Meditation

Meditation is a practice or exercise, where an individual trains one's attention and awareness to get to a clearer and calmer state.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]} Scholars have found meditation difficult to define. The practices vary both between traditions and within them. Generally meditation tries to get past the "thinking" mind and aims to go into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness.

It is a common practice in many religions including Buddhism, Christianity (sometimes), Taoism, Hinduism (where Yoga is important) and other religions. Meditation has now become a modern trend, showing many health benefits.^[7] The initial origin of meditation is from the Vedic times of India.

1. ↑ Roger Walsh & Shauna L. Shapiro (2006). "The meeting of meditative disciplines and western psychology: A mutually enriching dialogue". American Psychologist (Submitted manuscript). 61 (3): 227–39. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.61.3.227. ISSN 0003-066X. PMID 16594839. S2CID 3015768.
2. ↑ B. Rael Cahn; John Polich (2006). "Meditation states and traits: EEG, ERP, and neuroimaging studies". Psychological Bulletin. 132 (2): 180–211. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.132.2.180. ISSN 0033-2909. PMID 16536641. S2CID 2151810.
3. ↑ R. Jevning; R.K. Wallace; M. Beidebach (1992). "The physiology of meditation: A review: A wakeful hypometabolic integrated response". Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 16 (3): 415–24. doi:10.1016/S0149-7634(05)80210-6. PMID 1528528. S2CID 2650109.
4. ↑ Goleman, Daniel (1988). The meditative mind: The varieties of meditative experience. New York: Tarcher. ISBN 978-0-87477-833-5.
5. ↑ "Definition of meditate". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 18 December 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
6. ↑ "meditate". Oxford Dictionaries – English. Archived from the original on 2019-05-29. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
7. ↑ Marsh, Sarah; Giovannetti-Singh, Shanti (2019-08-02). "Boom in wellness at festivals as young people swap hedonism for yoga". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-08-13.