Some people think that meditation is an exotic practice which is connected with Eastern religions and yoga, or with some special sitting posture or mantra. None of this is true – meditation is simply making a conscious choice to silence the mind and centre the Self. So you may decide to sit quietly and go within OR you may decide to go for a walk on the beach OR you may decide to lie down on your bed and indulge in playing your favourite tunes at top volume. Anything that allows you to “switch off” the outside world and be with yourself is a form of meditation.
Practicing meditation on a regular basis definitely has its benefits – i.e. you become more relaxed, you are able to remain calm without much effort, your outlook on life tends to improve and you find that you think more clearly when dealing with challenging issues. On the spiritual side, a degree of self-discovery may also begin to happen. If prayer can be described as “talking mode”, then meditation can be described as “listening mode”.
The point of meditation is to go from doing to being.
NB: don’t make the mistake of turning your meditation practice into another urgent item on your To Do list. Instead, use it as a welcome oasis from doing – an opportunity to come to rest and simply be (without strategy or agenda). Play around with a few of the techniques at first to decide which one feels right for you and then stick to what works for you.