letter said, meditation, which should be a flight from the self, can degenerate into a form of self-absorption.[40]

In the Old Testament, there are two Hebrew words for meditation: hg (Hebrew: ), which means to sigh or murmur, but also to meditate, and s (Hebrew: ), which means to muse, or rehearse in one's mind. When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek, hg became the Greek melete which emphasized meditation's movement in the depth of the human heart. Melete was a reminder that one should never let meditation be a formality. The Latin Bible then translated hg/melete into meditatio.[41]

The Bible mentions meditate or meditation about twenty times, fifteen times in the Book of Psalms alone. When the Bible mentions meditation, it often mentions obedience in the next breath. An example is the Book of Joshua[Joshua 1:8]: "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night."[42]

During the Middle Ages, the monastic traditions of both Western and Eastern Christianity moved beyond vocal prayer to Christian meditation. These progressions resulted in two distinct and different meditative practices: Lectio Divina in the West and hesychasm in the East. Hesychasm involves the repetition of the Jesus Prayer, but Lectio Divina uses different Scripture passages at different times and although a passage may be repeated a few times, Lectio Divina is not repetitive in nature.[43][44]

The progression from Bible reading, to meditation, to loving regard for God, was first formally described by Guigo II, a Carthusian monk who died late in the 12th century.[45] Guigo II's book The Ladder of Monks is considered the first description of methodical prayer in the western mystical tradition.[46]

In Eastern Christianity, the monastic traditions of "constant prayer" that traced back to the Desert Fathers and Evagrius Pontikos established the practice of hesychasm and influenced John Climacus' book The Ladder of Divine Ascent by the 7th century.[47] These meditative prayers were promoted and supported by Saint Gregory Palamas in the 14th century.[11][43]

The methods of "methodical prayer" as taught by the Devotio Moderna group in northern Europe had entered Spain and were known in the early 16th century.[48] The book The Imitation of Christ which was known in Spain as Contemptus mundi became known in Spain, and while Teresa probably did not initially know of Guigo II's methods she was likely influenced by its teachings via the works of Francisco de Osuna which she studied.[48] Teresa's contemporary and collaborator, John of the Cross continued the tradition of Guigo II and taught the 4 stages of Lectio Divina. By the 19th century the importance of Biblical meditation had also been firmly established in the Protestant spiritual tradition.[27]

During the 18th and early 19th centuries, some components of meditation had started to be de-emphasized in some branches of Western Christianity.[49] However, the early part of the 20th century witnessed a revival and books and articles on approaches such as Lectio divina aimed at the general public began to appear by the middle of the century.[49]

In 1965, one of the principal documents of the Second Vatican Council, the dogmatic constitution Dei verbum (Latin for Word of God), emphasized the use of Lectio divina and on the 40th anniversary of Dei verbum in 2005 Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed its importance.[50]

A number of saints and historical figures have followed and presented specific approaches to Christian meditation. Both Eastern and Western Christian teachings have emphasized the use of meditation as an element in increasing one's knowledge of Christ. The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola use meditative mental imagery, with the goal of knowing Christ more intimately and loving him more ardently.[9] In The Way of Perfection, St. Theresa of Avila taught her nuns how to try to get to know Christ by using meditation and mental prayer.[10]Hesychastic prayer and meditation continues to be used in the Eastern Orthodox tradition as a spiritual practice that facilitates the knowing of Christ.[11][51]

The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola (14911556), the founder of the Jesuits, contain numerous meditative exercises. To this day, the Spiritual Exercises remain an integral part of the Novitiate training period of the Roman Catholic religious order of Jesuits.[52]

The exercises are intended as notes to guide a spiritual director who is leading someone else through an experience of Christian meditation. The entire experience takes about 30 days and often involves a daily interview with the director. The process begins with a consideration of the purpose of one's life and the relationship with the rest of creation. It is followed by a week of meditation about sin and its consequences. Next comes a period of meditating on the events of the life of Jesus, and another for thinking about his suffering and death. The final week is to experience the joy of the resurrection, and in conclusion to reflect on God's love and the response of love for God.[53]

The exercises often involve imagery in which one enters a biblical scene. For example, the practitioner is encouraged to visualize and meditate upon scenes from the life of Christ, at times asking questions from Christ on the cross, during crucifixion.[54]

St. Teresa of vila (15151582) a Doctor of the Church, practiced contemplative prayer for periods of one hour at a time, twice a day. St. Teresa believed that no one who was faithful to the practice of meditation could possibly lose his soul.[56] Her writings are viewed as fundamental teachings in Christian spirituality.[57][58]

St. Teresa taught her nuns to meditate on specific prayers. Her prayers described in The Way of Perfection involve meditation on a mystery in the life of Jesus and are based on the faith that "God is within", a truth that Teresa said she learned from St. Augustine.[59]

In her Life, she wrote that she taught herself from the instructions given in the book, The Third Spiritual Alphabet - by Francisco de Osuna - which relates to Franciscan mysticism.[60][61][62] Her starting point was the practice of "recollection", i.e. keeping the senses and the intellect in check and not allowing them to stray. In her meditations, one generally restricts attention to a single subject, principally the love of God. In The Way of Perfection she wrote: "It is called recollection because the soul collects together all the faculties and enters within itself to be with God".[63] She would use devices such as short readings, a scene of natural beauty or a religious statue or picture to remind her to keep her focus. She wrote that in due course, the mind naturally learns to maintain focus on God almost effortlessly.[64][65][66]

St. Theresa viewed Christian meditation as the first of four steps in achieving "union with God", and used the analogy of watering the garden. She compared basic meditation to watering a garden with a bucket, Recollection to the water wheel, Quiet (contemplation) to a spring of water and Union to drenching rain.[32]

Saint Francis de Sales (15761622) used a four-part approach to Christian meditation based on "preparation", "consideration", "affections and resolutions" and "conclusions":[67]

Saint Thomas Aquinas (12251274) said that meditation is necessary for devotion, and the Second Vatican Council called for "faithful meditation on God's word" as part of the spiritual formation of seminarians.[69]

Saint John of the Cross (15421591), a close friend of St. Teresa of Avila, viewed Christian meditation as a necessary step toward union with God, and wrote that even the most spiritually advanced persons always needed to regularly return to meditation.[70]

Saint Padre Pio (18871968), who was devoted to rosary meditations, said:[68]

"The person who meditates and turns his mind to God, who is the mirror of his soul, seeks to know his faults, tries to correct them, moderates his impulses, and puts his conscience in order."

The Catechism of the Catholic Church encourages meditation as a form of prayer: "Meditation is above all a quest. The mind seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking" (Catechism section # 2705) and that Christians owe it to themselves to develop the desire to meditate regularly (# 2707). Emphasizing union with God, it states: "Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the conversion of our heart, and strengthen our will to follow Christ. Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the rosary. This form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him" (#2708).[71] Meditative prayer is different from contemplative prayer (See CCC 2709- 2724).

Christian meditation performed along with Eucharistic adoration outside of Mass has been associated with a large amount of Catholic writings and inspirations specially since the 18th century. The Eucharistic meditations of the two Saints Pierre Julien Eymard and Jean Vianney (both promoters of the Eucharist) were published as books.[72][73][74]

Saint Thrse of Lisieux was devoted to Eucharistic meditation and on February 26, 1895 shortly before she died wrote from memory and without a rough draft her poetic masterpiece "To Live by Love" which had composed during Eucharistic meditation.[75][76]

Significant portions of the writings of the Venerable Concepcion Cabrera de Armida were reported as having been based on her adorations of the Blessed Sacrament.[77] Similarly, in her book Eucharist: true jewel of eucharistic spirituality Maria Candida of the Eucharist (who was beatified by Pope John Paul II) wrote about her own personal experiences and reflections on eucharistic meditation.[78][79]

Meditation is an integral part of the rosary. This mode of meditation is the process of reflecting on the mysteries of the rosary. With practice, this may in time turn into contemplation on the mysteries.[80] The practice of meditation during the praying of repeated Hail Marys dates back to 15th century Carthusian monks, and was soon adopted by the Dominicans at large.[81] By the 16th century the practice of meditation during the rosary had spread across Europe, and the book Meditationi del Rosario della Gloriosa Maria Virgine (i.e. Meditations on the Rosary of the Glorious Virgin Mary) printed in 1569 for the rosary confraternity of Milan provided an individual meditation to accompany each bead or prayer.[82]

Saint Teresa of Avila's meditative approach of focusing on "the favor which God bestowed upon us by giving us His only Son" can be viewed as the basis of most scriptural rosary meditations.[18] In his 2002 encyclical Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Pope John Paul II placed the rosary at the very center of Christian spirituality.[83] Emphasizing that the final goal of Christian life is to be transformed, or "transfigured", into Christ he stated that the rosary helps believers come closer to Christ by contemplating Christ. He stated that the rosary unites us with Mary's own prayer, who, in the presence of God, prays with us and for us.[84] and stated that: "To recite the rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ."[85]

During the Byzantine Empire, between the 10th and 14th centuries, a tradition of prayer called hesychasm developed, particularly on Mount Athos in Greece, and continues to the present. St. Gregory of Sinai is considered by most to be the founder of the hesychastic approach to prayer.[86] This tradition uses a special posture and breathing rituals, accompanied by the repetition of a short prayer (traditionally the 'Jesus Prayer') giving rise to suggestions that it may have been influenced by Indian approaches. "While some might compare it [hesychastic prayer] with a mantra, to use the Jesus Prayer in such a fashion is to violate its purpose. One is never to treat it as a string of syllables for which the 'surface' meaning is secondary. Likewise, hollow repetition is considered to be worthless (or even spiritually damaging) in the hesychast tradition."[87] Rather, it is to be in the spirit of a true mantra. This style of prayer was at first opposed as heretical by Barlam in Calabria, but was defended by Saint Gregory Palamas.[11][51] Coming from hesychia ("stillness, rest, quiet, silence"), hesychasm continues to be practiced in the Eastern Orthodox Church and some other Eastern Churches of the Byzantine Rite.[88] Hesychasm has not gained significance in the Western churches.[89][90]

In hesychasm, the Jesus prayer, consisting of the phrase: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me" is repeated either for a set period of time or a set number of times. Hesychasm is contrasted with the more mental or imaginative forms of Christian meditation in which a person is encouraged to imagine or think of events from the life of Jesus or sayings from the Gospel. Sometimes hesychasm has been compared to the meditative techniques of oriental religions and it is possible that there were interactions between Hesychasts and Sufis, but this has not been proven.[91]

John Main OSB (19261982) was a Benedictine monk and priest who presented a way of Christian meditation which used a prayer-phrase or mantra. This approach was then used by groups which then become the World Community for Christian Meditation.[92]

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Christian meditation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Join us at our Myers Park Studio to learn more about meditation. Meet your certified instructor for a 40 minute session that will introduce you to the benefits and techniques of meditation and help you discover your Dosha (constitution), which will allow you to achieve a more rewarding personal and professional life of meditation.

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Are you feeling stressed to the max or having difficulty sleeping at night struggling to figure out how youll get everything done on your long list of responsibilities? The programs at Charlotte Meditation are customized for busy people just like you. They will enable you to take a more proactive approach to stress management, improve your health and well-being, and even help you reach your full potential. Meditation is not just for new-age hippies or Buddhist monks everyone can benefit from this practice. There have been numerous studies that have shown that practicing meditation can boost your immune system, lower blood pressure, decrease anxiety, improve sleep and a host of other physical benefits. Learning to relax your body in stressful situations will also serve to boost your confidence and help you to achieve a more positive frame of mind that will enable you to perform better on the job and at home.

Our innovative programs will give you the tools you need to learn these practical techniques to calm your mind and to renew your spirit allowing you to live a more healthy and prosperous life. Corporations who are interested in incorporating meditation classes into a health and wellness program in the work place will find increased productivity in their employees in addition to increased overall health which will result in fewer sick days.

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Mindfulness Meditation | Charlotte Guided Meditation ...