We propose studying different aspects of meditation to examine whether it is a scientific approach and all the benefits accruing to the humanity, due to its practice.

The idea of quitting everything in life and going to live in a hermitage for the sake of meditation is, to say the least, quite outdated.

We need not quit our jobs, our homes, our way of life, and our precious possessions to go to mountain tops for learning or practicing meditation. Recent researches point out that meditation brings about dramatic effects in as little as a 20 minute session of meditation.

People who meditated for a short time showed increased alpha waves – the relaxed brain waves – and decreased anxiety and depression.

Harvard Medical School researchers, using Magnetic Resonance Index technology on meditation participants monitored their brain activity, during the meditation. They found a very important phenomenon that meditation activates the sections of the brain which govern the involuntary activities like digestion and blood pressure.

They found that stress often affects these important body functions. As a corollary, meditation modulates these functions, wards off stress related conditions such as heart disease, digestive problems and infertility.

Rob Nairn, in his book, “What is Meditation” explains “It is a highly alert and skilful state of mind because it requires one to remain psychologically present and ‘with’ whatever happens in and around one without adding to or subtracting from it in any way”. From this is clear that in meditation, we are in a super conscious state, which is the reason for its curative properties.

There are innumerable ways and traditions to practice meditation. But in a nutshell, it can be summarized thus: Meditation consists of simply sitting quietly, focusing on one’s breath, word or phrase. The trick lies in stilling

the mind from constant chattering of the mind.

According to Roger Thomson, Ph.D., a Chicago psychologist and Zen meditation specialist, there is one way to know whether we are doing the meditation correctly. He says “If you’re feeling better at the end, you are probably doing right.

Though it sounds easy, many people cannot seem to get the hang of it, no matter how often they try. But constant practice makes it possible to attain.

Thomson, who refers his clients to meditation, declares that for those struggling with feelings of anxiety, they will benefit from its calming effects. It facilitates mental health because it brings a higher level of self-acceptance and insight about oneself.

In a paper published in American Journal of Psychotherapy, Thomson explores the symbiotic nature of meditation techniques and Psychotherapy.

In both systems, we are intimately present with what is happening here and now. That is the secret of de-stressing effects of meditation and psychotherapy.

We can see now that meditation is definitely a science and not a fiction,