Meditation

Meditation is the quintessential mind-body practice and the foundation for a number of widely used training programs, each with a rapidly growing evidence base to support health benefits. The practice of meditation, and mindfulness, in particular, has its roots in Eastern contemplative traditions and constitutes a core element of Buddhism. Meditation focuses training attention and awareness to bring mental processes under greater voluntary control, thereby, self-regulating the body, mind, and emotions and fostering general mental and physical well-being. The foremost process of meditation is a deliberate, present moment awareness of one's internal experiences including thoughts, emotions, sensations, behaviors and sensory perceptions. A common denominator of many mindfulness-based interventions, including mindfulness-based stress reduction, is the goal of mitigating the deleterious impact of stress on health, and chronic stress in particular. There are many forms of meditation practice, including formal and informal practice. This chapter focuses on meditation and closely related programs and includes experimental findings on the structural, physiological, cognitive, and emotional effects of meditation training.