| Meditation is about staying with the moment, being in | | | | postures performed to gain physical, and therefore |
| touch with your surroundings and your inner world, | | | | mental, control. |
| much of which is more easily accessible when in the | | | | Less well-known is "bhakti" yoga, which is focusing of |
| meditative state. Practicing meditation techniques on a | | | | the mind, and is akin to the style of meditation |
| regular basis (ideally daily or at least 3 or 4 times a | | | | practiced in the Christian faith. According to this |
| week) can be a good way of just taking time out, and | | | | discipline, the practitioner sits and focuses his or her |
| allowing yourself to tune into and appreciate the | | | | attention upon an aspect of their god. In so doing, they |
| moment: whether you are walking along the seashore, | | | | gain insights into their own responses to the |
| or sitting by a stream, or just noticing the intensity of | | | | knowledge they have of that god's powers and the |
| silence in a still room and enjoying it. | | | | lessons to be drawn from stories told of him or her. |
| Meditation is perhaps most closely linked with | | | | It has long been a tradition in Christian religious |
| Buddhism, and indeed it was the main practice through | | | | communities, such as convents and monasteries, for |
| which its founder, Gautama, finally gamed | | | | monks or nuns to spend a period of time each day in |
| enlightenment. Buddhism has defined many stages of | | | | quiet contemplation, often focusing upon a crucifix and |
| meditation that are practiced in order to achieve the | | | | contemplating the passion of Christ and all that it |
| ultimate level of purifying the mind and clearing away | | | | means for the believer. This is, of course, one of many |
| of all thoughts and mental images. | | | | meditation techniques, and has all the benefits of |
| However, one of the best-known meditation | | | | helping the individual come to an understanding of his |
| techniques is yoga, the yoking or harnessing of mental | | | | inner beliefs and response to his faith. The practice has |
| and physical powers, which is very much in the Hindu | | | | also become increasingly popular among lay Christians |
| tradition. Most of us think in terms of "hatha" or royal | | | | in recent years. |
| yoga, which is a series of physical exercises and | | | | |