Buddhist Gyatso said that when the chaos of everyday thought is put aside through meditation, true contentedness and calm rise up from deep within. Meditation is an ancient method of relaxation that is still very popular today and is used to ‘still’ the mind; achieving personal happiness.

Most methods of meditation involve the meditater sitting with their back straight, legs crossed and eyes closed. This position allows for deep relaxation without the person feeling so relaxed that they fall asleep, which may happen if they lie down. The environment in which a person is to meditate must be uncluttered, peaceful and quiet. It helps to have a well-defined personal thought or breathing process used in achieving a meditative state. Often using deep and slowed breathing along with the tensing and releasing of muscles helps.

Once relaxed enough, the individual often concentrates on a certain image, place, thought or bright light. Many people find their meditation is interrupted by thoughts, and this is where they must learn to let them come and go without disturbing the process.
Meditation can last from 5 minutes to 2 hours and over; there is no defined length of time. Once meditation is over it is often important to spend a few minutes ‘grounding’ by doing something physical (e.g. eating, drinking, talking) in order to awaken the mind to the physical world again.

Meditation is such a popular practice throughout most religions and cultures as it distances the individual from their hectic daily life and allows them to establish a channel into their deeper ‘self’.