Meditation in all of its forms is designed to make you more self-aware, more aware of your surroundings, more in tune with your environment, and ultimately more in control of your physical being and the things around you. In the process, meditation is successful in helping to reduce anxiety and stress, because it generates a sense of empowerment, placing you in control of your own destiny.

There are many forms of meditation some more physically challenging, and some quite sendentary, but they all have their strong points. Meditation is very much like a good stretching routine which also has the benefit of allowing you to get in touch with yourself in a positive way.

Meditation is a process that leads to a state of consciousness that brings serenity, clarity, and bliss. During our typical mental state, we receive sensory stimuli and react in a completely uncontrolled way (although we tell ourselves we have great control). We bounce from one thought to another and follow with our emotional and physical reactions. The same thought can bring about diametrically opposite reactions at different times. For instance, we may see a dog and then start a thought process that reminisces about a pet dog we once had and loved. Emotionally, we then start feeling all warm and cuddly; physically, we feel very relaxed. Another time, we may see the same dog and fear it may attack us and start thinking paranoid thoughts, get fearful and uptight physically.

Concentration is the first step in Meditation and is the start of gaining control over the mind and thereby life. The procedure is deceptively simple and seems like it would be very easy to do, but there are few tasks more difficult to master. The idea is to pick an object/subject to place your attention on and then to focus exclusively on it without diversion. Once you pick your subject or object, relax your body, sit in a comfortable position, calm your emotions and begin repeating the word "love" over and over. If you find your mind wandering from your topic, simply bring yourself back into concentration on the original topic and continue your session. If you are successful in concentrating your thoughts away from other distractions you will experience a very liberating feeling that helps you to clear your mind of clutter and have an easing of tension, that will be followed by a sense of relaxation and calm, second only to being fully sleep.

We encourage you to investigate the various forms of meditation and find one that best suits your needs, and perfect it for your total fitness and enjoyment. For additional resources on meditation please refer to the resources below.