...Calming the mind, unwinding the coils of our thoughts, meditation brings to each of us greater relaxation. One important aspect of meditation is that it can change the waves of electromagnetic energy our brains produce. Many forms of meditation have been shown to induce an alpha brainwave state, much like the lucid period just before we fall into sleep, when your mind is totally at rest. By inducing this state, deep relaxation can allow the body to engage in many of its autonomic functions, including repair, rest, changes in heart rate, blood pressure, and metabolic functions, to name but a few.
There has been much research done on meditation in the last few decades, and that body of research shows that meditation is very beneficial on many levels, and when practiced, can produce a further range of effects, depending upon the focus, style and commitment applied to the practice.
There is however no one thing which is meditation, as there are many, many forms of meditation and related practices. Tantra, Taoism, Buddhism and many other systems all over the globe have developed techniques for expanding awareness. Meditation is the term we use for these practices.
Amongst the many types of meditation, there are a variety of goals. Some seek to draw the senses within, shutting out external stimuli. Others seek to focus on one thought, object, mantra, etc. This is single-point focus. In yet another form, the mind is trained to focus on multiple thoughts at one time. This technique use a varying number of focus points and is called multi-point focus. In other forms of meditation, one is seeking any number of aims such as "merging with the universe", or "cosmic consciousness" or any number of various descriptions which seem to be describing conscious stimulation of the various brainwave states which create altered states of consciousness and the secretion of various chemicals in the brain. Finally, there are forms of meditation, which seek to create inner silence, stopping the internal dialog, allowing a re-deployment of our awareness and thought processes.
If there were one thing, which binds together all the forms of meditation, it would be that they all seek to affect our consciousness. Meditation is in fact training the mind; one's cognitive skills. With all the forms of meditation, we are seeking to work with the higher levels of consciousness, which are beyond our normal day-to-day mind-state. We go through life rather tunnel-visioned, using only as much of our mind as is necessary just to get by and deal with our day-to-day activities and encounters. Through engaging more complex or focused forms of mental activity, an entire range of human cognitive potential becomes available to us.
Along with the mind-focus of meditation, breathwork is a frequently used aspect of meditation. While some forms of meditation will not have a breath focus, other forms find breath of fundamental importance. In this way, there is considerable overlap between meditation and pranayama, with the two on occasion being indistinguishable.
